Help for Children
“Religion the Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress.” James 1:27
Children Each Year
Years of Age
%
Teens & Young Adults
Lovingly Caring for Foster Children and Teens Since 1999
GAP Ministries began by caring for foster children in the home of our founders, and that aspect of the ministry has grown over the years, depending on the need, from 7 to 14 family style group homes where the love of God is shared with the children and teens each day.
GAP also licenses and trains individuals and couples to care for foster children to increase the number of homes where these children can live and thrive while away from their own family.
Finally, to better deal with the root causes of the foster care crisis, GAP also has programs to provide supervised visitation and Nurturing Parenting training for the birth parents. It is our desire and goal to see healthy restoration of families when possible.
At the Core of the Father’s Heart is His Love for the Children
Our mission is to serve children from hard places of neglect, trauma, and abuse. Our cause is to love the orphan by showing them love and acceptance and to provide them with hope and healing. We want to find ways to reach these children in all aspects of their lives, including Social and safety, educational, mental health, and spiritual issues. Children who have experienced trauma live with ruptured hopes, trust, and dreams.
SPLASH Group Homes
GAP currently has 8 residential family-style homes where we care for children 0-21 years of age, who are placed with us through the Department of Child Safety (DCS). GAP cares for approx 250 kids each year with teens making up 51%. SPLASH houses are staffed with full time live in house parent couples and support staff who have a desire to share God’s unconditional love with the children in care.
“God told me, ‘You are here to serve My kids.’”
I began to be moved with compassion as I dealt with our children. I prayed nightly for God to send us the right kids and I saw them as God’s gift to us for that season, whatever challenges might face us.
I found reasons to speak encouragement over their lives because what we saw were kids who would push us because they expected rejection. Rejection had been the narrative of their lives and as long as they could push us to reject, in that way at least they were in control of the rejection. So we sought out ways to speak life over them, to love them—we refused to reject them.
What does a SPLASH House look like?
SPLASH Houses look like homes, except bigger! Splash homes are in residential areas and are lovingly decorated to become a place of refuge and healing for the children. Founders Greg and Pam Ayers always said, “Why wouldn’t these children deserve a home that’s just as nice as the ones we provide for our own children?”
Because the Splash homes can have up to 10 children in them, large sibling groups are able to stay together and live in the same home. Boys share rooms with boys, and girls with girls. Everyone in the entire home sits around large tables for breakfast, dinner, homework and games. The homes have a large playground outside and some even have swimming pools. Whether children stay for a couple of days or many months, they will be loved and honored.
What does a House Parent look like?
House parents are people who have a heart to provide a loving, family-like environment to children coming from hard places. They are people who feel called to impact the lives of children and teens to help them see their potential and the destiny that God has intended for their lives. We call our group homes SPLASH Houses. It stands for Spirit-Powered-Love-Aggressively-Shaping-Hearts.
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