Bree Fain and Nikki Baugus join Pastor Walton this week to discuss Harvest House, ministry to foster children and families, and Foster Care Awareness Month.
Download the Bree Fain and Nikki Baugus Harvest Time
Episode Transcript
Chris Harper: Welcome to Harvest Time. My name is Chris Harper, and our host on this program is Pastor Gary Walton, the lead pastor of Harvest Baptist Church. Every week, we spend these twenty five minutes together telling you the stories of our church by interviewing our members and other friends of the ministry. We just have one service during the summer at Harvest Baptist Church. That is at 10AM every Sunday.
Japanese and Korean translation during that service. And that service is also live streamed at hbcguam.org. Hbcguam.org. This week, we’re in a new series, Words Matter from James 3:1-12. Let’s begin today’s Harvest Time by welcoming Pastor Gary Walton.
Hi, pastor.
Gary Walton: Hey. Hafa adai, Chris. Yeah, we’d like to invite you to come and join us this Sunday at 10 AM For our service, our morning service.
Chris mentioned this new series about our communication, our language. Proverbs 18:21 says that death and life are in the power of the tongue. And our words matter. And the Bible talks an awful lot about our language, our communication, what it means, how powerful it is, the things that it affects. And we want to study through that this summer.
So we’re going to take about six weeks, through the course of the summer and just look at a couple different texts that help us understand how powerful it is and the significance of our tongues in the connection with our whole Christian life. So we’d like to invite you to come and join us as we walk through this study together. I’m really glad to have a couple ladies from Harvest House with us. May is Foster Care Awareness Month. Is that what it’s called?
Is that the right title? So we wanted to connect with Harvest House and so we have Brie Fain and Nikki Baugus here with us today. So thank you guys for being here.
Bree Fain: Thank you. It’s good to be here.
Gary Walton: Harvest House. For somebody that may not be familiar, what exactly is it? What role are you trying to play in supporting foster families and vulnerable children here in Guam?
Nikki Baugus: We’re a nonprofit that helps foster families all across the island, any foster families. We provide physical goods like clothes and hygiene items, but we also just wanna be there for them, spiritually and emotionally as well. We’re an emergency triage center. So as soon as CPS removes a child from their home, they’re brought to Harvest House. And we have a shower, we give them clothes, we give them food, and we just play with them.
And so that’s in order for the social worker. They have time to go and find somewhere for their them to go for the night. We host events every year. We usually host three big events, for all foster families on the island. Anything else?
Bree Fain: I think something that always sticks out to me is, like, if you’ve a lot of people don’t know where the CPS office is on island. And when you go to the CPS office, you don’t feel like you step into a place that’s geared towards helping children. And that’s not at any way a dig. It’s just, you know, lack of funding, lack of, the ability to have a place that’s, like, super warm for the kids. So Harvest House to me is, like, this place where they get to step into a home.
And, like, they’re our guest for as long as they need to be our guest, and we are so excited that they’re there. We’re heartbroken for the circumstance that that they are meeting us, but, they step into a warm home with warm clothes, warm food, clean shower. You know? That’s just like everything Nikki said. It just like it feels like you kinda step off of island, and you have to kinda be here to understand what that means exactly.
That’s not a dig towards any place on the island. You just feel like you’re you kinda step in somewhere a little bit different.
Nikki Baugus: Many many times people will come in either just to donate or Mhmm. To get things, and they always they ask if they have to take their shoes off
Bree Fain: Mhmm.
Nikki Baugus: Because it just feels like a home. Mhmm. And that’s what you do.
Bree Fain: And I think that’s a lot not so much of what the space looks like, but I think everyone that I work with, I can just vouch for that they it’s the attitude that those kids are approached with when they walk in. And even there’s, like, the CPS workers, you know, we’re there we’re there as support systems for them as well. Not just foster children, but the people taking care of foster children. So the foster moms and dads, the respite care providers, and the CPS workers as well. We’re really all working hand in hand and side by side to make sure that these kids are seen, heard, and valued.
And it’s just a wonderful environment to be in, I think. So it’s kind of hard to describe everything that we do because it changes every day just depending on the need of the child.
Gary Walton: Yeah. We’ll talk about a few more things. A lot of people are very familiar with Harvest House. It’s been serving our island for fifteen years now, a little bit more than fifteen years, and just I think a very big footprint over these years and we’re excited about that part. But also burden for a lot of the reasons that exist, and so we want to talk about that.
