Angel takes flight on wings of love, care and hope

Angel was born with a great capacity to love and laugh. Her smile warms the hearts of those she meets. Today, she is sharing her testimony with a group of Western Carolina University (WCU) leaders visiting Broyhill Home in Clyde.

“This is my home,” Angels says as her eyes sparkle. “I can look back and see how God has loved me, brought me here, and gave me people who care for me.”

Eighteen-year-old Angel has lived at Baptist Children’s Homes’ (BCH) western campus for four years.

“My dad died when I was an infant,” she recounts. “My mom and step-father used drugs. They abused each other and abused me and my siblings. There were many days when we had no food. And then we lost our home.”

She says it seems like the Department of Social Services “has always” been a part of her life. The story she tells is in stark contrast to the young person the WCU group sees standing before them. Angel graduates from high school in a few weeks and begins Haywood Community College in the fall.

Despite the harshness of her childhood, Angel says that she was angry when she first arrived at Broyhill Home. “I couldn’t help but look around at other children and ask, ‘Why me?’ I was hurt and felt sorry for myself. It may be hard to believe, but I just wanted to go home – as bad as it was. I just wanted to leave.”

But like an ice cube sitting in the sun, the hardness around her heart began to melt. Sh