Compact Family Services

We all have basic needs as humans. We need food to eat, water to drink, a roof over our heads, and someone, anyone, to care about us. Some people are fortunate enough to get those needs met through their family, while others have no family of their own. And when you have no family, it can be hard to find food, water, and a roof over your head, especially when you are young. Compact Family Services is a Christ-centered ministry working to help those who fall into that last category of people.

Compact Family Services is a ministry of the Assemblies of God, located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, serving in 5 different ministry areas: Hillcrest Children’s Home, Highlands Maternity Home, Adoptions, Foster Care, and Transitional Living. You can learn more about each area at www.compactfamilyservices.org.

Hillcrest Children’s Home is a private, Christian, residential child care campus for children and youth ages 5-18 who have been abused, neglected, and sexually exploited. These children are offered hope and healing by being provided with a safe environment where they can have a chance to find complete restoration in body, mind, and spirit.

Highlands Maternity Home is a place dedicated to bringing hope and healing to young women who are dealing with unplanned pregnancy. They offer a loving Christian environment for young women to get back on their feet. They offer classes on both adoption and parenting so that young women can make the best decision possible for them and their child. They offer adoption services if that is what a young woman decides is best for them and their baby free of charge.

Transitional Living Center is available to graduating Hillcrest residents, aging-out foster care youth, and transitioning women from Highlands Maternity Home. While in the Transitional Living Center there are many classes and activities available to continue to assist these young people in becoming successful and independent.

There are so many ways that you can help reach the lives of these children and young adults. Prayer, Giving, Sponsorship, Foster Parenting, and Adoption are just a few ways you can help.

Prayer is always needed. Compact Family Services has a detailed prayer guide on their website to let you know just what they need prayer for.

You can Give to Compact Family Services in a general contribution or to specific projects within specific ministries. For example, you can donate specifically to the Hillcrest College Scholarship Fund to help graduating Hillcrest kids continue their education. You can Sponsor a child. Visit the sponsorship page to learn more.

Become a Host Family. Maybe you can’t commit to being a foster parent or adopting a child permanently, but you can still help make a difference by becoming a Host Family. Host families are families who host one or more children in their home for holidays, vacations, or other occasions.

Also available on their website are lists of their most needed items. Maybe there is something on that list that you can donate?

Hillcrest has a special project currently to provide massage therapy for the girls there which I shared in a previous post. Another fantastic way you could provide help for these children. Even a one-time donation would be a blessing!

You can follow Compact Family Services on Facebook and Twitter.

We are called as Christians to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Helping Compact meet the needs of these children and young adults is a great way to do that!

Special Therapy for Special Girls

Do you ever hear about a cause that you just wish you could totally fund on your own because it’s just that good? Well this is one of them!!

I received this email from a friend the other day, she had already told me about this before the email, but reading her email just really made me sit back and think about how much ministries like Compact Family Services are doing for so many young lives. Here is her email.

Dear Friends,

I have a burden on my heart today for the girls of Hillcrest Children’s Home; specifically those 12-17 yrs. old.  In their short life these girls have already endured YEARS of abuse, emotionally and physically. Add to that fact they are growing up without the love and affection of a stable Christian family of their own.

Praise God for the ministry of Hillcrest!!

It was my privilege last week to meet with Ashley Grant.  She actually serves as director at Highlands Maternity Home, but works closely with the Hillcrest girls as well.

A door has opened for special love, care and healing to be brought to 15 needy girls at Hillcrest.  The Lord has connected Ashley with a wonderful massage therapist who herself was sexually abused as a young girl.  She was sent to receive weekly neck and shoulder massage treatments that strengthened her muscle and cell memory AND retrained her not to carry stress in her body. As a result of this positive healing, she became a massage therapist herself. This is exactly the care we desire to provide for these girls.

Since this massage therapist has been through the same/similar experiences, she is anxious to make a real difference in their lives.  She has offered a discounted price of $8 for 15minutes. Ashley’s goal/dream is to provide weekly sessions for all 15 girls.

I have offered to help raise 3 months worth of sessions for all 15.  After this amount of time they can document progress of each. This is a brand new way to minister to these precious girls.  They are just waiting on the funds to begin.

Here is the breakdown of cost:

• One girl per month is $32. One girl for 3 months: $96
• All 15 girls for one month is $480
• The total for all 15 girls for 3 months is $1,440.  Really not that much.

THANK YOU for Prayerfully considering what God would have you do! We know the great need, now we have responsibility.

All gifts can be sent directly to:
Compact Family Services
2325 Malvern Ave.
Hot Springs, AR. 71901
Memo line: Massages

Or online at compactfamilyservices.org.
Choose Get Involved on the menu and then choose give.
Under the Bold Heading “Project Contributions”
Choose the Hillcrest Special Project Fund- 890063.
Note: Massages

Either way you choose to give, please email a confirmation of your gift amount to Ashley at: agrant@agfsa.org. 

This is to ensure all donations are accounted for this project is quickly covered!

If you would be able to contribute to this project in any amount, I know that God will bless you for it! These girls are precious to God and they have a bright future ahead of them thanks to Compact Family Services and the Hillcrest Children’s Home.

Redeemed Conference - L.I.F.E.

A few days before the beginning of the Redeemed Fall Conference, I received a random text message from Angelia Carpenter, the District Women’s Director for the Arkansas Assemblies of God. She was looking for a vinyl chair and said, “If you see one anywhere, let me know”. That made me curious, so I asked her what she needed it for. She told me she had this idea to redeem a chair for conference and then auction it off to raise some money for L.I.F.E.

That is all I needed to know. I didn’t have one or know of one, but there were a few resale shops close by, so I decided to go look for her. The first place I went to, there was this chair. The only chair in the place and it was only $8.00. I sent her a picture and picked it up for her.

Have you ever heard the saying “duct tape can fix anything”? Well, duct tape can redeem things too!!

We put the mat from the chair out and had anyone who wanted to put a piece of duct tape on the chair. Collectively, ladies at conference turned this plane jane chair into a redeemed work of art!

The chair was auctioned off and we raised money for missions! What a fun way to raise some mission’s money. That is one of the things I have picked up on since I’ve been around Angelia and some of the other ladies that work with her. I am always hearing someone say something like, “we could do (insert a million different ideas here) and raise money for missions”. I love it! I truly wish I had more opportunities to say that myself. Maybe I need to start looking for them.

If you are interested in learning more about L.I.F.E. please visit the Arkansas Women’s Department website.

Quote: Amy Carmichael