But maybe before we get that, how about the two of you? How did you get involved with Harvest House?
Bree Fain: Yeah. So my family has been long time connected with Harvest. I have the pleasure of being born here on island. So that’s how I knew about Harvest. I have a professional career behind me.
I was a software trainer before I came out here doing that to pay for school, biblical counseling, certification, and things like that. And when I felt when I I just told the Lord, like, I’ll work until I’m done with school and then from there we’ll talk. And as I was done with school, I said, okay, Lord, like, I would love for this season, this door to close. It’s not where I saw myself long term. And so that’s when I reached out to Ken Keith and was like, I would love to spend the summer after I quit my job just, like, serving in a ministry that I know, and then I’ll come back home and I’ll go from there.
And so I texted him and I I asked him if there was a spot on the summer team, and he said no. Because this was January and I had no idea, like, the team’s fully formed by, like, November or Right. He’s like, no. But we would love to have you out here. So, like, let me get back to you in two weeks.
About two months went by, and I didn’t hear anything, which is totally it’s just like that’s the ball you roll with in ministry. And so I reached back out, and he was like, there’s not a spot on the team, but Harvest House is actually looking to fill a full time position. And I was like, oh, okay. Woah. And this is all in the time frame of I come out in 2024, and we were talking about full time positions, just like what was the timeline, what was the position.
And I had been offered a position out here already, but I felt like I really wanted something that was hands on with people oriented, not necessarily administrative. And so we started praying through that, and that was last summer. And I didn’t come back out until about three weeks ago. I think this this week will be my fourth week.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Bree Fain: And so it was just working here last summer that really, like, every single week, the Lord answered a prayer that I had in my heart to, like, make it very clear if I’m supposed to be out here, and what the timing was. And the timing has worked out perfectly, honestly, not just for myself, but for other people at Harvest House. So, yeah, I think just long time involved in Harvest and then working out here last summer and catching that. You can’t be around this culture and and this ministry long without it just catching your heart. And you’re like, yeah, you just have to be here, I guess, to understand it.
So I caught the bug, the island bug Yeah. Of Harvest Yeah.
Gary Walton: Yeah. We’re so glad to have you back, Bree. Bree’s dad, pastor Jeff Fain, was here for a number of years and has come back over the years, you and your mom, and your mom together. So your brother was here, so we got a lot of Fain connections. But super excited that God brought you back here as part of the team.
Bree Fain: Like a full circle moment
Gary Walton: Yeah, for it’s great. It’s great. Nikki, what about you? You’ve got family connections
Nikki Baugus: too, I do. My mom came out here first. She taught here for a little bit. And then both my parents moved out here and they were out here for eight years. And while they were out here, I I’m adopted, so I was adopted when I was, I think, two.
And they’re biologically my aunt and uncle. And while they were out here, that’s when he heard about me and that I entered the foster care system when I was nine months old. So he moved. He left my my mom and my three siblings out here to come to The States to get me and they eventually followed about a few months later, adopted me in The States. And then my sister moved out here, my brother moved out here, and I was finishing high school, 2024.
And I was kinda like, k, Lord, I don’t know. I don’t really have any plans. I knew that I wanted to do something with foster kids, just because of my background, but I didn’t know what that would look like, and I kinda just took a step of faith and moved out here. And that’s where I learned about Harvest House. It took a few months, and then the Lord just presented an opportunity to start working there and helping them out.
And just being I was I just turned 19 when I started working at Harvest House. And it was definitely an adjustment but I knew that it was what the Lord was calling me to do. Just having that personal connection with it and being able to connect with foster families that come in, especially since relative placements are such, like, the main number out here, and being able to tell my story with them
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Nikki Baugus: And feeling that they relate to it, and it giving them hope, you know, I really just again, I caught the bug and it’s hard not to love it once you’re in it.
Gary Walton: Yeah, yeah, it’s cool. Actually, didn’t think about this before we started it, but both of you, parents or dads, pastors, so same thing.
Bree Fain: Neppo babies.
Nikki Baugus: Yeah. It’s actually kind of a joke at Harvest House because most of us, I think all of us are pastor’s daughters.
Gary Walton: Okay. So Nikki’s dad, Pastor Tim Baugus, was here for eight years, now pastoring in The States, along with Bree’s dad, both pastors in The States. And Nikki, you’ve been here back now for how many years?
Nikki Baugus: Two years.
