Challenge issued to build new Guatemalan home
Baptist Children’s Homes (BCH) is building the Westmoreland Family Children’s Home in Quetzaltenango, Guatemala. The new home will complement its affiliate orphanage, The Good Shepherd Children’s Home.
Through a $100,000 challenge gift, BCH hopes to reach the $200,000 goal needed to construct the home.
Since opening its doors in October 2014, 62 orphans have been rescued through Good Shepherd Ministries which includes the orphanage and nearby medical clinic. Each of these 62 lives may have been lost if not for the orphanage and the missionaries and churches who provide the support vital to the children’s daily care.
Before Good Shepherd, many of the abandoned and malnourished boys and girls were living on the streets. Some of the infants were found lying in cardboard boxes, at public wash stations, and inside rusty shopping carts.
“They were discarded like trash and left to die,” says BCH Chief Operating Officer Keith Henry, who oversees BCH’s involvement with Good Shepherd. “The situation was more dire than I ever imagined.”
That reality became overwhelming when Henry toured a Guatemalan state-operated facility. Nearly 800 children were packed into a compound made for 400.
“It ripped my heart,” says Henry. BCH supporter and trustee Jay Westmoreland saw conditions firsthand when visiting Good Shepherd in 2016.
“It’s impossible to understand the need until you see the children for yourself,” explains Westmoreland. “We’ve seen the success at Good Shepherd, but we also realize that this home has reached its capacity.”
Construction for the second home has begun using the $100,000 challenge gift made by Westmoreland and his wife Scarlett. The gift, made in honor of his father Dr. Ted G. Westmoreland, will help provide a loving environment for additional children.
“Scarlett and I hope other families and friends will join us in making the new home a reality,” says Westmoreland. “We have to help as many children as we can.”
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Your gift will be matched dollar for dollar through the $100,000 challenge. Contact BCH’s Brenda Gray at 336-689-4442 or bbgray@bchfamily.org.
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