Dr. Jerry Haag, President

All Day and Every Day!

All day and every day we work to minister to the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of abused, neglected, and orphaned children. Serving children is a 24/7 operation. Our work never ends! This ministry doesn’t shut down and go home at five o’clock. Of course this is necessary when you are responsible for meeting the needs of hundreds of displaced children.

As you can imagine, operating a 24/7 ministry operation is very expensive. However, God’s people have answered the call and have generously supported this ministry for more than 100 years.

We work with children every day whose home life was very difficult
and in some cases incredibly tragic. However, it is amazing to see God work in the lives of these precious children. I am so thankful for the generous support for this ministry, but I am also thankful for the dedicated Christian staff that take such a personal interest in each and every one of the children in their care.

Great News!
God has certainly blessed this ministry. Last year, we were able to help 8,673 children and families, which is a 67% in the number of children and families served the year before.

Dr. Jerry Haag comforts some of the children at the Children's Malnutrition Center in San Juan, Guatemala. The Malnutrition Center is one of the priority mission locations for the Children's Homes' international childcare program. childcare program.

We have also seen great interest in our international childcare program. We plan to lead many more volunteer-funded mission trips this year to strengthen childcare services and programs in the developing world.

All children deserve good physical care and the opportunity to know the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

We also continue to witness a growing interest in foster care among churches. It is so important to be able to provide Christian foster homes for the many abused, neglected, and orphaned children needing that care. Consider that if every church in the Florida Baptist Convention had one family answering God’s call to foster three children, Florida Baptists could care for every child in the State foster care system. What an opportunity!

It brings me joy to be able to report on the many great things that are happening in this ministry, but the greatest joy I get is when I am able to see the spiritual growth and maturity taking place in the lives of the children in our care. This past year we witnessed 116 children make professions of faith with their decision to make Jesus Christ their Lord and Savior. What a joy it is to know that we are not only making a difference in these children’s lives, but also in their eternity!

Urgent Needs for Children!
These days it’s impossible to escape the news about how our economy continues to falter. There are a growing number of people being hurt by job losses and home foreclosures. Unfortunately children tend to suffer disproportionally during stressful economic times, especially when family situations are already volatile. As budgets continue to tighten, the need for care services for abused and neglected children continues to increase. However, we know that God is in control and He will continue to provide for hurting children through his people like He has done for more than 100 years.

The ministry of the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes is an all day and every day effort, but thankfully God is with us all day and every day!