Gary Walton: Two years. And you’re going to UOG as well. Is that Yes. So also taking classes at UOG and a lot of things going on in your life. Yeah, we love all those connections and we’re thankful for your willingness to serve.
So anybody that’s been around Guam at all keeps hearing that there’s a real foster care crisis on Guam right now. Can you help our listeners understand, like, the level of need, why this moment is so urgent? Mhmm.
Bree Fain: A few statistics that I think stick out to me is, there are about 700 foster kids on island. And when I say that over in The States, people’s first thing they say is how? Like, how are there that many kids on that small island? Because all they know is just a small island in the South Pacific. And my answer is, you know, sin, poverty, you know, poor circumstances.
It it’s everywhere you go. Like, Guam’s not a unique scenario when it comes to, you know, children needing help, but it is a unique scenario when it comes to the lack of help that they’re offered. Harvest House is one of the few, like, resources on island that do what we do. And I don’t know of any that really do, like, the widest scope. We we have the ability to do such a wide scope because of, you know, the help and and donors.
Another statistic is, per capita, the foster care crisis is four times worse here on island than California, which California has the worst foster care crisis of any state in The US. So that I mean and I don’t even know how to put that into perspective in my own mind because, you know, that it’s just you can’t really wrap your head around that. And then what what you said, 91 registered foster families?
Nikki Baugus: 91 licensed foster families and almost 200 relatives.
Bree Fain: Yeah. And you know do you know a lot about the, shelter, like, statistics? Because there’s how many shelters on island?
Nikki Baugus: I think I wanna say there’s about seven Mhmm. Shelters on island, and then there’s a main one, that’s supposed to have a max of 25, 30, and there’s currently 50 Mhmm. In that shelter right now.
Bree Fain: And what are the age ranges?
Nikki Baugus: I think 3 to 17, 18.
Bree Fain: And a lot of them, correct me if I’m wrong, Nikki, are actually supposed to be emergency placements as well. So do they they do kind of what we do as well, where the the kid is just supposed to be in the shelter until CPS can find long term placement.
Gary Walton: Yeah.
Bree Fain: But there’s you know, it’s not uncommon at all for children to be there. There’s 12 year old boys there now that have been there since they were two.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. Children have been there
Bree Fain: Yeah.
Gary Walton: From And virtually their whole life. Right. And we’re the shelter. Yeah.
Nikki Baugus: We’re running into the problem too of there’s just so many emergencies continuing. They don’t stop every month, and placement breakdowns and things like that. But there’s not enough families to keep up with it, so there’s nowhere for these kids to go. And so it’s either you go somewhere for a night, you just try and find them somewhere to go for that night. Otherwise, they’re going to the shelter.
No matter what age they are, they could be six months old, and if there’s nowhere for them to go, they’ll be in the shelter that night.
Gary Walton: Yeah. It’s interesting even as we go through the statistics. You know, we’ve been here for eight years. I remember the first connections with Harvest House and talking about statistics at that time. So eight years ago, the numbers were three hundred.
So in the three hundred’s for children in the foster care system. But, and that was a shocking number actually already. Now it’s eight hundred eight years later, or seven hundred eight years later. But also the licensed foster families, I guess I don’t remember, I think it was 40 or 50. And if I remember correctly, when Harvest House started, the licensed foster families were just in the teens.
I mean, there was only a very few at that time. And you mentioned, Nikki, that there’s 200 relative placements. So kids are, many kids are able to go to relative placements, and that’s a good thing, that’s a positive thing. But I’m thankful for the Ministry of Harvest House in that area. Of course, CPS is working very hard and doing a really good job in recruiting foster families, but Harvest House has had a big, big part in the fact that there’s 50 to 90.
So even though 91 is not enough, we need more help. It’s more than there would have been, and so we’re Thankful.
Bree Fain: Was it last year? Averaging about 20 new sign ups a year. And, obviously, we wanna push that number higher
Nikki Baugus: Mhmm.
Bree Fain: Every single year and do everything we can to support the foster families to make it easier. Mhmm. Another statistic here is that usually, it takes about three months for a new foster family to get the stipends to help take care of that additional child in their family. And so Harvest House is able to step in and say, hey, do you need a crib? Do you need a car seat?
Do you need how much clothes? Load it down. There’s literally no limit. And the generosity, I think, is just there’s nothing that’s held with closed hands. It’s all just like, what do you need?
Why a lot of times you have families like, no. No. No. This is enough. You’re like, no.
Might not be. Take some more. You know? Mhmm. So everything.
