An orphanage…a soulless place with a mean old matron constantly mistreating the children who are dressed in
ragged clothes, with little food and even less laughter. That’s where we were headed yesterday morning as we pulled
out of the parking lot of Emmanuel Baptist Church in three vehicles loaded to the brim with 16 youth and 6 adults after
filling our tummies with a delicious breakfast providing the energy we needed for the workday ahead.
An hour later, as we turned onto the road that was to bring us to said “orphanage”, I was stunned to find a set of
buildings resembling more of a YMCA type youth center with a playground, pool, and softball fields…basically a park
area…set amongst a middle-class neighborhood. The “orphanage”? Yes, we were there--the Texas Baptist Home.
Established in 1910 as the “Texas Orphanage”, the home began as a working farm that brought in children of all
ages who were taught and given great responsibility at a very young age—waking early, preparing for the day’s chores
(i.e. raising crops, running a dairy, etc.), called to breakfast by the “bell”, then finishing their morning chores before
heading off to school only to return for afternoon chores, homework, supper, and then bed to rest so they could start
all over again the next day.
In the late 1960’s the name was changed to Texas Baptist Home for children and consisted of one main home until
the mid 1980’s when Texas revamped its foster care system.
Texas Baptist Home, owned and operated by the Texas Baptist Missionary Conference, now has two staffing centers:
one in Bedford and one in Waxahachie, but only the Waxahachie location has a children’s home.
Texas Baptist Home, under the direction of President Bro. Eddie Marsh, presently cares for approximately 91 children
ranging in age from birth to 18 years in its region which covers Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson, Navarro, and Ellis Counties.
Of these, the younger children are placed in typical foster homes, but most of the older children are housed on
campus. Yes, what appeared, at first glance, to be a middle class housing edition that surrounded the “YMCA” type
center was actually on-site housing.
Unlike orphanages of the past, the Texas Baptist Home has five foster homes on-site that are run by “house
parents”. The foster homes provide a “family” feel to the living arrangements as well as a more stable environment for
the kids. Most of the kids attend public schools, their lives changing as little as possible for stability purposes. They
are encouraged to participate in school activities and make friends although security measures are taken to ensure
that the kids are not placed in unfavorable or dangerous environments.
Because Texas Baptist Home is religious based, all of the students living on campus are required to attend Church with
their house parents and are encouraged to become active in their Church and Youth groups. The house parents are
free to choose which Church they wish to attend, but I was very surprised to learn that this “requirement” is permitted
by CPS and the State of Texas. God is definitely great!
Of the five homes on campus, two are “staffed” homes: one for girls only and one as a transitional living center. The
“house parents” for these homes are paid staff of Texas Baptist Home. The transitional living center was started to
assist high school juniors and seniors to learn to live independently by working jobs, buying and making their own
meals, and starting a savings account (which is required) by saving 1/2 of each paycheck. These kids do not pay any
rent or utilities but still receive clothing and food allowances as provided by the State. The other three homes are the
more typical foster home and the house parents pay rent and utilities but are paid in return a certain amount per day
for each child placed in their care. Most of these foster homes care for 6-8 children each.
Texas Baptist Home also has an independent living unit available to high school graduates for minimum rent and
utilities while they attend college. This is a two-year program but provides one more step in the transition process for
the kids from high school to real life.
How do children come to be at Texas Baptist Home? Like most children’s homes, Child Protective Services (CPS)
receives notice of a child in a dangerous situation and, if necessary, removes the child from the parent/parents’ care.
Upon removal from the home, CPS enters the child’s name in a Central Placement System. The Central Placement
System calls the children’s homes in the region to see if they can accept placement of the child (i.e. 7yr old Caucasian
female, etc) and the home then has approximately 5 minutes to state yes or no on the child’s acceptance. Most
children are placed in homes in their region but, depending upon the home’s availability, are sometimes placed in
homes outside of their region.
All children brought into a children’s home become Wards of the State either because the parent/parents are
deceased and no other family members are able to care for the children or because the parent/parents’ rights have
been revoked by the State, or because the parent/parents have voluntarily relinquished their parental rights for the
child.
The primary goal for each child placed in foster care is to reunite them with the parents when possible. Barring this,
providing a nurturing and stable environment is of utmost importance.
While the average stay for a child in foster care is anywhere from 18 months to two years, most older kids who are
placed in foster care face a far less likely chance of being reunited with the parents or of being adopted. Only about
1/3 to 1/2 of the children that come through foster care become eligible for adoption.
There are three types of adoption:
Private—waiting couples listed in scrapbooks, etc.; mother chooses adoptive parents and is allowed personal contact
with the child
Semi-Open—mother can exchange pictures and letters with the child but is not allowed personal contact
Closed—mother is not allowed any contact at all with the child
The Texas Baptist Home has a Tree of Love that marks each of the over 150 adoptions that have taken place since
the Tree of Love was set up in 2000.
