News at Ebenezer

Open House and Free Collingsworth Family Concert

2009-07-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday July 11th
Open House: 4:00 - 6:00 p.m.
Free Concert: 7:00 p.m.
Drinks and hot dogs will be provided, freely.
Located at Ebenezer Christian Children's Home.

Singing in the Foothills 2009 - Friday, Saturday and Talent Show Pictures

2009-07-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

SITF was a HUGE event on Friday and Saturday nights. Absolutely huge. Here are the remaining photos from the event including both Friday and Saturday nights as well as our talent show which was held on Saturday.

Saturday Night

Friday Night

Talent Show

Singing in the Foothills Thursday - Recap

2009-06-26T10:07:00.001-07:00

Singing in the Foothills was HUGE on Thursday.

HUGE

Victoria Huggins is growing up fast before our eyes. John said it best, she's not "little miss Victoria Huggins anymore" she's Miss Victoria Huggins. She has a great future ahead of her.

Tony Greene is out of the hospital. His testimony was amazing. The Greenes really blew everyone away.

Ivan Parker had the crowd on their feet with his favorites. He is one of Wilkes County's favorite Gospel singers. He took time to thank all of the veterans in attendance and sang "Proud to be an American" in their honor. One of my all-time favorite Gospel Songs is "Midnight Cry" which Ivan originally performed with Gold City. Ivan ended his show with the song and it was a treat.

Brian Free & Assurance were totally awesome. I have never had a chance to see them live prior and the crowd was really into them. In fact in the encore at the end of the night, they came out and sang with Ivan Parker. That was really fun.

The last act was The McKameys and they were as good as I have ever seen them.

All of the artists came on stage for an encore at the end and performed together, which is tradition at SITF.

Thursday was really awesome and I am really sore. :-)

Pictures from Thursday are below.

Busy times at Ebenezer!

2009-06-22T12:32:00.000-07:00

We are selling quite a few Singing in the Foothills tickets this week!

Singing in the Foothills is this week! Call 866-601-SING for tickets! Through Wednesday Artist Circle tickets are still $22 per night or $60 for all three. General Admission is still $17 per night or $45 for all three.

For more information check out singinginthefoothills.org.

Ebenezer and Hometown Christian Radio 3WC both celebrate their 15th Anniversary this July. To celebrate we are having an open house and concert featuring The Collingsworth Family under a tent here at Ebenezer. The concert is at 7:00 p.m. and the Open House is still being determined. Keep checking back for more information.

Oh, and it is absolutely free.

Back to the grindstone. I have tickets to sell! Not to mention videos to edit, websites to update and Troy to look after!

See you Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Singing in the Foothills!

SITF is NEXT WEEK!

2009-06-17T06:28:00.001-07:00

Help spread the word and help support the children at Ebenezer. Download the poster, print it out and post it at your office or business. Hand them out to friends, share them on your favorite social networking site.

Download the 2009 SITF Poster.

Singing in the Foothills Concert Preview

2009-06-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

Click here to stream the SITF Concert Preview online. It is sixty-five minutes of music and information about Singing in the Foothills, which is less than two weeks away.

Tickets are going fast! Secure your tickets by calling us at 866-601-SING.

2009 SITF Tent Raising

2009-06-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday were spent raising the 2009 Singing in the Foothills Tent.

See the pictures below. Thanks to ALL who came to help out and volunteer their time!

Singing in the Foothills 2 Weeks Away

2009-06-10T08:02:00.000-07:00

Singing in the Foothills is just two weeks away! Call 866-601-SING to secure your tickets.

While you're at it, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Our Facebook fan page is available here.

Follow @SITF2 on Twitter or click here to go directly to our Twitter page.

We will have a live Twitter feed during Singing in the Foothills June 25th - June 27th.

As always check out the latest on SITF at http://www.singinginthefoothills.org

Singing in the Foothills Pictures

2009-06-02T07:51:00.000-07:00

Check out SingingintheFoothills.org for pictures from Singing in the Foothills 2006 - 2008.

We hope to see you at Singing in the Foothills 2009 which has been expanded to three nights.

While you're in the mood to look at photos, check out our new Flickr page. View, comment and share pictures from current and past Ebenezer events.

Ebenezer Christian Children's Home Video

2009-05-29T06:23:00.000-07:00

Below is the Ebenezer Christian Children's Home informational video. This is the web version which you can view in your web browser. A DVD-quality (mpeg4) version is forthcoming for download and is suitable for presentation on a television or projector at home, church or community gathering.

2009 ECCH Dream Ride

2009-05-28T09:21:00.000-07:00

Ebenezer's Dream Ride Beach Bash was held on May 9th, 2009.