And it’s just like we serve the God who owns the cattle on the hill. So, like, we will lack for nothing when we need it. You know? And I think that that’s a huge thing that I see, like, Kayla and Bethany, curate is just give it. Just just send it.
Just take it. You know? It’s it’s not ours. We’ve just trusted to hold onto it for a little And, yeah, so that three months gap can be huge to be able to say, hey, we’ll supplement. We have, you know, the ability to give Payless gift cards if needed.
We have, just countless things that we’re able to help with.
Gary Walton: One of the phrases that we use, Harvest House uses, connected, is helping families say yes to foster care. What are some of the fears or the obstacles that families might face and how are you helping remove some of those barriers?
Nikki Baugus: I think a big one is the mountain of paperwork that you receive if they just hear that you’re interested. So they just they you get paperwork and then told to fill it out and that’s it. But I think with us, with Harvest House, we have foster parents who work with us or if you’re just doing respite or things like that. So we’ve kind of gone through the paperwork ourselves, and being able to help them through it and say this means that, this means this, and kind of do a walk a walk through with them because it’s really daunting when you first look at that paperwork.
Gary Walton: Well, Nobody likes paperwork. Yeah, I know. And actually we would say this is important, right? We care about the protection of Yeah.
It’s very important that the selection foster parents is carefully vetted. But it is a mound of paperwork,
Bree Fain: I think another one I’ve heard a lot is the anticipation of heartbreak. Because our hope is reunification with family. Like, that’s God’s intended design is for these children to be with their parents as long as it’s safe and as long as it’s, you know, good and healthy for the kids. But that’s a lot of heartbreak for a foster family to get attached to these children and then you’re overjoyed for them to go back home, but then your heart breaks for them as soon as, you know, those car doors shut and it’s it’s goodbye. You know, sometimes it’s less than a thirty minute warning of, like, this kid’s going back to their home and you’ve had them for months.
And so I think that being able to not just be like, hey, here’s help physical needs, but we’re beginning to introduce, like, what does it look like to we we already offer that emotional support, but trained counseling to just talk through like I’ve heard people actually say like, oh, that’s great that you guys foster care, but like my heart’s just not strong enough for that. And it is. And I think just like talking like God gives the grace that’s needed in the season that it’s required for. And we’re called to the least of these. We’re called to the one, you know, the 99 and the and the one sheep.
Like, we’re called to the one. I think as, you know, followers of Christ, the crisis is is it it’s rest on rest on our shoulders first as, you know, children of of Christ. And and so I think kind of helping out in that area, the emotional support of of how much heartbreak you’re gonna endure is huge.
Gary Walton: Well, it can feel overwhelming and intimidating to people, the whole idea of foster care. What would you say to a family that they feel the compassion for children in need, they honestly, they wonder, Could we really do this?
Bree Fain: I think I would steal something that my parents have instilled in me in a long, long time. I grew up my parents had we did foster care, legal guardianship quite often or, you know, just even you have a troubled child, we’ll we’ll help you. But my mom just always said, like, whatever the lord places in your lap, run with it. Like, hold on to it and run with it. And so I think, like, if the lord if you have the ability to foster care to to be in foster care, number one, the Lord’s gonna give you the grace that’s needed.
And number two, like, what he puts in your lap, just run with it and watch. Like, it’s just it’s just insane to even my own life and, like, our back my family’s background of, like, foster care and and guardianship, to see how like, my parents’ obedience and saying yes and how that impacted me as a kid of I just wanna have my hands open and say yes to the Lord and trust that he has it. And that’s all. That’s the only answer I think that’s necessary is, Lord, my life is yours. Whatever like, your will be done.
Gary Walton: Amen, Bree.
Bree Fain: And I think it’s simple. Like for me, it’s a simple answer, but it’s not an easy one. I’m not downplaying that at all. No,
Gary Walton: that’s great. Very, very good. So if someone’s listening today and they want to help fostering, respite care, donations, mentoring, learning more, what are some practical ways they can get involved?
Nikki Baugus: Our website is a good place to look for ways to get involved. We have a lot of different forms that you could fill out, as far as wanting to do respite or interested in fostering or wanting to volunteer, things like that. And then that way we can get you in touch with Bethany and Kayla. And so then before you even start the process, we make sure that we sit down with you and tell you what it would look like, what’s going to happen, and see if it is really something that you want to do. Then we usually have those meetings at the end of every month.
