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FRIDAY,
JULY 15, 2005
Consider
adoption
By GREG TOPPING
Methodist Home for
Childrenand Youth
Imagine that you are
seven years old and you are
awakened in the middle of
the night and told to get
dressed and pack your
things because you have to
leave in a hurry. You are not
told when or if you will see
your parents and/or family
again. Nobody tells you
why this is happening and
you have no idea what your
future will be.
Far too many children
face this scenario every day
throughout the United
States. In fact, more than
half a million children
nationwide live temporarily
with foster parents while
their own parents struggle
to overcome an addiction to
alcohol, drugs, illness,
financial hardship, or other
difficulties. Because of the
hardship or maltreatment
they experienced at home,
the trauma of being sepa
rated from their birth par
ents, and the uncertainty
they face as they enter the
foster care system, children
in foster care have many
needs. They can also be
remarkably resilient.
Every child deserves a
loving, stable family.
Unfortunately, thousands of
children in need of adoption
have no families at all. In
the U.S., more than 134,000
children are waiting for
families. In Georgia alone,
there are over 13,000 in
state custody searching for
foster homes and 229 chil
dren who are eligible for
adoption and are waiting for
families today. Many have
special needs—they’re
teenagers, children of color,
or may have physical or
emotional challenges. Some
have been neglected, abused
or exposed to drugs. Others
don’t wish to be separated
from their brothers and sis
ters. Every child with spe
cial needs shares a common
bond—they need loving par
ents, like you!
Many people take their
families for granted and
cannot conceive that some
children actually don’t have
a family to call their own.
Can you imagine playing for
your high school’s football
team and not having a fam
ily cheering for you in the
stands or going to your
prom without parents to
take pictures and make a
big deal over you? Well pic
ture what it is like to walk
across the stage at your
high school graduation
without anyone to applaud
as you receive your diploma.
Jesus made it clear that
children are important
(Matthew 18:2-6). In verse
five we read: “And whoever
welcomes a little child like
this in my name welcomes
me,” (NIV). Therefore, all
Christians are challenged to
give children the impor
tance God gives them.
Currently, there are over
20 youth at the Methodist
Home for Children & Youth
awaiting families. You can
help by deciding to become
a foster or adoptive family
for one or more of them.
There are also other ways
you can help including
many volunteer programs.
You could become a visiting
resource or a Big
Brother/Big Sister at the
Methodist Home.
If you would like to step
out on faith and make a dif
ference in the life of a child,
call Greg Topping, Resource
Developer, The Methodist
Home for Children & Youth
at 464-3013 or e-mail
greg.topping@themethodis
thome.org today! Don’t
wait.
Faith
A pastor ’s vision becomes a reality
By TIM HOSKINS
HHJ Student Writer
“I stepped on the proper
ty and started crying. My
wife asked me what was
wrong and I said ‘God
wants there to be a church
here.’”
A year and a half later,
Billy Thomas, lead pastor of
The Refuge, is following
through' on his vision. The
Refuge, a church of the
Assemblies of God denomi
nation, is located on the
corner of Todd Road and
U.S. 41 north of Perry. Since
its first meeting in January
2004, it has grown from
eight members to over 75,
with even more attending
every Sunday. To Thomas,
it a promise fulfilled.
“This was a promise God
made to me that there
would be a church on this
property,” said Thomas.
“He spoke to me and told
me that there would be a
church that would touch
the whole area.”
The area, the space
between Warner Robins
and Perry, is one of the
fastest growing parts of
county and the Refuge is
one of several churches
founded in or relocated to
that area. The church is
currently building a perma
nent church building, but
for the time being they’re
meeting in a trailer on one
end of the 7-acre property.
The Assemblies of God,
the world’s largest
Pentecostal denomination,
acquired that land on Todd
Road from The Living
Water Church, which suf
fered from flagging atten
dance. All that was on the
property at that time were
several trailers. Interest
failed to develop over the
location and it lay unused
until the police contacted
the denomination about the
With the old basketball
gym (burned in 1969) rest
ing 100 yards from the
Pearly Gates, the former
Perry school building, con
structed in 1925, is the only
symbol remaining of the
glory days of old Perry High
School. As an expression of
the profound love for this
cherished institution
among PHS graduates, the
class of 1955 recently
donated an impressive
$20,000 street clock that
majestically adorns the
landscape of the school
courtyard. This building,
located at 1100 Main St.,-
which once housed grades
1-6 on its west wing and
grades 7-12 on the east
wing, now provides offices
for the Houston County
Board of Education and
boasts of a memorabilia
room for Perry’s favorite
son, Sen. Sam Nunn.
A visitor to the Perry
community will instinctive
ly wonder why this building
is still standing while simi
lar structures in Georgia
towns have long since been
leveled by bulldozers and
wrecking balls. Prime
examples of this destruc
tion can be seen in nearby
Macon County where
vacant lots in Montezuma
and Oglethorpe offer mute
testimony of the magnifi
cent schools that once stood
there.
