About 20 years ago, Christina found herself alone, with two small children and nowhere to go.
Life can be heartbreaking for people in her situation, as Kevin Blalock knows. He serves as the Associate Minister of Christian Stewardship for Potter Children’s Home and Family Ministries. This nonprofit organization offers services designed to uplift and empower struggling families, including a foster care program and free housing, education, counseling, and other support for single parents. It’s a cause that many individuals and congregations, including churches in Paducah, consider crucial.
As he tells Christina’s story, Blalock omits her last name to respect her privacy.
“She came to Potter Children’s Home looking for aid,” he begins.
Blalock says Christina found help in the ministry’s single parent program and lived rent-free in one of the three apartment complexes on Potter’s campus. The organization provided her with a safe, secure environment in which to raise her children. She even received the support she needed to earn a GED certificate.
Yet, Christina experienced more than stability at Potter Children’s Home and Family Ministries. She encountered the unconditional love of God. She heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ while living on campus and decided to become a disciple.
“Christina was actually a very, very active Christian with the Tyree Chapel Church of Christ in Franklin, KY up until the day she passed away from breast cancer,” Blalock says.
Although Christina died, her story still has a happy ending. Blalock says her children are grown and doing well—a testament to their mother’s resilience and the support she found at Potter’s.
Stories like this touch the many individuals, organizations, and congregations that have kept Potter Children’s Home and Family Ministries afloat since its establishment in 1914. The organization survives solely on donations, without the assistance of government grants.
Central Church of Christ in Paducah is one of these vital supporters. In an email interview, Minister Adam Faughn says his congregation feels a deep connection to the ministry’s mission because it takes James 1:27 to heart.
In the English Standard Version of the Bible, this verse states, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Faughn explains that the word translated as “visit” in this verse really means “to meet their needs.”
“While some do that through adoption (including my family and others in our congregation) or foster care (as some in our congregation do), supporting this home provides another way to fulfill that command of God for all our members in an organized fashion,” he says.
Central Church of Christ, Faughn says, has supported Potter’s mission in a variety of ways. Members have even donated cleaning supplies and nonperishable food items to the ministry’s food pantry and distributing and collecting cans where families could donate change to the home.
Central, however, isn’t the only Church of Christ congregation in the area that supports the families and children assisted by Potter. According to the organization’s records, Broadway Church of Christ, Lone Oak Church of Christ, Ninth Street Church of Christ, Sunny Slope Church of Christ, and Reidland Church of Christ also contribute.
Faughn believes these congregations partner with Potter because the ministry produces results.
“The work appeals to them because it is clearly providing a series of needed services but is doing so in a God-honoring and well-ordered way,” he says. “The board and other workers are open and clear with communication about the work being done, and it is obvious that Potter is always looking to expand their ability to help more children and families.”
Potter plans to increase its impact, according to Kevin Blalock, by constructing new single-parent apartment complexes on its more than 40-acre campus. The organization currently has three complexes, but it hopes to build about 15 more. He also says the boys’ foster home will need an expensive renovation soon to correct foundation issues. That’s a great cause for anyone who would like to give to a specific project.
Those who want to support the children and families who find solace at Potter Children’s Home and Family Ministries can do so online at https://potterministries.org.
Blalock wishes to thank anyone who donates in advance because their gifts will transform lives with Christ’s love. They will never know how much their support means to the families and children served by Potter Children’s Home and Family Ministries.