We’re going to think
Gary Walton: These are like foster care information
Bree Fain: Yes. Meetings, Bethany Taylor, the woman of all women. She leads them. She’s phenomenal. She’ll get you connected.
I think another great way is just volunteering. We have a big back to school event coming up. Like you said, you said volunteering. I don’t want say you didn’t say it. But just volunteer.
Come you can sign up to be a one on one
Gary Walton: Sign up online?
Bree Fain: So I’m yeah. I’m putting the form together actually today. That’s my task for today. Mhmm. But, yeah, you can sign up online on our website just to volunteer.
Be a one on one leader with one of the sheltered kids, and you can actually, you know, see what it’s like to to hear these kids’ stories, to see what they’ve been through, and it and and catch that, like, catch the bug that way. I think it is a huge way of and it’s a huge help if you don’t feel like you’re ready to foster care, to be in foster care full time. You know, give your time wisely, I think, you know. Mhmm. So volunteer and then come to the meetings, Talk to Bethany Taylor.
She has those meetings like Nikki said and go from there. But
Chris Harper: Yeah. I just wanna interject the website because we mentioned it a couple times. It’s harvesthouseguam.org. Yes. Harvesthouseguam.org.
Just so you know where to go.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, people Guam has been so generous to Harvest House businesses, individuals, in order for the mission to continue. There’s a number of people that have just stepped into that need and regularly, monthly, annually, they give to be a part of it. So what about that if somebody’s like, Hey, I’d like to be a part of helping in that way.
How do they connect to donate?
Bree Fain: Yeah, that’s also on our website. So I’m putting together also a back to school website. So if you wanna give directly to the back to school website, you can select whether or not you wanna volunteer, give an in kind gift. So backpacks, pencils, bottles, rulers, anything you could think, close your eyes and think of what you needed as a kid at school. And, like, those donations are phenomenal.
Our hope is that every child our hope and what will happen, because the Lord will provide, is that every child’s gonna walk away with a backpack, school supplies, and a water bottle to set them into the school year. Clothing, we’re always taking clothing. Gently used, shoes gently used, brand new toys. A really big need, actually I would like to do a plug because people don’t think we take adult clothing, but we take adult clothing for those those sheltered teens come in. And a lot of times they don’t have a lot to pick from, especially when it comes to their style.
So if you, you know, if if you’re Athletic. Yeah. Athletic or, you know, really anything. If you’re just purging your closet, bring it over. And we actually go through every single item of clothing.
We make sure that it’s appropriate. We make sure that it’s in good enough condition to send these kids home with. And what we don’t necessarily give to the foster kid foster kids, we still give out to the community. So nothing’s wasted, which I think is huge. Everything is sent out as a resource.
We have people from the community that will come up and ask for community bags, and we give them those.
Nikki Baugus: And also if you contact us directly, if there’s something specific that we need for that time, we’ll let you know. Yeah. Especially when we have events coming up, we’ve been talking about, asking people for, like, decoration stuff.
Gary Walton: Yeah. Specific kind of things.
Bree Fain: There’s another, something huge is our decorations for the back to school event. We want this day to make every child feel like it’s their birthday. So we like to go above and beyond and I’m actually putting together an Amazon wishlist that will be linked to the back to school event. So you can click on that and you can purchase something and put the Harvest address and send it to it and just kind of cover that as a part of a donation as well. Sure.
Because there’s people that have asked like, Hey, I’m off island on the twenty fifth. I can’t come in person. What can I do? Mhmm. And that’s like a really cool way of just, yay, you’re on the walls, you know, because we are able to afford all this beautiful decoration to make this not look like a gymnasium, but make this look like a birthday party for these kids.
So, yeah, that Amazon wish list will be on our back to school event as well.
Gary Walton: So Hey. Awesome, you guys. Thank you, both of you, first of all, for for being involved, investing yourselves in this ministry. We love what God’s doing there.
God cares for the orphans, and we wanna care with him. And so thank you for the part that you’re doing. We’ll keep praying for Harvest House that God will use and bless it in this coming year. Thanks for joining us today.
Bree Fain: Thank you, Pastor Gary.
Chris Harper: And thank you for listening to Harvest Time. Of course, at this point in the program, we always wanna invite you again to services at Harvest Baptist Church. 10AM is our service on Sunday, 10AM. And you can listen to that service also live here on 88.1 FM and khmg.org. We hope to see you in person or via, one of our ways that we stream this Sunday.
Thanks again for listening to Harvest Time.