Christian Children’s Home of Ohio (CCHO), the parent organization of Encourage is celebrating 50 years of ministry this year! Throughout 2019, we will be sharing 50 Stories for 50 Years of Ministry to demonstrate the transformational work God has done through our family of ministries (CCHO, Encourage Foster Care and Encompass Christian Counseling).
Story #3 in our series highlights one of Encourage’s foster-to-adopt families. After months of praying over the beds in an empty room in her house, Gwyn welcomed a preschool boy and his baby sister into her home. The siblings had experienced unthinkable abuse and loss in their short lives; their two-year-old brother had just died as the result of suspicious injuries allegedly inflicted by their mother’s boyfriend.
With faith and courage, she believed that God had placed this little boy and his baby sister in her care for a reason, and she knew she had to love them in return because “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18).
“I couldn’t guard my heart if I was going to love them and give them what they needed,” she says. “I had to make them feel safe…. So I just said, ‘Okay, God, I’m going to love them while I have them. While they’re in the circle of my arms, my family, my home, you are giving them to me to invest, to love, to nurture, to do my best with.’”
Gwyn played a significant role in the early days of fostering her children, helping them feel safe and loved as well as connecting them to trauma-informed resources. She continued to provide security and support while her older son processed trauma and emotions, and two years later Gwyn adopted them, making them a forever family.
Read their full story and watch their video to learn Gwyn’s prayer for her kids (now nine and four) and see how everyone is doing today. We are so grateful for our awesome God Who continues to make all things new.
You can find our 50th anniversary story series at ccho.org/stories. You’ll have the opportunity to share your own story as well.
We will also be hosting our 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend on June 8 & 9. We hope you can join us!
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