LITTLE ROCK – The mission of the Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries is to make families strong.
Compelled by the Gospel to pursue justice for the children and families of Arkansas, the organization believes “family is the foundation of healthy childhoods, healthy churches and healthy communities.” And the Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries is there to stand with the families, giving them the strength they need to succeed.
Furthering that mission, the Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries this week had the grand opening for its new headquarters in Little Rock.
Located at the Markham Street Baptist Church campus, 9701 W. Markham St., the centralized location provides a statewide ministry hub for each of the ministries that encompass the organization and allows room to expand into new areas of ministries, providing Arkansas families with more resources for counseling, advocacy, foster care and adoption.
“We’re not celebrating a building; we are celebrating a vision. Together, we’re united because of a shared vision. We have a vision of a better Arkansas. We have a vision of an Arkansas with healthy families,” Dr. Derek Brown, executive director of the Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries, said during the ribbon cutting on Monday, Dec. 12.
“… We believe in an Arkansas that provides us solutions. We pray that every square inch of this building is used for that vision. We pray that our friends and partners in the child welfare world will feel the freedom to use this building as one of their own to be able to accomplish that vision. We pray that our church partners will use this building as their own to accomplish our vision. We pray God will do work that exceeds any one of us because we’ve come together with our resources, and we’ve shared what God gave us and we believe together that God will build a better Arkansas.”
Among those in attendance at the ceremony was Arkansas First Lady Susan Hutchinson, who expressed her excitement and shared a few words on the importance of the mental, emotional, and spiritual health of a child, citing Romans 12: 1-2.
The grand opening comes roughly 10 months after Markham Street Baptist Church transferred ownership of its campus to the Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries on Feb. 1. After renovations, the organization moved administrative offices in October from the Arkansas Baptist State Convention building to the new location.
Expanding on already existing ministries, the centralized facility provides a new Living Well Counseling location for the Little Rock area and Connected Foster Care & Adoptions now have a resource center for foster families and visitation space for biological families, along with training and office space for staff. Furthermore, Desired Haven Family Care now has training and meeting space for advocates and staff.
“Everything works together for the good of the children and families that we serve,” Adoption Specialist Becky Bruns said while guiding a tour during the grand opening.
The congregation of Markham Street Baptist Church still meets inside the building for fellowship as well as Little Rock Immanuel Baptist Chinese Church and Antioch Church.
For more information about Arkansas Baptist Children & Family Ministries, visit https://arkansasfamilies.org.