Special thanks to the following:

Crossroads Harley Davidson
Gary Foster - for coordinating the event.
Wilkesboro HOG Chapter
Carolina West - for sponsoring the Stunt Show.
Suncrest Farms and Junior Johnson
Wilkes Family Pharmacy
Don Manus

Special Thanks to our Door Prize Sponsors:

Carousel Cafe
Ted's Kickin Chicken
Suncrest Farms
Tipton's
Fire Mountain
Dine-n-Dash
Mayflower
Brushy Mtn. Smokehouse

Some pictures from the event are below.

Lowe's Heroes Project at Ebenezer

2009-05-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

The Lowe's Heroes Program, an outreach program to improve communities in which Lowe's and its employees work and live, chose Ebenezer Christian Children's Home as one of its partners this year. In April employees from the Customer Support Center in Wilkesboro visited Ebenezer to build an area for the children and the Home's employees to gather and fellowship.

Thank you, Lowe's, for being part of our community and for giving so much to the children and our ministry of hope.

News Updates on the Way But First...........

2009-02-16T05:15:00.000-08:00

From John Wishon, Board Chairman, Ebenezer Christian Childrens Home
2/26/09

The news section of the website is soon to be updated. Things at Ebenezer have been so busy recently that the website has taken a back seat but that is going to change. As for now, I want to address some things about Ebenezer that you may not know.

Some of you may wonder who is on our Board of Directors and how they get there. Our Current Board Members are:

John Wishon- Chairman-Owner WWWC Radio/Foothills Media Inc.

Jerry Sidden- Vice Chairman-Retired Project Manager for John S. Clark Builders

Gail Walsh- Secretary- Owner of Sisters, Melody Square, North Wilkesboro

Rev. Ken Pardue- Pastor of Antioch Baptist Church

Will Hartley- Owner of Builders Choice Kitchen & Bath

Bridgett Gardner- Lowe's Employee

Cathy Graham- Educator

Kevin Sheets- President, Dealer Financial Services

Doug Rollins- Insurance Agent, Faw Insurance

Prospective board members are nominated by a current member and if voted in, serve a four year term. The board meets the first Monday of each month to pray and discuss the business of the children's home. Our board members are not just people who meet once in a while to make decisions, you will see all of us involved in the various activities that involves Ebenezer from share-a-thons, to Singing in the Foothills, the golf tournament, even attending adoption ceremonies for the children that Ebenezer has helped to place with forever families. No board member receives any compensation for serving other than the many blessings that are involved. All financial decisions, including salaries, are made by the board of directors. Ebenezer is audited each year by Kim Walker, CPA, who presents her findings to the Board of Directors.

Ebenezer now has four homes: Genesis, Faith, Charity, and Hope. These four homes give us the capacity of 33 children. We are constantly either at or near capacity. As many of you know, our next project is for a foster home in the Oakwoods Community on some beautiful land that has been donated.

Construction has just been completed on a new office building. Many people do not realize how small the space was that our administrative staff has worked in over the years. The basement of the Charity home served us well for some time but we have grown to the point that we had to have more space. We looked into several modular units but they were not cost effective to accommodate the needed fireproof rooms and some space for future growth. We are committed to continuing to care for more and more children and it is only a wise builder that "counts the cost" and looks into the future with anticipation of growth. The office is a very nice, but modest, white brick building with sheet rock walls and carpet floors that provides us with some much needed security near the entrance to the Ebenezer property. Some of the materials and labor for the offices were donated, the rest we paid for out of finances raised during the share-a-thons on 3WC.

These are exciting days at Ebenezer and the Lord has pushed the fast-forward button in the last few years. In a way, it seems like just yesterday that funds were being raised for the first home and property for five children. When you are faithful over a few things the Lord will increase your realm of responsibility.

The Board of Directors had a wonderful two-day meeting last weekend specifically to outline our vision for the future. We have never been more excited about what the Lord is doing with this ministry and with what he has laid on our heart for the future. We will be releasing those plans as the year progresses.

The Board also has never been more proud of our staff. Our office staff, house parents, and Attic employees do such a wonderful job and deserve WAY more than they are paid. Our Executive Director, Jean Davis has been with us since day one and we can not express enough our confidence in her. Jean oversees the day to day operations of all of the different areas of ministry at Ebenezer. Even though Jean makes no financial decisions and is not on the Board of Directors, she is always faithful to carry out the Board's wishes. We never cease to be amazed that she still manages to know so much about each of the children that have called Ebenezer home. Sherry Reeves, our Associate Director, has been such an asset to the ministry. She does a fantastic job coordinating volunteers for all of our fundraising events in addition to her regular job responsibilities. A special thanks to Mrs. Arliene who handles the accounting for all of Ebenezer's donated funds, sales from The Attic, and ticket sales for Singing in the Foothills. She pours her heart into her job and even though her work load has increased with Ebenezer's growth, she still pays close attention to every penny that's given.

