How it all began...
Jeanene Thicke
first visited Bogotá, Colombia in 1988. While there, she saw the plight of young children living on the
street with no homes and no one to care for them. After returning
home, she knelt and prayed asking God what He wanted her to do. She
was willing to go anywhere and do anything for Him. As she prayed,
she heard one
word…Colombia. In 1988, she made a move that would
change her life forever. Not knowing the language, the culture, or
the people, she moved to Bogotá to see what God had in
store for her life.
She began to notice
children in the parks that never went home at night. As she
began to ask questions and discover what the lives of the
children were, she felt a burden in her heart to help them. She
went home and asked everyone to help. It took one year to raise
the funds needed to buy the first home.
On October 6, 1993,
Children’s Vision International, Inc. (CVII)
was born as an
international, non-profit, non-government organization whose purpose is to help
the needy and homeless around the world.
CVII’s first home
was purchased in 1993. Appropriately named
the Genesis
House, it
needed some work. Okay, it needed a LOT of work, but God always
provided the hands and the finances when they were needed. Every time a new
bedroom was ready, new children would come in need of a home,
love, an education, medical attention, and a chance to be a child.
One day in 1996,
it seemed everything that we had worked for and loved was
shattering. A man
with a very wicked heart gave a false report to the government.
Soldiers came and began to take the children…they cried and said,
“Please don’t take us, this is our home.” After a lot of
investigation, we were proven innocent. God was sovereign
and walked with us through it all.
On August 7, 1999,
construction began on our second home. People came from all over
to help. Knowing that this new home would save more lives, people
and teams worked
hard to complete
it. One year later, we
opened the
Exodus House
debt free. This house is home for approximately 30 boys
between the ages of nine and seventeen.
Leviticus House
was purchased in 2000 and is currently the site of our Beginning
of Wisdom School. In September 2003, God blessed us with a
new property
for our school. When construction is completed in early 2009, the
school will move and construction will begin to convert
Leviticus into a cafeteria and play area for the school, as well
as a small boys home.
In 2005, we were
blessed with the generous donation of a beautiful property only
a few blocks away from our other homes. With minimal
construction, we opened up our third home,
Numbers House,
on January 27, 2006. We currently have approximately 25
girls who are ages eight to seventeen living at this home.
This is also the sight of our
medical unit,
which officially opened in 2007. We are able to provide
basic hospital care, free of charge, to those in need.
This facility has also provided the supplies needed to complete
several medical missions where we have served thousands of
people.
From day one we have
fought for the children’s rights…the right to a family, to an
education, to be happy, to have a hope, and to have a future.
Thank you for helping us!
