“FaithBuilders is about being “mama” to mamas who didn’t have mamas.
My oldest child is biracial and my two middle girls are white and my three youngest boys are black. So from the outside looking in it looks like a picture of celebrity. Celebrities have made rescuing kids glamorous. But when you really get in the trenches of it, it’s hard. It’s not glamorous. You do it because you love Jesus.”
“FaithBuilders is a ministry my whole family has had the opportunity to be involved with. We’re committed to walking with families in crisis here in our city. What does that look like? It looks like purchasing diapers…getting licensed for foster care…providing weekend respite…mentoring and discipleship of moms and dads…backing out of your driveway to get groceries at 10 at night.”
“We’ve grown like a tree.”
This is how Sandy described the way our two families have become interwoven as we’ve walked together for the last 5 years.
And she’s right. Our family first got involved with FaithBuilders when we were supporting & mentoring a young mom and her baby. Today we are continuing that journey by supporting & encouraging the grandparents who adopted that sweet little baby girl as well as continuing to mentor the mom as she is parenting her young son.
As Sandy says, “we started small, didn’t know each other very well…as our branches grow, all these branches have a meaning. They are things we’ve done together, met together, did together, believe in… we are still branching out & growing as she (their granddaughter) grows.”
This beautiful process has bonded both of our families together and we wouldn’t want it any other way! Our kids, who were teenagers when we first met Nayeli, are grown & out of the house. Yet they love her & stay involved with her. Last year at Christmastime we all went together to ride the train to “Santa’s workshop.” And Sandy & Mike’s grown kids treat us like one of the family when we are together. We are even Nayeli’s Godparents & were privileged to be there when she was baptized.
Sandy says it best… “I believe in FaithBuilders sooooo much. They have accomplished so many things. I can’t stop praising on how God has worked through them for us. No matter what religion, no matter what color, what shape… no questions asked they help everybody. My love has expanded to all these people who have been so wonderful & so gracious to us. It has been a tremendous blessing in our lives.. I pray that we will have this friendship that we have developed forever. I feel like we’re all one family & God has blessed us”
“I have six kids with me because this ministry has become dear to my heart. I read a book—Radical—last summer that really impacted me. I found myself asking if I’m really following and believing the Jesus of the Bible or the Jesus of our culture. I believed I was following who we’ve made Jesus to be rather than who he was and is. I’m being led to live a life of sacrifice and put myself in positions where the suffering becomes personal. When you allow that to happen your heart changes and your eyes are opened and you begin to see things a lot differently. I have formed relationships with the mothers of two of the boys with me. In a relationship, she’s grown to trust me to help care for her kids while she gets back on her feet. I’m building a relationship with her so she can see Jesus in our family and be drawn to him. We’re put in this position with these kids because of FaithBuilders.”