While much of this information was obtained during our informative session with Bro. Marsh yesterday afternoon, it was
during our tour of the girls’ home that we really gained insight into the impact of the Texas Baptist Home in the lives of
the children placed in foster care there.
Here we met David and Angie as well as the four girls currently in their care. A tour of the girls’ home and about a 15-
20 minute visit with David, Angie, and the girls, provided a much greater understanding as to the workings of a foster
home as well as the immense impact the house parents have on the children in their care. While not all children
placed in their foster care keep in touch, David and Angie have managed to cultivate some incredible relationships with
several of the children they have cared for over the past 16 years—all while raising a family of their own. They have
seen several children enroll in college and helped to settle them there, attended various important events in these
children’s lives as they’ve grown into young adults, and have even led some of the children in their care to a
relationship with Jesus Christ.
While appearances of the home itself seem to be a “happy” or “not-so-bad” kind of place (especially the front yard and
flower beds that we raked, cleaned, and mulched and the two “new” basketball goals we repaired), we are humbled by
the realities of the horrible tragedies that each of the children placed in Texas Baptist Home have and continue to
face. However, we must thank God for the opportunity He is providing for Texas Baptist Home to make a real
difference in the lives of these children.
All of the youth and adults who went to the Texas Baptist Home yesterday enjoyed our trip and are eager to return—
hopefully for a game day or Christmas celebration or something fun in the future.
Thank you to all of the persons who participated yesterday and thank you to our Church family for supporting our
youth in their efforts to show God’s love to those around us.
By: Jennifer Bridges
ragged clothes, with little food and even less laughter. That’s where we were headed yesterday morning as we pulled
out of the parking lot of Emmanuel Baptist Church in three vehicles loaded to the brim with 16 youth and 6 adults after
filling our tummies with a delicious breakfast providing the energy we needed for the workday ahead.
An hour later, as we turned onto the road that was to bring us to said “orphanage”, I was stunned to find a set of
buildings resembling more of a YMCA type youth center with a playground, pool, and softball fields…basically a park
area…set amongst a middle-class neighborhood. The “orphanage”? Yes, we were there--the Texas Baptist Home.
Established in 1910 as the “Texas Orphanage”, the home began as a working farm that brought in children of all
ages who were taught and given great responsibility at a very young age—waking early, preparing for the day’s chores
(i.e. raising crops, running a dairy, etc.), called to breakfast by the “bell”, then finishing their morning chores before
heading off to school only to return for afternoon chores, homework, supper, and then bed to rest so they could start
all over again the next day.
In the late 1960’s the name was changed to Texas Baptist Home for children and consisted of one main home until
the mid 1980’s when Texas revamped its foster care system.
Texas Baptist Home, owned and operated by the Texas Baptist Missionary Conference, now has two staffing centers:
one in Bedford and one in Waxahachie, but only the Waxahachie location has a children’s home.
Texas Baptist Home, under the direction of President Bro. Eddie Marsh, presently cares for approximately 91 children
ranging in age from birth to 18 years in its region which covers Tarrant, Dallas, Johnson, Navarro, and Ellis Counties.
Of these, the younger children are placed in typical foster homes, but most of the older children are housed on
campus. Yes, what appeared, at first glance, to be a middle class housing edition that surrounded the “YMCA” type
center was actually on-site housing.
Unlike orphanages of the past, the Texas Baptist Home has five foster homes on-site that are run by “house
parents”. The foster homes provide a “family” feel to the living arrangements as well as a more stable environment for
the kids. Most of the kids attend public schools, their lives changing as little as possible for stability purposes. They
are encouraged to participate in school activities and make friends although security measures are taken to ensure
that the kids are not placed in unfavorable or dangerous environments.
Because Texas Baptist Home is religious based, all of the students living on campus are required to attend Church with
their house parents and are encouraged to become active in their Church and Youth groups. The house parents are
free to choose which Church they wish to attend, but I was very surprised to learn that this “requirement” is permitted
by CPS and the State of Texas. God is definitely great!
Of the five homes on campus, two are “staffed” homes: one for girls only and one as a transitional living center. The
“house parents” for these homes are paid staff of Texas Baptist Home. The transitional living center was started to
assist high school juniors and seniors to learn to live independently by working jobs, buying and making their own
meals, and starting a savings account (which is required) by saving 1/2 of each paycheck. These kids do not pay any
rent or utilities but still receive clothing and food allowances as provided by the State. The other three homes are the
more typical foster home and the house parents pay rent and utilities but are paid in return a certain amount per day
for each child placed in their care. Most of these foster homes care for 6-8 children each.
