Friends,
I invite you to join me in celebrating the remarkable ways God worked in and through the Methodist Children’s Home (MCH) community during last week’s historic winter weather. The children, youth and families we serve through our residential campuses, foster homes and 13 family outreach offices in Texas and New Mexico had to adapt to the loss of electricity and water as well as other unprecedented weather situations. I know this was the situation for many of our supporters as well. Like you, we were forced to adjust to rapidly changing situations and circumstances. The most serious conditions for MCH existed at our Boys Ranch. In between the two storm systems that hit the Waco area, we relocated all Boys Ranch residents and staff to the Waco campus due to extended outages. Full service was just restored today to the Boys Ranch.
This is but one example of the great things done by our MCH staff last week. The reports I received from across MCH service areas and the extraordinary efforts I had the privilege to personally witness during this time were truly amazing. For many of our staff, just leaving their home to cover job duties, complete a project or check on a family in need was exceptionally difficult due to the conditions. To add to this, there are stories of staff spending the night at work in order to cover extra duties, taking on new and essential roles out of necessity and transporting colleagues or families to ensure our crucial services were never paused. This list could go on and on but in short, I am proud to serve alongside such a dedicated group of mission-minded individuals as we have here at MCH.
Thank you for your prayers and the resources you provided that enabled our amazing staff to bless others in these moments of uncertainty. In the coming days when we celebrate the efforts of our staff publicly, know we are also celebrating our MCH supporters. Thanks to God’s care, the dedication of our staff, the resiliency of those we serve and the resources you entrusted to us, MCH did more than just endure another crisis, we delivered essential relief to children, youth and families throughout Texas and New Mexico.
We are getting back to a sense of normalcy at MCH in many ways. However, we know that some of the greatest needs in our communities are just beginning to emerge. As hurting families begin rebuilding and seeking services like those we offer, we will be there along with our many friends who also are on the front lines for children, youth and families. This will take all of us – MCH staff, supporters, Board members, volunteers, churches and community partners. Because of the resources and expertise we have at MCH, we will remain diligent toward our vision to empower all we serve to experience life to the fullest.
On behalf of our ministry, thank you for giving us the tools we will need in the coming days to be there for children, youth and families from Texas and New Mexico.
TREY OAKLEY
MCH President/CEO
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