About Us
Chain of Love began in 1993, when a community of people in the city of Novo Hamburgo, Brazil including NAB missionaries Ken & Jerilyn Bayer, was awakened to the plight of street children. A rapidly growing number of children have been hopelessly abandoned to manage for themselves on dangerous city streets. Says founder and director Ken Bayer, ”Everywhere we turned, they were there…very obvious and sometimes stumbled over…yet purposefully avoided and ignored.”
Out of their love and concern for God’s children, a ministry called CHAIN of Love was born. The decision was made to organize for the purpose of bringing hope where there was despair; joy where there was sadness; and healing where there was pain, was driven by a desire to make a difference by creating a holistic foster care program designed to address the deplorable conditions.
After establishing and registering Chain of Love, a year of promotion and securing an appropriate project site followed. An alderman in the nearby city of Campo Bom donated a parcel of land. In November of 1994, the first children came under the legal guardianship of Chain of Love.
To avoid institutionalization, homes are constructed and staffed with foster parents. Each couple accepts ten children in addition to their own, and agrees to raise them to adulthood and independence. Attention is given to the needs of foster parents as well so that they will have the time and energy to meet the needs of their children. Usually there are eighty to ninety children in Chain of Love in our 9 homes and two youth homes being nurtured in loving and caring homes. The age range is from birth to twenty-one years. The foster parents and the larger Chain of Love community, together meet the physical, social, spiritual, and psychological needs of the children placed in their care.
Already more than 150 children have been rescued from the streets and given a loving home with a caring Christian family. But the need is still great, and your help is urgently needed.
Chain of Love Homes is a ministry of the North American Baptist Conference
1 So. 210 Summit Avenue
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Phone 630.495.2000 Fax 630.495.3301
http://www.nabconference.org
Chain of Love Homes, Brazil Technical Training Center