Sarah* is a spunky 13-year-old girl who lives at Baptist Home for Girls (BHG). She loves coffee, playing clarinet and expressing her emotions through art.
When she was two years old, Sarah was adopted by her aunt – who she refers to as her mom. Sarah was an only child and spent a lot of time playing alone. When she moved to BHG, Sarah had to adjust to living in a cottage with up to seven other girls. However, she quickly began to appreciate the sisterhood found in her cottage. She remarked, “At home I had no one to hang out with – I had to play games by myself. Now, I have people my age I connect with and can talk about things with.”
Sarah has lived at Baptist Home for Girls since July 2023. She settled into life on campus fairly quickly, but a particular campus perk definitely made the transition easier. “I thought my first few days here went pretty well, and then after a couple of days, we did my favorite thing, which is swimming. I love having an on-campus pool,” she said.
In addition to swimming, Sarah enjoys spending time with her goat, Sky, and her pig, Brooklyn. Before living at BHG, Sarah had never worked in agriculture before. She had to learn how to properly train her goat and pig for show competitions. “It was pretty complicated at first,” she said. “But after each competition and as I spend time with my animals every day, I get more comfortable and used to how I need to train them.”
The Art of Expression
Sarah is really proud of how she has grown in expressing her feelings since she moved to BHG. She has begun to use art as a way to express her feelings and thoughts when she cannot find the words to say.
“Before coming here, I struggled to express my feelings,” said Sarah. “Now I use art as a way to express myself. I sit down and just let my hands say what my brain is thinking. I have always been interested in art, but now it has become so much more important to me.”
Sarah is not only learning how to express her feelings, she is also learning a lot in the daily bible studies her houseparents lead in her cottage. Her houseparents, Steve and Nickolee Roberts, taught her the SPECKA method of examining a passage. Sarah explained, “When we use the SPECKA method to look at a Bible passage, we note the Sin mentioned in the passage, the Promises from God, the Examples we should learn from and follow, the Commands God gives us, the Knowledge we gain from reading the passage and the Application we should take away from reading the passage.”
Sarah became a Christian last year and enjoys going to church and watching The Chosen with her cottage on Sunday afternoons. She appreciates the community she has found with the girls in her cottage and desires to grow not only in her relationship with others, but with Jesus too. “I recently heard my pastor preach on how much God loves us,” said Sarah. “He has forgiven us so much and loves us even when we mess up. I hope I can be like that to others.”
Prayer Requests
Please pray for Sarah to have patience with other people. “It’s hard to be patient sometimes,” she said. Please pray for Sarah as she continues in her walk with Christ. Please pray for boldness in expressing her feelings and sharing what God has done in her life.
*Name changed to protect their privacy.
Catherine Horn is OBHC Associate Director of Communications.
