Courtesy photo The Royal Home Ministries celebrated Christmas just as any other typical home. Pictured is the tree decorated by the clients this past Christmas.
Courtesy photo The Royal Home Ministries director is John Wheeler shown here with his family. Back row from left daughters, Karen, Rachel and Ashley and front row, sons, Ryan and Chris and his wife, Ginger.
SALEMBURG — The Royal Home Ministries, located in Salemburg, is part of a much larger organization which provides services to young ladies who find themselves pregnant and no place to go or live. As a part of Falcon Children’s Home, the ministry has expanded from the Salemburg location and the home in Falcon; they now have an adoption agency with two branches located in Garner and Cumberland County. There is a Christian school located on the campus of the children’s home where school-aged girls at the Royal Home may attend. The work and planning has been done to extend the “Mothers and Babies Program” to provide a home in future apartments that will be on the grounds of Falcon Children’s home.This will allow the mothers to raise their babies and also learn to live in the real world, but not have the pressure of not having a place to live if thinks do not work out.
This year, Royal Home Ministry is celebrating 20 years of service to the citizens of the state.
Royal Home Ministry director John Wheeler shared that Falcon Children’s Home has been in service since 1909. The first client was registered at the Royal Home in the Spring of 1992. “We have served over 320 ladies since we opened,” he expressed. “We are here to serve young ladies from anywhere in the state that finds themselves in a crisis pregnancy. We work will all the Departments of Social Services and the foster care programs.”
The program that is provided through the Royal Home is spiritually based and many of the young ladies learn to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior while they are residents there. That is the case with a young client that is currently residing at the Royal Home. We will call her Elizabeth.
As shared by Wheeler, Elizabeth had some truly negative behavior problems and had run away several times. In fact, she ran away three times in one week. They would locate her nearly 50 miles away. She is a ward of the county in which she is from and did not have a family she could be placed with so she was sent to the Royal Home.
In an effort to help Elizabeth members of the staff had given her a Bible. “We gave her a Bible and even gave her verses to look up and read,” explained office worker/house parent Alexandra Lopez. Elizabeth had been reading her Bible and was asking a lot of questions.
Elizabeth shared her story. “One day I was asked if I wanted to do a devotion. I said I would but had no clue what to do it on. So I figured since it’s almost Christmas maybe it’s time to find out the true meaning of Christmas. I wanted to know the true meaning of Christmas. I wanted to know the true meaning of Christmas because I didn’t grow up in a Christian home. I always thought it was about Santa and that’s it,” shared Elizabeth. She was attending parenting classes at Falcon and the Christian nurse teaching the class was instrumental in leading Elizabeth to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
“When I got saved Dec. 4, I got really curious about Christ and wanted to know more. When I first came to The Royal Home, all I had on my mind was leaving. I didn’t grow up in church or in a Christian home so it was new to me. I was living life all wrong and seriously needed God but ignored Him. One of the house parents kept on and on about how life with God was so much better. I ignored her at first, for about two and a half months. Then she started catching my attention. So I started paying attention in church and praying a lot. Then on Sunday, Dec. 4, we went to a parenting class at Falcon Children’s Home and the teacher asks who was ready to take the journey with God. Without thinking, I raised my hand. I accepted God into my heart that night and ever since my life has taken a turn for the best. Sometimes I question myself how I made it through without him in my heart. Now I couldn’t imagine life without him. The Royal Home helped me turn my life around and I’m so thankful I got the chance to stay at the Royal Home,” asserted Elizabeth.
The changes that have occurred in Elizabeth have been amazing to say the least, say officials, who added that her behavior has improved since she accepted Christ. She has become a model student and future mother and an inspiration to the other girls at the home.
Elizabeth said that she was very nervous about doing the devotion. “I was afraid what the other girls would think of me. I found that they liked what I said and have been very supportive of me since I shared it,” said Elizabeth.
The young lady spent much time in preparing her devotion and did a lot of research to find the answers to her questions regarding the true meaning of Christmas.
Her devotion read: It’s that time of year again. December has come and with it all the joys of Christmas. But what is the real meaning of Christmas? Is it the gifts under the tree, the lights in the windows, the cards in the mail, the turkey dinners with family and friends, snow in the yard, stockings hanging in the living room or shouts of “Merry Christmas to those who pass us in the streets? Is this really Christmas?
For many people, Christmas is a time of sorrow. They don’t have the extra money to buy presents for their children, family and friends. Many are saddened at Christmastime when they think of their loved ones who will not be able to come home for various reasons. Turkey dinners may be only a wish and not a reality for some.
Yet, Christmas can be a season of great joy. It is a time of God showing His great love for us. It can be a time of healing and renewed strength. You see, Christmas is when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child. God sent his son, Jesus, into the world to be born. His birth brought great joy to the world. Shepherds, wise men, and angels shared in the excitement of knowing about this great event. They knew this was no ordinary baby. The prophets had told of his coming hundreds of years before. The star stopped over Bethlehem just to mark the way for those who were looking for this special child.
Why did he come? Why did God send his son to this sometimes cruel and hard world? He sent Jesus to us so that one day, He would grow up to be a very important part of history. His story (history) is one of truth, love and hope. It brought salvation to all of us. Without Jesus, we would all die in our sins. Jesus was born so one day the price could be paid for the things we have done that are wrong. The Bible says that we have all have sinned. We are all born with a sin nature. We do things that do not please God. Through the sins of Adam and Eve, we all have inherited that sin nature. We need to have that removed. The only way is through Jesus. Jesus came so he could die on the cross for all of our sins. If we believe that Jesus died for our sins, we can ask him to come into our hearts and forgive us. Then, we are clean and made whole. We can know that heaven is place where we can go to when this life is over. I John 1:9-But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.
We can truly be happy at Christmas! No matter what may be happening, we can know that we are His children. We then become sons and daughters of God. Heaven will be our home one day. Look at Christmas in a new way this year. This is the year to invite Jesus into your heart. You will then have a “Merry Christmas”. The joy and peace you will receive will last all year as you look to God for all your needs to be met. Jesus is the reason for the season! Rejoice!
For anyone wishing to know more about the Royal Home Ministry or would like for them to come to your church or organization to share their ministry call 910-525-5554.
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