The Founding of Fairhaven Children’s Home
Fairhaven was founded on the first Sunday of 1966…
by Bro. & Mrs. Harold Brown.
The Lord had given them a burden for children fifteen years earlier. They had been praying all of those years that He would show them the time and the place for the Home.
The Brown’s didn’t know how to start a children’s home but when the Lord impressed upon Bro. Brown that this was the time and that this was the place, he and Mrs. Brown knelt down in the parsonage of Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church.
They placed the few dollars they had on the bed and prayed a simple prayer… “Lord, here we are, and here is our home. If You will send the children, we will have a children’s home.”
Before they moved out of that three bedroom, one bathroom parsonage, they had thirty-four children.
Faith, Prayer and a Few Dollars
Fairhaven was founded on the first Sunday of 1966 by Bro.& Mrs. Harold Brown. The Lord had given them a burden for children fifteen years earlier. They had been praying all of those years that He would show them the time and the place for the Home.
When the Lord impressed on them it was time to start a children’s home, they just knelt and prayed “Lord here is our home. If you will send the children, we will have a children’s home”. Before leaving the 3 bedroom, 1 bathroom parsonage, they had 34 children.
We consider Fairhaven to actually be 3 ministries. One, is that it is a constant tribute to God’s faithfulness. In 54 years of operation, we have never solicited in any way, nor taken state or federal aid. God has always been faithful to meet the needs, no matter what they are.
The second ministry is to provide a home for the children
The name “Fairhaven”, describes the type of ministry we have. In Acts 27:8, during the Apostle Paul’s trip to Rome, his ship was forced into the port of Fairhaven. There they could have been safe from the storms encountered at that time of the year. Such a place is Fairhaven….a place of refuge and shelter, where children can find a safe, stable environment from the storms of life. Our desire is to try to provide a stable, home-like atmosphere for children who come from broken homes and other environments in which their lives are often shattered. Since the beginning, we have had a part in the lives of 300-350 children. Probably, about 1/3 of these, we raised from very young until they graduated from high school. From there, we help them through college, trade schools, some go into the military, and some just go out and find jobs—just like a normal home.
We now have living facilities for 45 children, plus facilities for house-parents. Also, God has given us a chapel and a 4000 sq. ft. building which includes a staging area for the international relief shipments,, a carpenter shop, and a welding-mechanic shop. This is all situated on 40 acres of land. We raise our own beef. We are not in debt. Every building was paid for when it was completed.
It is our desire that the children we raise will come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour and will look to Him for direction in their lives. We are fully aware that only He can make a lasting difference in their lives.
It is amazing to see how God works and meets our needs. We never know from month to month how much He is going to provide but it is always enough. We do know that He speaks to the hearts of people and as they respond, our needs are met.
Bro. Brown passed into Heaven on Feb.2, 1993. Mrs Brown went to be with the Lord on March 16th, 2018. They are both greatly missed. The Brown’s daughter, Sherilyn (Sissie) and her husband, Johnny, have been working in the Home since 1972. God has given them the same burden and vision…so the ministry continues.
The third ministry is to “Others”. We are amazed at how the Lord ministers from this forty acres out in the country. He has allowed us the privilege of not only caring for these children, but to minister to the needs street children, orphans, and needy families in Romania, as well as other countries throughout the world. We also help locally, as well as in different areas of the United States, including Native Americans. Since 1997 He has allowed us to ship about 150 shipping containers, with food, clothing, and medical supplies, to several countries throughout the world.
We ask you to pray that Fairhaven will always be what our Lord would have it to be. That we will be sensitive to the needs of others and when He opens doors of service, we will step through them.
Above all, we want to be careful that God would get the honor and the glory for the things done through this ministry. Should you like to visit, you would be most welcome.
The Lord oftens allows us to the privilege of seeing His hand at work both in our daily lives and also as we have the opportunity to help others, both locally and in other countries. These are just a two of the many times we have experienced His faithfulness in answering prayers. I hope that you will be blessed as you read them. —-Johnny
EEG MACHINE
When in Romania, I would often visit hopitals, clinics, and other medical facilities to find out their needs.
