November 4, 2002

JEANNY and Jack Meeker with graduates Jonathan and Chance.

Miracle Farm celebrates graduations & baptisms
___BRENHAM--Two recent graduations and two baptisms poured hope into residents of Miracle Farm, a ministry of Texas Baptist Children's Home and Family Services
___For the first time, the unique ministry to troubled teenage boys held a high-school graduation ceremony. Although the farm-based program has included a school, it could not offer a high school diploma until April 2000.
___At that time, the program was accredited by the University Charter School, an agency of the University of Texas at Austin.
___Boys at Miracle Farm now may receive public-school credit for their self-paced curriculum.
___Miracle Farm's first two graduates are Chance and Jonathan, both of whom saw graduation day as nothing short of a miracle.

PASTOR Butch Strickland baptizes Justin.

___Jonathan had failed his sophomore year in high school when he arrived at Miracle Farm in February 2000. He had a rebellious and reckless attitude and was not a natural student.
___At Miracle Farm, he poured himself into his studies, however, graduating with an A/B average. This fall, he began study toward a psychology degree at Hardin-Simmons University.
___Chance also was failing his sophomore year when he arrived at Miracle Farm in January 2001. But a year later, he had completed his junior-level classes, and a few months after that, he completed his senior work with high grades.
___Chance credits the staff and the other boys at Miracle Farm as a major reason for his reversal.
___"Seeing that I wasn't the only one who had problems was a big influence," he said. "The staff also helped me through some hard times."
___Jack Meeker, executive director of Miracle Farm, said the graduation ceremony,

MIRACLE FARM Director Jack Meeker congratulates both Rod and Justin after their baptisms.

complete with caps and gowns, made a strong impression on all the residents.
___"I watched the faces of the other boys and parents in the audience," he said. "Seeing the boys proudly walk that stage with diploma in hand boosted everyone's spirits. Some of them saw for the first time the possibilities for their own lives."
___Miracle Farm residents also saw new possibilities for their lives this summer as two boys were baptized in Rocky Creek.
___Even though the water was cold--"real cold," as one the boys admitted--Justin and Rod gave a public demonstration of their newfound faith in Jesus Christ.
___The only comfort in the water temperature was that it was too cold for snakes, Justin reasoned. But he plunged ahead.
___"I'm not going to disappoint anybody, especially God," he announced. "Let's go for it."
___Rod made a profession of faith in Jesus last spring at church, and Justin made his commitment at a Franklin Graham crusade in College Station.
___"Franklin Graham told about all the wild things he'd done and about how, once you accept Christ as your Savior, he can take it all away," Justin said.
___Graham's words hit home with Justin, who had experienced failing grades, trouble at school, fights with his parents and had run away from home.
___When he decided to walk forward at the Graham crusade, all the boys from his house at Miracle Farm walked forward with him as a show of support.
___Justin's life has changed, he said, as has his once-troubled relationship with his parents. The reaction of his father to news of the baptism surprised even Justin.
___"When I told him about it, he said he was proud of me," Justin explained. "And that's the first time in a long time that somebody was proud of me."
___Both boys were baptized by Butch Strickland, pastor of Independence Baptist Church. The church has baptized in Rocky Creek since the 1800s, when Sam Houston was baptized in the same waters.
___

The Baptist Standard



News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook