Fostering with Faith

By Analiz G. Schremmer
AMARILLO, Texas – Tim and December Barcoft love children.
They lead children’s Sunday school as a couple and December is studying to be a teacher. But they haven’t had children of their own.

“Because we haven’t been blessed with our own kids yet, we see it as God’s way of asking us to do this now,” December said.

The couple is fostering a pair of brothers ages 5 and7 who were physically abused before coming into their home, they said. But only two or three weeks into their stay with the Barcofts, they asked, ‘Is it OK if we call you Mom and Dad?’

“The most touching thing is the looks on their faces,” Tim said. “Knowing they are happy and don’t have any worries. When they first got here, the oldest one acted very grown up and now he can just play.

Last year in Potter County, there were 2,892 reported cases of child abuse or neglect. Seventy-seven of the children in those cases were removed from their homes.
About 276 children live in foster homes in Potter County. (TDFPS 2008 Databook)
Tim and December are part of the solution in these children’s lives because they choose to open their home and hearts to help, said foster care supervisor Sean Burrell.

“We are all responsible for our children,” Burrell said. “But families like Tim and December are going above and beyond to make a difference in this community. They are offering a family, a place to belong, to these children.”
December said that one of the boys recently thanked them for letting them be part of their family.

“It is a change for us because you learn to put their needs in front of your own,” she said. “Putting them first and just seeing them running up to you and giving them a home. But I love it. It is wonderful.

“We went through training in December where they taught us to deal with discipline, learning CPR and learning to get down to the child’s level and be open to learning from them and so it helped prepare us for the change.”

One of the top priorities for the Barcrofts is offering the boys a Christian home where they can learn about God and take some early steps in their relationship with Jesus, they said.

The couple makes it a point to pray together and attend church as a family. They play Christian music at home and display crosses and other reminders of their faith.

“One time, we were worshiping at church and I looked over to see one of our foster children raising his hands to God worshiping,” he said. “At night we see them say their prayers and the older one will go for 15 minutes if we let him… that’s how I knew we are doing something right.”

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Call Sean Burrell at 806-559-2223 or email sburrell@buckner.org for more information.