Crayon masterpieces decorate the refrigerator and walls of the small kitchen. Homemade curtains hang at the windows, and the smell of peanut butter drifts from the sandwiches waiting to be claimed by a group of rowdy kids in the other room. Volunteers color pictures with kids in the living room, while others toss a football in the 90-degree weather outside. Laughter and hugs mingle with excitement, confirming that Berea House is definitely a house built by love.
An M-Fuge volunteer, right, does a crayon project with kids at Berea House.Charlie Barnett, associate pastor of missions and discipleship at Berea First Baptist, points to a smiling, gray-haired lady handing a sacked lunch to a floppy-haired little boy. “This is Judy Terry: the heart and soul of Berea House.”
Holding up a bag of Capri Sun juice, Charlie chuckles, “House special.” Popping a straw in the bag, he takes a gulp, then he settles back to tell the story of Berea House. “It’s such a ‘God thing’ how it all worked out.”
Berea House started in 1998 as a result of Walter Seats, the teacher of an adult Sunday school class at Berea First Baptist, who saw the potential that his class had for ministry.
“He (Seats) said that our class had so much love for God and others that it was a shame to keep it to ourselves,” says Judy, who remembers all the details from the beginning of the vision.
Senior pastor Ronald Vaughan approved of purchasing a house in a low-income, unreached community off of Hwy. 253 in Berea. Because the house was already settled within the community it blended in with its surroundings, making ministry opportunities much easier.
Though the ministry started almost 10 years ago, only recently has the vision started becoming a reality. Three years ago, some school teachers from the church, including Judy, volunteered to help tutor the neighborhood kids at Berea House. Soon after, the Urban League of the Upstate approached Berea House about partnering to tutor math and reading to the children every Monday through Thursday. Their only problem was that they needed teachers. But the Lord had already put Judy and the other teachers in position not only to tutor the children, but also share a Bible story with the 18 children in the after-school program.
Around the same time, the church realized that Berea House needed a big face lift. The church agreed to buy the materials and the Disciples in Action Sunday school class at the church donated the labor to renovate the house, so that even in its simple condition the children awe at its comforts in contrast to their homes.
Berea HouseThese efforts began to attract other Sunday school classes and families from the church. A group from North Greenville University also began to hold a Bible study and recreational time with the children on Friday nights.
The thrust of the mission of Berea House is to reach the children of the community, to try to rescue them from the life their parents have led and break the cycle. The children see a Christian life lived out at Berea House where they may not see it anywhere else.
But the children are a tool in the bigger mission of reaching entire families for Christ. Often the best way to reach the parents is by showing kindness to their children. On Christmas and Easter, Berea House ministers to the whole family by holding a service and a meal.
Realizing that most of the people in this neighborhood would never feel comfortable to walk through the doors of Berea First Baptist, Charlie and Judy realize, “We’ve go to come to them, to meet them where they are, like Christ. We want to reach outside our doors.”
Judy regularly surveys the neighborhood handing out fliers announcing services or VBS, and uses her car to carry some of the neighborhood children to church. She realizes that the ministry is about building relationships. “They see us not as a hand-out, but as a friend.”
This year, MissionFuge, a LifeWay camp for young people, has come from North Greenville University on Monday through Thursday to minister to the kids through crafts, Bible stories, and fun. So far, 21 children have attended.
The Berea House ministry has grown into a five-day weekly ministry, with usually 75 to 100 people involved annually. Long-term goals include holding an adult Bible study, offering practical skills classes such as balancing a checkbook, cooking and sewing, as well as an English-as-a-second-language class.
But the success of their ministry is nothing they would boast of. “It’s through our prayers and the prayers of other people,” Charlie looks out the window, up at the cloudless sky and smiles, “God has provided us with opportunities. But it shouldn’t surprise us. He’s always been faithful.”