One of the most unique and inspiring events of any ministry program is when those who have been touched by the ministry return. Such was the occasion the first weekend of August when approximately 300 former residents of the Church of God Smoky Mountain Children’s Home returned for the bi-annual Alumni Reunion.
The ages ranged from teens to the late seventy’s. They all had one thing in common. They came to COGSMCH in need of a home and were given so much more than that — a place of hope and healing. The Home has been in continuous operation for 89 years. I have heard many call it “one of the crown jewels of the Church of God.” Indeed, The Home stands as a testament of the importance of benevolence and care to the Church.
The reunion featured games, fellowship among alumni and interaction between current residents and the alumni in a softball game. It was a special weekend that culminated with a banquet on Saturday evening. Several alumni were honored with awards and Sister Anna Phillips (she and her husband pastor in Oleander, FL) spoke of what it is like to be a Home kid. She presented a powerful illustrated lesson about her clown doll with a porcelain face that came as a special gift from her biological mother. While in college it was broken seemingly beyond repair. A caretaker at Lee College pieced the shattered doll back together and finally returned it to her. She was thrilled even though you could see the scars on the doll’s face. She likened the doll to the broken lives of our residents. Each of them comes with some measure of brokenness that needs to be healed. At the Home there comes hope; “Hope is the passion for the possibilities,” (Soren Kirkegard). At the Home there is the potential for healing; bringing the broken pieces of the lives of children together. Anna noted that children whom society would have deemed as too broken to repair (much like her doll) find a place at The Home. There may be scars, but the possibilities are limitless. The alumni rejoiced in the opportunity The Home had given to them.
The reunion always inspires our staff to see potential of the current residents. There is truly no place like “The Home.” Visit our website at smch.cc.
–John Sweet