June 4, 2001
Questions shape home's response to Charitable Choice
___By Jerry Haag
___President, South Texas Children's Home
___For the 226 children and more than 1,500 adults South Texas Children's Home helped last year, we say thank you. Without the Baptist General Convention of Texas, your church and your individual gifts, our precious children and families would not have been touched with the love of Jesus Christ.
___You might expect this is an odd way to start an opinion piece about Charitable Choice and faith-based institutions, but South Texas Children's Home has lovingly met the needs of children and families for 49 years solely dependent on your gifts without taking government funds.
___In the coming months, you will hear much discussion and debate concerning Charitable Choice and faith-based institutions.
___Of all the childcare institutions of the BGCT and as an extension of your church, we are the only one refusing to accept state and federal funds. Our experience in ministering to children and families without accepting government funds may be beneficial as you and your church or organization pray about what is right for you.
___Here are some questions we have asked ourselves:
___Can BGCT childcare institutions accept children from Child Protective Services and the state without accepting government funds?
___The answer is a resounding yes. South Texas Children's Home is fully licensed by the state of Texas and regularly opens our doors to care for children placed by Child Protective Services. The sad part is that most of these children have been abused and neglected in terrible ways. As I visited our emergency shelter in Corpus Christi, I was on the floor playing with a little 4-year-old named David. David looked like most any 4-year-old except for the patches of hair missing on his head because of malnutrition. David was placed with us by Child Protective Services, and it was your gifts, not federal funding, that provided him warm nutritious meals and a loving housemom named Betty.
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___Yes, it is. If you have ever seen "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" you know the extent people will go for $1 million. South Texas Children's Home could be a "millionaire" each year by accepting state and federal funds. We have prayed and determined that accepting government funds is not the right direction for us, and the price of accepting that $1 million is too high. We are trying to determine what is best for our ministry, not only for the next five years, but also for our next 50 and 100 years.
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___Another resounding yes. Most all of our other BGCT institutions accept state or federal funds and minister in the name of Jesus Christ.
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___Government funds can begin to drive the direction of ministry. The government is not consistent in what programs it funds from year to year. The future of where God leads you to minister can be dictated by the programs the government will fund next year. We as individuals, churches and ministries have to make hard choices about what ministries we can fund. The dependence on government funds can become so great that the freedom of ministering to a child or family is removed because no state or federal funding comes with them.
___The abundance of state and federal money is readily available, and advantages to taking the money are obvious, but there also are some not-so-obvious pitfalls.
___Although Charitable Choice makes provision for protecting religious organizations' right to hire who they deem appropriate, Kentucky Baptist Homes for Children is being sued by the American Civil Liberties Union for firing a female worker for her sexual preference and for using government funds in "discrimination" for religious beliefs. The ACLU is out to prove you cannot accept government funds unless you play by government rules. Watch for this case in the news; it will draw national attention.
___Part of the decision about Charitable Choice is based on principle: If Charitable Choice is expanded, not only will our tax dollars go toward funding some outstanding ministries in the name of Christ, they also will fund ministries in the name of Allah.
___Is this a scare tactic that will never come about? One need look no further than the guests invited to the White House for the faith-based initiatives signing ceremony to see the Islam Center of America in attendance with full support. As an individual, I do not want my tax dollars used to fund other faith-based causes. I would prefer tax incentives that would encourage me to give directly to the causes I support.
___Faith-based initiative guidelines stipulate the government cannot subsidize religion and no government funds can be used for proselytizing or other inherently religious activities. At the very heart of who we are, I find it difficult to isolate any part of our ministry that is not about a child or family coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior. I thought about funding our $6,000 monthly grocery bill with federal dollars, but the prayer before the meal is part of our family worship, and at the very heart of that meal is feeding a child because of Christ's compassion. What about funding our $13,000 monthly medical bill? It is a beautiful experience to watch Christian houseparents minister to a little girl in the hospital and to see staff surround her and lift her up in prayer.
___One of our core values states: "Every child/adult we reach will be touched with the love of Jesus Christ, and it is our ultimate desire that they will come to know Jesus Christ as Savior." Everything we are about is ministering to others in the name of Jesus and seeing children and families we minister to come to know Jesus Christ personally.
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___In some cases, yes; in others, no. First and most importantly, is taking government funds what God wants us to do? After prayer and seeking God's face, South Texas Children's Home does not believe we should take government funds. You can listen to all kinds of logic and rhetoric as to why or why not. Many ministries are successfully ministering to others while taking government funds.
___For 49 years, South Texas Children's Home has lovingly provided for countless children and families, had an active and positive relationship with Child Protective Services as well as other state agencies, and has done so without taking government funds.
___This has been possible because of your faithfulness. There are many arguments for and against accepting government funding, but you, your church and your organization will have to determine before God what is right for you.
___The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ (1 Corinthians 12:20).
___I thank God for the body of Christ and the many ministries to which he calls us.
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