Imagine a frightened, toe-headed four year old boy. He’s trying to block out the sounds of the argument coming from the front seat of the car. Suddenly the car stops, and he and his mother and little brother get out of the car. But something’s so wrong. The car is leaving! “Wait! No! Where’s Daddy going?” This would be the last time Harold Hime would ever see his father until his own children were grown. Through the trauma and uncertainty of growing up without a father, God planted in his heart a vision and a dream. As he followed the vision, he became a teacher, pastor, children’s home director and leader with the North American Mission Board in Atlanta, Georgia. Harold’s heart was forever focused on strengthening families.

In the mid-1990’s, as he pursued an avenue for fulfilling the dream, God put him in touch with Camille Simmons, Coordinator of Ministry Missions with the San Antonio Baptist Association.  Camille and her husband, Jim, had already served as missionaries to Japan. She had also been a pastor’s wife serving local churches. Camille was very aware of the needs of families. Working with the San Antonio Baptist Association, Camille grappled with the staggering statistics of child abuse and neglect in the San Antonio area.  She also had a vision for creating a ministry to address the needs for educating parents.

Together, Dr. Hime and Camille looked for an educational program which would make a lasting difference; one that would begin before poor parenting patterns were established.  Both saw the potential for a ministry that could reach across denominational lines and assist the church community as a whole.  As Camille and Dr. Hime searched for practical answers, they found there was no in-home faith-based parent education program. Undaunted, they began to explore ways to create and produce a curriculum that would fill this gap.  They knew they needed a writer and God connected them with Linda Hibner.

Linda’s career choices and training had prepared her for this new venture. She and her husband, Russ, had spent ten years as house parents for large children’s agencies in Texas. Her experience with the consequences of broken families was first-hand. She had also researched and studied the field of early childhood development. When she joined the Hime-Simmons team, she was serving as the director of a large child development center for a church in Austin. Soon after Linda joined the team, she began to write the curriculum for a mentoring program for expectant and new mothers.

This newly formed team understood a need for help in editing and formatting the new curriculum. God once again intervened and connected the Hime-Simmons-Hibner team with Evelyn Herbert, a former educator living in Odessa, Texas. Evelyn had been a teacher for many years, and had helped create programs and evaluation tools for working with inner-city children. She also had several years of printing and graphic arts experience. Providentially, this dynamic team of four professionals, from such diverse backgrounds, came together to begin a journey
. . .for the sake of a child.