CCHO is celebrating 50 years of ministry! Throughout 2019, we will be sharing stories of the lives that have been forever changed by the work God has done through our family of ministries (CCHO, Encourage Foster Care and Encompass Christian Counseling). We wouldn’t have reached this milestone without the faithful and vital support of incredible churches like Discover Christian Church in Dublin, OH.
Discipleship Minister Jim Brechbuhler shares why Discover has supported CCHO for decade upon decade in story #5 from our 50 Stories for 50 Years of Ministry series.
As the Discipleship Minister at Discover Christian Church in Dublin, Ohio, I have led our annual CCHO men’s mission trip for the past 10 years. Our senior minister and I discussed how long Discover has been involved with CCHO. While neither of us can remember when it all started, we know it’s been at least 20 years!
This has been a long and treasured friendship. Discover supports CCHO monetarily on a monthly basis, as well as with our previously mentioned men’s construction trips. Our missions ministry and children’s ministry also help with Christmas gifts and pillows for the children, as well as with other periodic projects.
Three words quickly came to mind when I began to think of the people at CCHO, three words that best describe my deep love and respect for this ministry. Yes…CCHO has a physical location, but CCHO is its employees and the kids and families they serve. Each word comes straight from scripture.
KINDNESS
From Kevin Hewitt (President & CEO) to our own sitting board member, Bill Roberts, to the maintenance guys who we know well, kindness permeates every level of CCHO. Stumpy, Tim, Winky, Mikey and Mark from maintenance and John from One Heart Stables work closely with us on all our construction projects. We see them interact with the kids and how the kids love to joke and talk with them. Due to behavioral issues of the children that unfortunately often result in things getting broken around campus, these men sometimes have to fix the same things over and over. For many, this would be frustrating, but we only see kindness in their responses. We work long hours to get our constructions projects done in short periods of time, so we’re always asking them a zillion questions and have them running everywhere for us, but they always respond kindly! We’ve seen cottage workers endure less than kind words from children that have only had unkind words spoken to them, yet they always respond in kindness. We watch how the employees treat each other, and kindness is front and center.
PERSEVERANCE
Each day that we’re working on campus, we see Carla and the other equine counselors head out through the pastures, each leading a horse with a child in the saddle who needs to talk. Daily, they lovingly invest many hours in walking and listening, helping kids unpack their deep hurts. Our guys see counselors go home at the end of long days of helping families heal. Even though they might be weary, they often stop to chat or at least wave and smile on their way out. Professionally, helping those that hurt can be tough, in that it takes a toll on caring people. It takes perseverance to go the distance and not give up. The CCHO staff perseveres because they’re professionally strong and know that Jesus walks with them into every situation they encounter.
HUMILITY
Rare is the organization where everyone with whom you come in contact exhibits a humble spirit. Humility is in great shortfall these days, but the Holy Spirit is actively cultivating it among the CCHO staff on a continual basis!
Christ-centered kindness, perseverance and humility explain why kids and families come to CCHO hurting and leave with a new outlook on the future. Every time we pull onto campus, we know we’re going to be blessed more by the staff than we’ll bless them. We look forward to serving CCHO for many years to come and would encourage everyone to join in the mission of CCHO! From all of us at Discover to our CCHO friends, we love you all!
