This November, we've been highlighting our ministry partner, Family Promise of Midland. FPC has enjoyed a fruitful partnership with Family Promise since its inception in 2011. In hosting families at our church and investing in this ministry over the years, we have loved watching family after family be given what they need to firmly plant their feet back on solid ground. It's apparent that Family Promise transforms the lives of families participating in its program, but what we sometimes forget is how Family Promise sometimes transforms the lives of our Covenant Partners who serve in the ministry. We invited Susan Atchison to share her story.

---

By Susan Atchison, FPC Covenant Partner

Ten years ago, God tricked me.

I thought I was just signing up to help play and do homework with the Family Promise children staying at our church on a Tuesday night. But in those three hours, my heart melted for two adorable elementary-aged siblings who were bright-eyed and full of life. Hoping to see them again, I invited the kids to come with me to Children’s Choir on Wednesday night of that same week. They liked choir so much that they asked if they could come back the following weeks, even though they would then be staying at other churches (which is the Family Promise model). We worked it out so that I could pick them up from the “church of the week,” take them to dinner and then to choir.

As the Lord would have it, my heart for the children grew immeasurably during those dinners and car rides, and my eyes were opened for the first time to the reality of life for some children growing up in hard circumstances right in our own community. I saw a 7- and 8-year-old, up close and personal, who had street smarts far greater than my own but yet really didn’t know things I took for granted -- like Christmas carols and Jesus’ mother’s name.

At that point, my sole desire was to smother them with love and show them the unconditional love of Christ. In the years since, I have walked alongside the children and their mother through some very dark experiences, and also through some very joyous ones. They are truly part of our family, spending most holidays and vacations with us, and even living with us when they had no home. The kids are now well into their teen years and Mom and both kids are now Believers, secure in the hope of heaven. And I am now a firm believer that, while I may not ever see all the fruit from the years invested with this family, God is faithful to grow the seeds Craig, Caroline, Kyle and I have planted.

He’s tricky that way.

---

Did You Know?

Over the last few years, FPC had received a series of a few large donations through the Deacon’s Fund as well as the Local Mission Ministry. Additionally, FPC also received a significant sum designated for local ministry when St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Mission closed down in 2018. We formed a task force to decide where these sizeable resources could be given in our local community. After much prayer and discernment, we chose Family Promise’s capital campaign for transitional housing.

Because this ministry is so close to our hearts as a church, and they do such a marvelous job in showing God’s love to local families, we found it to be a perfect fit for our donation of $350,000 this past summer. We pray God’s blessing for Family Promise as a ministry and for their construction of the duplexes that will soon be homes for families in our community. Thank you for your support that makes all of this possible!