For the past several months, we have been in the process of accreditation with two organizations that will increase our financial accountability. The Word of God teaches us that "where much is known, much is required." We clearly understand that we should not only be excited about future growth but we are also required to protect what has been entrusted to us. These steps are being taken not to correct a problem, but to protect the integrity of the ministry from the enemy whose job it is to steal, kill, and destroy. So in addition to the "in-house accounting" by Mrs. Arliene and by Kim Walker, our independent CPA, you will be seeing reports on our website and in print from the two fine organizations that we are working with. I am not at liberty to name the organizations we are working with since the process has not been completed. Just be assured that Ebenezer will be listed for financial integrity beside organizations like Samaritan's Purse, Campus Crusade For Christ, World Vision, The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, Focus on the Family, and In Touch Ministries, among many others.

2009 marks Ebenezer's 15th anniversary and is shaping up to be a very busy year. Our Spring share-a-thon on 3WC is April 10th and 11th. We will continue to raise funds for the new foster home on the Oakwoods Community. Singing in the Foothills, our largest event will expand to three days this year, June 25th-27th at Wilkesboro Raceway Park. July 11th, we will team up with 3WC Radio for the 15th anniversary celebration of the radio station and the Home. We will be announcing details of this event in the near future. Later on this year will be our annual golf tournament and Fall share-a-thon. Even though the children are always taken care of thanks to the funds from DSS and our church supporters, it is these large fundraising events that allow us to build the buildings to take care of more and more children. The focus at Ebenezer today is the same as it was 15 years ago, to care for hurting children in a Christ-centered environment.

As always, if you have any questions about the Home, feel free to call 667-LOVE. We would be glad to answer any question you may have. In closing, our Board would like to thank all of the donors, churches, and volunteers who give so much to help us answer the call to care for hurting children. Most of all, our thanks and praise goes to our King of Kings, Jesus Christ!

Sorry For No Updated News

2009-02-13T03:03:00.000-08:00

The blog is soon to be updated with new pics and news. Alot of exciting things are going on at Ebenezer so check back often for updates.

2007 Ebenezer Children's Home Golf Tournament

2007-08-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

2007-08-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

It's time again for the 8th annual Ebenezer Christian Children’s Home Golf Event. This year we are giving away $100k in cash, a 2008 Harley-Davidson and a new Chevrolet Silverado for hole in one's on selected par 3's and over $5k in cash for winners of the event. There will be several contest during the tournament including a $1000 prize for a long putt contest, a $250 prize for the lowest score putting contest, ring of fire contest and closet to the pin contest to name a few. The Entry fee is $75 per player/4 man team. First place is $500 and $300 for second place for both flights. It is at Brushy Mountiang Country Club on September 15, 2007. Call 336-667-5683 to talk to Jean Davis or 336-469-2273 to talk with Gary Foster for more details.

Singing in the Foothills 2007

2007-07-01T08:45:00.000-07:00

2007-07-01T08:43:00.000-07:00

The second annual Singing in the Foothills was held under a 5,000 seat tent at Wilkesboro Raceway Park on June 22, 2007 at 7:00pm and June 23, 2007 at 5:00pm and it was considered a great success. All proceeds benifited the ministry of Ebenezer Christian Children’s Home, the sponsor of the event. There was a talent competition held on Saturday morning, June 23rd, for children and adult divisions. There were wonderful prizes for the winners of the talent competition, including a $1000 cash prize for first place and the opportunity to perform live during the Saturday night singing.

2007-07-01T08:38:00.000-07:00

2007-07-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

With turnout exceeding expectation, this year’s event was even bigger than last year with Friday night’s lineup including performances by Michael Combs, The Chuck Wagon Gang, The Pfeifers, The Whisnants, Three Bridges and Victoria Huggins. Saturday night’s lineup included performances by The Perrys, Karen Peck & New River, Talley Trio, The McKameys, The Primitive Quartet, The Gospel Enforcers, and The Blackwoods.

2007-07-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hope House Dedication - May 11, 2007

2007-05-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

2007-05-30T08:18:00.000-07:00

On May 11, 2007, a large crowd gathered to dedicate the newest home on the property of Ebenezer Christian Children’s Home. This home, called Hope, will house nine additional children at Ebenezer, for a total of 33 children. Hope will be licensed as a level 2 facility, providing a home for children requiring more specialized care due to emotional and behavioral needs. With the living quarters for children and staff on the top level, the home also has a recreation and visitation room in the basement, living room, and separate apartment facility.

2007-05-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

2007-05-30T08:12:00.000-07:00

The many people who came for the dedication ceremony were able to hear comments from various speakers concerning the growth of Ebenezer and its burden to help children in need from board members and volunteers who have an active role in making Ebenezer a reality. Jerry Sidden, Board Chairman, welcomed the crowd and expressed excitement over the “Walk of Hope.” The walkway leading into the Hope Home was paved with bricks listing names in honor or memory of loved ones by those who purchased bricks for this special project. Words of hope were shared by John Wishon, and Jackie Wishon sang “Thread of Hope.” Rev. Ken Pardue lead the opening prayer of dedication as the crowd formed a circle to pray for the Hope Home and the children who will soon occupy it.