I want to clearly define what it means for our young men to move from burden to blessing. The connection I feel is the strongest is to explain it through the lens of the child. The young men of Goshen Valley are quick to identify with themselves and others through their burdens. This includes the abandonment, guilt, anxiousness and fear that has built up inside of them due to the trauma they have faced in life. During their time at Goshen Valley we work intensively to understand those issues and walk with the child through the journey of overcoming those emotions and tensions. Thus, through this journey, they experience blessings that they would not have otherwise. This journey includes being part of a healthy family environment, engaging in therapy, and being part of a engaged church community. Such blessings may come in the form of adoption, reunification, graduation, full-time employment and a relationship with God.
What we experience at Goshen Valley is that this message of Burden to Blessing is not only true in the lives of our boys but also those that work for, serve and visit. We find that people have the ability to identify those times in their own lives when they carried their own burdens and sought the right environment, family, and church to overcome and grow stronger from those times.
It is this idea that unifies us all. Foster child and supporter.