On one trip, I visited a children’s neurological clinic, met the doctor, and found out they had need for carpet and paint. We shipped these items to them in the next container. On my next trip, I went to visit them again and the doctor told me that she did not want to impose on me but wanted to show me their 15 yr old EEG machine. I can just say that it was in terrible shape, but that they were still trying to use it. On returning home, I put the word out for an EEG machine and tried to find one for 6 months. Nothing happened.
Six months later, I was on my way back to Romania. I boarded the flight from New Orleans to Atlanta and “just happened” to sit with two ladies (nurses) on their way to a seminar in Atlanta. As we sat and talked, they found out that I was on my way to Romania and wanted to know all about what we did there. As we were leaving the plane in Atlanta, one of them said “Johnny, there has to be something we can do to help you”. I quickly told them about my need for an EEG machine and what it was for, and gave them each one of my cards. I left them and never heard from them again.
I was gone to Romania for about 2 weeks. Several weeks after I returned home from the trip, I had an email from a neurologist in Greenville, S. C. In her email, she said that she had read, in a medical journal, about what we did and about my need for an EEG machine. She stated that they had one only 2 years old, in perfect working order, and would like to donate it. I drove to Greenville on a Monday, back home on Tuesday, and shipped it in a container the following Saturday. I then connected the doctor in S.C. with the doctor in Romania in order to set up the machine properly. It has been a blessing to hundreds of children.
KIDS PRAY FOR THE FUNDING OF A CONTAINER One of the things we have been privileged to do, because of the love and concern of so many others, is to ship Christmas Joy Boxes to children and Christmas Joy Bags to the elderly in Romania for Christmas each year. We try to load this container on the first Saturday in November in order to assure that it will be in Romania in plenty of time for our coworkers to deliver all of these before Christmas. I tell people that one of the benefits of the Lord allowing us to help others is that it gives the children here at Fairhaven a chance to be on the “giving end” instead of always on the “receiving end”. Also, it enables them to see the Lord work firsthand.
One year, we were getting ready to ship our “Christmas Container”, of which the shipping cost was $10,368. Now, we have to confirm our shipping date a few weeks ahead in order to be sure that our container has a place on the ship. It was about the first Monday morning in October and I was having devotion with the kids before they went to school. After devotion, I told them what the cost was going to be for the container and that we only had $3.000. I told them that we needed $7,368 in the next 7 days in order to be able to confirm shipping. Well, they prayed, off and on, for that container all week. Nothing happened. Then, the following Sunday afternoon, a friend of mine came by for he needed me to help him move some livestock. As we sat and talked, he asked me when we would be loading the Christmas Container, for he always enjoys coming and helping. I told him that I was not sure and explained the situation to him and that the kids and I had been praying about it all week. He asked me how much we needed and I told him. He thought for a moment and said, “I can do that.” And he did. As soon as he left, I went down to the house where the kids were in the kitchen with Sissie, making sandwiches before church. I walked in and said “Hey kids, guess what the Lord just did?” Allie, who was about 9 at the time, said “He gave us the money for the container?!” I told them that He had.
It is always great when they can see His faithfulness in these things and I pray that it will be something that will stay with them all their lives.
“The Path That We Have Trod”
This book, “The Path That We Have Trod”, was written by my mother in law, Mrs. Harold Brown, but known to everyone here at Fairhaven as “Sweetie”.
I had wanted her to write this introduction, but her health is not good at this time.
This book is simply the story of the path of life that she and her husband, Brother Harold Brown, shared from the time they were very young until God led them to start the ministry to children. It describes their walk of faith for so many years and some of the trials they faced.
As with everything that is accomplished through Fairhaven, whether here or halfway around the world, the one thing that they wanted, and we continue to desire, is that only our Lord is glorified through it all. That includes this book.
We pray that this book will simply be a testimony to the faithfulness of our Lord and a blessing to all who read it.
Johnny Huffman