I was talking with a Baptist friend of mine the other day and we were good-naturedly bemoaning the fact that every time a church makes it into the news for some ridiculous reason, it usually has “Baptist” in its name, even if it doesn’t remotely resemble a typical Baptist church with typical Baptist beliefs (See: Westboro Baptist Church and Amazing Grace Baptist Church).

I mentioned that it would be really nice to write a positive story about an organization with “Baptist” in the title, and he reminded me of the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home in Bridgeton, Missouri.

Lowe-Frillman Campus in Bridgeton, Missouri

Missouri Baptist Children’s Home (MBCH) has been around since 1886 and is very good at what it does, providing such crucial services as emergency and transitional shelter, case management, foster and adoptive services, counseling and vocational training.

Every year around this time, a Christmas wish list gets published on the MBCH website, along with these words:

Our children come from lives of chaos, not calm; violence, not peace. Their lives have been filled with neglect, abuse, anger, betrayal and despair. Each year we work hard to make Christmas a wonderful experience for the children in our care. For many of our kids, this Christmas will be the first time that they’ve heard the Christmas story - the story of God’s Greatest Gift of All! The story that we often take for granted. The holiday memories and traditions experienced at MBCH this year may indeed be the only ones that they have ever had.

These comments are reflected in this story, which I was fortunate enough to have shared with me:

Imagine a precocious little girl with bright red hair, 7 years old. Christmas is coming, but she has no idea what to expect seeing as she’s spending it in a foster home. What she does know is that she’s lucky to be in a place where she’s treated well and taught about Jesus - a place where she can see and feel the love of Christ in a world that has not always treated her kindly.

As Christmas day draws near, this little girl and the other kids from the children’s home are taken to a local department store. At the store is Santa Claus, and he proceeds to call out the children by name and present them with gifts - the only gift that some of these kids will get this year. As the young girl cradles the stuffed Dalmatian dog she was just given by Santa, she counts her blessings and gives thanks.

Fast forward about 30 years - That young girl is now fully grown, with a wonderful family of her own and a stuffed Dalmatian residing in a place of honor in her closet.