The PHS class of 1956, of
which Nunn was a member,
was the last to graduate at
the old Peny school. When
the new high school was
completed on North Avenue
in Perry and the high school
relocated there in 1957, the
former school was relegated
to a repository for school
books and as a meeting
place for the school board.
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HHJ/Tim Hoskins
The Rev. Billy Thomas and his wife, Valerie, stand in front of the Refuge at the cor
ner of Todd Road and U.S. 41.
site’s badly overgrown
grass. Pastor Thomas, who
is the Middle Georgia
regional Presbyter, went to
investigate and there, he
says, he received a vision of
the church to come. That
vision has attracted many
to the church.
“What I like about the
church is the sincerity of
the pastor, his integrity and
vision. I really believe he
had a vision from God to
reach Middle Georgia,” said
Ed Bradley, who has been
attending for over a year.
Thomas and his family
began holding meetings in
one of the trailers. As soon
Saving the old Peppy School
Billy Powell
Columnist
Thirty years later, the
building had reached a seri
ous state of disrepair and
was moving closer to demo
lition. When a school board
member remarked one day
that the space occupied by
the old school could be used
as a grammar school play
ground, he cranked up
metaphorical bulldozers in
the minds of many who
feared for the worst. His
words only fueled the
resolve of Jim Worrall to
ensure that would not hap
pen.
Because the building held
special memories for former
PHS graduates and local
citizens, mayoral candidate
Jim Worrall, a former
teacher and principal at the
Perry schools, made a cam
paign promise in November
1988 to save the PHS build
ing. After his election,
Worrall was true to his
word and began an aggres
sive crusade in early 1989
to save the old building. In
a letter-writing campaign
and through newspaper
interviews, Worrall pointed
out the building was deteri
orating and urged the
school board to stabilize the
structure until a restora-
as the church began to
grow, they began construc
tion of a permanent build
ing.
“I wanted people to know
we were building a new
church there,” said
Thomas.
The building, Thomas
says, is an outgrowth of the
people. All the work on the
building has been provided
by volunteer church mem
bers, with the exception of a
few professional roofers.
Darrah Russell, a Warner
Robins construction worker
and Pastor Thomas’ broth
er-in-law, is supervising the
construction of the build
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Perry Mayor Jim Worrall took an active role in saving the old Perry High School build
ing, whch is now the Houston County Board of Education office.
tion plan could be devel
oped. So great was local
concern to save the old
building that a public meet
ing was held in its auditori
um to discuss the future of
the building. Adding impe
tus to Mayor Worrell’s
quest to save the building
was the full support given
his initiative by the
Houston County Board of
Commissioners.
In May 1993, the Houston
County Board of Eduction
proposed to sell the school
building to the city of Perry
for $1.2 million. At that
time, the city complex was
seriously overcrowded.
There was insufficient
space to house the police
and fire departments as
well as the city administra
tive offices. Since Perry’s
city government had
already planned to con
struct a new $900,000
administrative building to
ing.
“It’s a growing church, a
vital church. I enjoy the
excitement of seeing the
potential,” said Russell.
The church has had many
other needs provided for.
An Atlanta church put in
new doors only to find that
they did not meet fire code
for a building its size. They
were a perfect fit for the
Refuge. Another donor has
donated floor tile and the
labor to install it. A group
of Assemblies of God sen
iors who travel the country
in RVs will be coming to
help with construction for a
few months.
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Superintendent of Schools Danny Carpenter is shown
here with an architects rendering of the renovations
and facelift for the current Perry High School
alleviate the overcrowding,
it made a counteroffer to
the BOE for $900,000 to
use for school renovation
with the stipulation that,
after renovation, the BOE
would move from its loca
6A
Though The Refuge has a
number of older members,
the congregation tends to
be young, something which
the church hopes to expand
on.
“We’d like to make it kind
of a hub for the young peo
ple,” said Russell. One of
the ways they hope to do
that is with Heßrews 6:12,
a coffee shop named for a
Bible verse exhorting peo
ple not to be sluggish. The
shop will be open to the
community every evening
and operated by two church
members.
Another way The Refuge
hopes to attract young peo
ple is with a casual atmos
phere.
“It’s going to be a very
modern ministry,” said
Thomas. “This church has
no preconceived notions.
How you’re dressed, how
you look, your financial sit
uation, your stature in the
community matters not.”
Right now, though grow
ing, the church is still
small. Thomas is the only
full-time staff member.
Keith Williams, the youth
pastor, works a day job on
the base and the worship
leader is Thomas’ wife
Valerie. But growth has
been good and Thomas
expects it to continue.
“We will be full in this
place as soon as we open the
doors,” said Thomas.
Anticipating this, The
Refuge plans another
5,000-square-foot building
to be built next year. Until
then, the members are con
tent with their current
trailer meeting place, for
which Thomas is grateful.
“If I’d have pitched a tent
out there with no air condi
tioning and asked everyone
to sit on the ground, I doubt
they would have said a
thing.”
tion next door and relocate
at the old Perry school
building. In turn, the city
would move its overcrowd
ed administrative offices
See POWELL, page 7A