IN THE BEGINNING….
Rocky and Carrie Gill are two very special people–much loved and appreciated by us all at Hope For 100. Following an adoption of their own, Rocky and Carrie began to realize the biblical importance of caring for orphans. As they studied the Bible, it became clear to them that caring for the fatherless is a calling from God for the entire Church- and not just for a few individuals. Having said that, it seems that in so many aspects of life God uses key individuals to start the ball rolling- and so it was with Rocky and Carrie. The Gill’s felt that many churches were lacking an intentional outreach to the orphans of the world. They also felt that they would like to see their own church take the lead in changing this in Tyler. As a successful businessman in Tyler, Rocky served as the Campaign Chairman of the United Way drive. Soon after, he began to dream of a campaign that would challenge the Church to care for orphans. This was the seed of Hope For 100. The first Hope For 100 campaign was planned at an initial meeting on April 13th 2008. On Sunday January 4th 2009 Hope For 100 was officially launched at Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, TX. The goal of the ministry was to find 100 families who would adopt or foster a child needing a home. As one of our first major events Green Acres held an “If You Were Mine” conference in Jan 2009 – over 150 families attended.
We reached our original goal of 100 families in August 2010.
Jim Caviezel leading actor in The Passion of Christ visited GABC in support of HF100 on Orphan Sunday in November 2009.
GOD BLESSED…
People often imagine that folk who start things like this are extraordinary. We can tell you that for the most part we are ordinary people who have experienced the grace and mercy of God. That being said- Hope For 100 met with notable successes in in first two years. Large event-based promotions at Green Acres spread the word and got people talking. Well-known visiting speakers were able to direct attention. Local media got involved. But most of all, God blessed. Within the following 18 months the goal of 100 families had been exceeded. These families had children placed in a number of ways. Many children were adopted privately by domestic adoption. Other children were adopted internationally, still more came via adoptions and fosterings through Texas state. Our priority during this time remained the same: simply that children in need of families- regardless of where they were from- should find a loving Christian home.
It’s one thing to promote adoption and fostering to the church, but it’s another thing altogether to offer to support families who take up this call. From early 2009 Hope For 100 really did this in two ways.
First a partnership was arranged with ABBA Fund. In the spring of 2011 GABC & HF100 set-up an adoption fund with the ABBA Fund that has helped HF100 families to finance their adoptions. Through this fund there are 71 orphans from 12 countries now sons & daughters in 59 Christian families.One of the frequent obstacles for many families in providing a home for a child is financial. ABBA Fund is really a gift to Christian families needing financial help for adoption. Essentially ABBA offers covenant loans to qualified Christian families to help with the costs. The loans have no APR or interest rates of any kind. A family simply pays back the amount it borrows over the period that it agrees to. Essentially ABBA’s work is to keep funds in constant circulation so that families can provide Godly homes for kids in need. We have seen many families helped by ABBA fund and it’s our own view that they offer an impeccable service that is second to none- (if you need a testimony of this then call the Hope For 100 office) see the ABBA FUND link for more details.abba fund logo
Secondly a supporting ministry was started called Forever Families in 2009. Adoptive and fostering families go through a difficult journey and one in which they need support in. Forever families initially offered a range of events and activities in Tyler to build up and encouraged existing families.Quite a number of families at Green Acres had a part in Forever Families in the early days- and built relationships with a common bond that still exists today. It is still relatively rare in our part of East Texas to have a church-based ministry dedicated to this unique area– and Forever Families was the first of its kind in Tyler. Some time later in 2013 Forever Families went through an extreme makeover- of which we will talk about later!
We have done ministry project with Edna Gladney Agency called “Bright Futures Camp” with orphans from Russia. We hosted the Children of the World choir and Stephanie Fast for Orphan Sunday in 2010. We have worked with PCM on several projects. We have also held projects with Eternal Family Project in Honduras
In 2010 God gave a number of people a desire to see Hope For 100 go further–in particular to become influential in more churches outside of Green Acres where it had began. It was around this time that two new people came on the scene- Tim and Trena Clark.
Tim is from England and Trena from Tyler. They had adopted four children between 2005 and 2009 and had a dream to be involved as advocates finding homes for children amongst Christian families. Tim had also worked for a while for Child Protective Services and while there had his eyes opened to the needs of children in our local community of East Texas. Tim had some plans in his head but was not sure how to put them into practice. It was at this time in mid-2010 that Tim met with Hope For 100 leaders Rocky Gill and Kevin Burdette. It soon became apparent that they all shared a common desire for more churches to take up the need. So, in January 2011 Tim and Trena came to work for Hope For 100 as missionaries and have been with us ever since. Tim says that one of the best things he loves about Hope For 100 “is that we do what we do because of the life-changing experience God had taken us through. All of us are bold for the orphan cause not only because we are adoptive parents–but because God has adopted us Himself by Jesus Christ.”
In September 2011 Pastor David hosted a Pastor’s Luncheon to encourage other churches to consider an adoption ministry in their church. Jedd Medefind of CAFO (Chrsitian Alliance For Orphans) was the guest speaker. The was that this event would be a springboard for church in our local community to become involved in orphan ministry. At the event 21 churches were represented–which was real encouragement.
2011- the Hope For 100 office opens
Our offices opened at the end of 2011 and are located at 200 North Beckham Ave in Tyler in the Green Acres Outreach Center. As with other ministries in our building, we are blessed to benefit from office space being provided free by Green Acres Baptist Church. Our office is not just an administrative place, its a hive of activity and advocacy for children in need of homes and families wanting to help children. One of the nice stories to come out of this has been our Counseling service (see the Adoption tab)- where we meet families each week to advise on all areas of adoption from process to the family dynamics. Visitors are always welcome.
We also hosted the Duggar Family for an event on 2013 Orphan Sunday.
Events in 2014
January 31st 2014. The Steven Curtis Chapman concert .” This was a massive undertaking for HF100. It was an incredible thing that SCC would come and perform in Tyler- and it was a tremendous concert. Of course Steven had loads to say about adoption form his own experience- and if you heard it you would know that it really came from the heart. That’s my lasting impression.” Tim Clark
February 2014. The East Texas Family Conference with Karyn Purvis, Russell Moore and Sharon Ford. This was our largest conference event up to the present time. Attendance was around 450 people. We had 12 break out sessions- dealing with very cutting edge topics. One of the most special things has been hearing from families for whom this event led to other significant things- like the adoption of a child or the starting of a ministry in 2014-2015.