Summer Vocation: Benjamin Brewer

Summer interns have assisted Homes for Children (HFC) on the Boothe Campus for nearly 30 years. Enabling others to join in the ministry of reaching hurting children and families with God’s love and truth is essential to the mission of STCH Ministries and the intern program is one way to achieve that. This year, five college students lived among our students at Boothe Campus from May to August.  The staff feels interns make summers richer providing guidance and friendship to the students on campus.

College students provide unique friendships as they pour into the lives and hearts of the kids, friendships they probably do not have with their houseparents, their caseworkers or other staff.

Benjamin Brewer, a sociology major at Texas A&M University at San Antonio, is described by his peers as warm-hearted, energetic, compassionate, hardworking and wise. He applies passion and energy to all things giving an example of what a godly man looks like.

A few of the interns shared their experience at HFC and what they learned about themselves and God as they served. This is Benjamin’s story, in his own words:

This was my fourth and last summer here at Boothe Campus, I graduate with my bachelor’s degree this spring. The time I spent here has been marvelous. I built relationships with children and with houseparents that go so much deeper than I ever imagined; relationships that will impact me for the rest of my life. The amount of love a child can audaciously love you with is unfathomable. These hurting kids know how to love well, yet sometimes have a hard time receiving love because of their pasts. For me, that tends to be the hardest barrier to cross when it comes to building relationships with these spectacular children.

I learned so much about children and enjoyed the time I poured my life into them. My prayer has been to impact them for Jesus, and to Jesus, in all that I say and do. Not that it was me or of me that I loved them, but it was also Christ through me that loved them. Jesus enabled me to love and serve them with energy and compassion.

But this is not a story of how I impacted and loved these kids for the betterment of their lives. This is how they have taught me to love, to be loved and what it feels like to be loved by my Heavenly Father. I know it is easy to view these kids as troubled and needy. But I am just like them, in terms of my relationship with God. I am the one that needs His love; I am the one that needs to learn how to love back, I am the one that sometimes feels like I am rejected and have a poor image of myself. This place has taught me so much more about me and who I am; the reality is unreal.

Being here, I put Jesus’ instructions into practice. I served, loved and told of his remarkable Good News. So many experiences at HFC astounded me with God’s love – holding a little one and the sensation of torrential amounts of love that you have for her, playing football with little kids outside for what seems like forever, the trust of a child asleep in your arms, a teenager crying on your shoulder and the opportunity to share with them that Jesus is enough, the honor to shout their name from the stands as they walk across the stage to grab their diploma. The memories are unforgettable; I cherish them in my heart.

I want to say thank you to the fantastic houseparents for not only being houseparents to STCH Ministries’ kids but to us as well. Allowing us into their homes, feeding us and praying for us; it is something that I know I will never forget and helped me develop into the person I am today. Being In their homes was my favorite part of this whole experience.

I love and appreciate STCH Ministries Homes for Children. Thank you for everything.

Applications for summer 2020 will be accepted beginning January 2020 for anyone interested. Please call our office at 367-375-2101 or send an email to intake-homesforchildren@stchm.org for more information.