Texas Baptist Home also has an independent living unit available to high school graduates for minimum rent and
utilities while they attend college. This is a two-year program but provides one more step in the transition process for
the kids from high school to real life.
How do children come to be at Texas Baptist Home? Like most children’s homes, Child Protective Services (CPS)
receives notice of a child in a dangerous situation and, if necessary, removes the child from the parent/parents’ care.
Upon removal from the home, CPS enters the child’s name in a Central Placement System. The Central Placement
System calls the children’s homes in the region to see if they can accept placement of the child (i.e. 7yr old Caucasian
female, etc) and the home then has approximately 5 minutes to state yes or no on the child’s acceptance. Most
children are placed in homes in their region but, depending upon the home’s availability, are sometimes placed in
homes outside of their region.
All children brought into a children’s home become Wards of the State either because the parent/parents are
deceased and no other family members are able to care for the children or because the parent/parents’ rights have
been revoked by the State, or because the parent/parents have voluntarily relinquished their parental rights for the
child.
The primary goal for each child placed in foster care is to reunite them with the parents when possible. Barring this,
providing a nurturing and stable environment is of utmost importance.
While the average stay for a child in foster care is anywhere from 18 months to two years, most older kids who are
placed in foster care face a far less likely chance of being reunited with the parents or of being adopted. Only about
1/3 to 1/2 of the children that come through foster care become eligible for adoption.
There are three types of adoption:
Private—waiting couples listed in scrapbooks, etc.; mother chooses adoptive parents and is allowed personal contact
with the child
Semi-Open—mother can exchange pictures and letters with the child but is not allowed personal contact
Closed—mother is not allowed any contact at all with the child
The Texas Baptist Home has a Tree of Love that marks each of the over 150 adoptions that have taken place since
the Tree of Love was set up in 2000.
While much of this information was obtained during our informative session with Bro. Marsh yesterday afternoon, it was
during our tour of the girls’ home that we really gained insight into the impact of the Texas Baptist Home in the lives of
the children placed in foster care there.
Here we met David and Angie as well as the four girls currently in their care. A tour of the girls’ home and about a 15-
20 minute visit with David, Angie, and the girls, provided a much greater understanding as to the workings of a foster
home as well as the immense impact the house parents have on the children in their care. While not all children
placed in their foster care keep in touch, David and Angie have managed to cultivate some incredible relationships with
several of the children they have cared for over the past 16 years—all while raising a family of their own. They have
seen several children enroll in college and helped to settle them there, attended various important events in these
children’s lives as they’ve grown into young adults, and have even led some of the children in their care to a
relationship with Jesus Christ.
While appearances of the home itself seem to be a “happy” or “not-so-bad” kind of place (especially the front yard and
flower beds that we raked, cleaned, and mulched and the two “new” basketball goals we repaired), we are humbled by
the realities of the horrible tragedies that each of the children placed in Texas Baptist Home have and continue to
face. However, we must thank God for the opportunity He is providing for Texas Baptist Home to make a real
difference in the lives of these children.
All of the youth and adults who went to the Texas Baptist Home yesterday enjoyed our trip and are eager to return—
hopefully for a game day or Christmas celebration or something fun in the future.
Thank you to all of the persons who participated yesterday and thank you to our Church family for supporting our
youth in their efforts to show God’s love to those around us.
By: Jennifer Bridges
TEXAS BAPTIST HOME for children Waxahachie,TX
. Youth Mission Trip 03-19-2011
. Youth Mission Trip 03-19-2011
Early Saturday morning a group of sixteen
dedicated young adults and six group
leaders had breakfast in the Fellowship
Hall at Emmanuel Baptist Church.
Jennifer's husband Paul prepared an
excellent breakfast. We were about to set
out on a one-day mission trip. No one
knew exactly what to expect. We only knew
that we were going to help others less
fortunate than we. Jenifer Bridges our
youth director describes our trip in detail
below. There is one thing everyone
should know about the people who
participated in this endeavor. They all
gave 110%, each and every one of them
worked like they were on a mission. They
were on a mission it was a "mission from
God." Be proud of our youth, they are the
future of the church...
dedicated young adults and six group
leaders had breakfast in the Fellowship
Hall at Emmanuel Baptist Church.
Jennifer's husband Paul prepared an
excellent breakfast. We were about to set
out on a one-day mission trip. No one
knew exactly what to expect. We only knew
that we were going to help others less
fortunate than we. Jenifer Bridges our
youth director describes our trip in detail
below. There is one thing everyone
should know about the people who
participated in this endeavor. They all
gave 110%, each and every one of them
worked like they were on a mission. They
were on a mission it was a "mission from
God." Be proud of our youth, they are the
future of the church...
