Dedication of Bridges Forever home July 2005 The ‘Bridges’ Forever Home A year ago, if someone had told me that we would be sponsoring a home for seven children in our native country of South Africa, I would have thought they were crazy! Well, now it’s me that is crazy, crazy in love with the children and the people that care for them at Acres of Love. In August 2004 a cousin called from Alabama to ask Allie and me if we would mind hosting her and her family for a few days when they visited sunny Southern California. “Of course not”, we said; if only we had known then what a dramatic impact that visit would have on our lives. Maybe we would have politely declined; maybe we would have run for the hills. I like to think that our response would have been exactly the same, ‘bring it on’! That first night, after we had been introduced to Gillian’s husband and children (we had never met them because the last time we had seen Gillian was 17 years ago), we started exchanging our life stories and what God was doing in our lives. I shared that we were feeling ‘homesick’ and were sure that God was calling us to some kind of ministry to do with Africa. They told us that the reason they were in Orange County was to attend a board meeting of ‘Acres of Love’ and then proceeded to educate us to the terrible havoc that is being visited on South Africa by the AIDS virus and what Acres of Love was doing to save orphans and abandoned children with HIV. Right away, I felt a connection with what Acres was doing. The very notion of providing a new life for children that would otherwise be consigned to the garbage heap of life appealed to me in a very deep and real way. That week, Allie and I made the decision to get involved. In October, I took my family on a brief visit to South Africa to reconnect with family and took the time to visit the Acres of Love homes in Royce Road. The impact that visit made on us was huge. We felt that we had received definite confirmation of a calling and made the decision to try and fund a ‘Forever’ home in collaboration with our home church, Pacific Church of Irvine. On our return, I approached our Pastor with the idea and he agreed almost immediately to take the idea to the congregation. Well, within three weeks, we had the go ahead and were committed to the purchase of a home in Benoni. As I write this, The ‘Bridges’ home has been up and running for just over two months. In that time, this is what we have seen:
- Members of our families healed of the disease of racism
- A baby girl, who had been ‘written off’ as incurably brain-damaged, responding to love and therapy to a point where she will develop normally
- A group of missionaries from Pacific Church spend a week at the Bridges home and have their lives changed forever (one of the couples is moving to South Africa for a year as volunteers to Acres of Love!)
- Friends and family unite in a common purpose and passion; giving seven innocents the chance at a normal life.
What a privilege it is to be given a chance to participate! What a blessing God has given Allie and me as we find peace, joy and purpose in our on lives. I encourage everyone reading this newsletter – get involved! There is NOTHING like the joy that comes from seeing a child smile when you enter the room; the peace of knowing you CAN and HAVE made a difference to the world we live in and the sense of purpose that comes from giving to something greater than yourself. God bless you and give generously! Richard Adams
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