Child of God Bed Ministry: A Story of Love and Community at Woodland Church

by Laura Gomez Reyes, CBF Texas communications intern
December 2025

Child of God Bed Ministry: A Story of Love and Community

At Woodland Church in San Antonio, a simple but profound ministry is transforming lives — one bed at a time. The Child of God Bed Ministry was born out of a desire to meet a very practical need: ensuring that every child has a safe place to sleep. For many families served by Child Protective Services (CPS), something as basic as a bed can determine whether children can remain in their homes.

How It All Began

The ministry’s roots trace back to April 5, 2021, the night Baylor University won the men’s basketball national championship. Tim Son, a Baylor alumnus, was watching the game with other Baylor fans including Lance Mayes, Pastor of Community Engagement at Woodland, Tim’s wife, Mary, and his brother, Rick, who had recently started a bed ministry at his own church. Rick suggested that Tim consider doing something similar in Bexar County. That conversation planted the seed for what would become Woodland’s Child of God Bed Ministry.

But the true spark came from Tim’s wife, Mary. When Rick first shared the idea, Mary immediately responded: “We should do this, since I am adopted, and I know the emotional trauma children go through being separated from their parents.” Her personal story gave the ministry its heart and focus. Mary helped Tim launch the project and works alongside him as does Deborah Wilson, a skilled grant writer, who took the lead in securing funding and managing resources.

“I couldn’t be happier or more excited about the success of this ministry,” Mary reflects. 

Building a Family of Support

At first, a few volunteers literally built beds by hand. They learned how to construct the beds by working with the craftsmen at Hill Country Christian Church located in Spring Branch, where Tim’s brother, Rick, is pastor. But as requests poured in, the ministry rapidly expanded. Within months, their congregation was giving away dozens of beds each year.

“Without [Deborah] writing the grants, we could not have gone as far as we’ve gone,” Mary says. “She keeps all the demographics of where the beds go.” Thanks to her work, the team obtained grants and donations from Home Depot and local suppliers, allowing them to move from primarily building to buying beds and bedding in bulk.

The entire congregation rallied behind the cause. Church members donated funds and volunteered their time. In the past year, the Women In Action group began sewing stuffed teddy bears for each child. This inspired the gifting of the children's book, My Love, God Is Everywhere, co-written by Woodland member Cameron Mason Vickrey, along with the beds. Older kids receive Bible storybooks, ensuring that every delivery carries not only comfort but also a message of love. “The church is wrapped around us,” Tim says proudly. “We started off making beds, and now many members have found a way to be part of this ministry.”

Building More Than Beds

From the beginning, the ministry has worked closely with Child Protective Services and the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, which require that each child in a home have their own bed to remain together as a family. Referrals come through CarePortal and the Alliance Prevention Network, ensuring that every family is vetted through trusted agencies. The ministry also partners with groups supporting grandparents raising grandchildren, domestic violence survivors, and other at-risk families.

What began with a few beds has grown into a ministry that as of October 24, 2025, has provided 453 children with beds in less than four years. Children served range from infants to teenagers. 

Stories of Hope

The stories behind the beds are often poignant. Mary describes one of her early experiences delivering a bed to Damien, who was living with his siblings and their grandmother after their mother’s tragic death. “He was wearing a little picture of his mother pinned to his shirt,” Mary recalls. “He said, ‘This is my mommy… she lives in heaven because Daddy choked her.’” The children’s father was in jail, and the grandmother was fighting for custody. After praying together and giving the grandmother a hug, Mary turned to leave, and little Damien ran to catch up. “I said, ‘Are you okay, Damien?’ He said, ‘Yes, I want a hug too.’ So I gave him a hug as well… That story just broke my heart.” Damien’s innocent smile and hug left a deep mark on Mary’s soul.

In another case, Tim delivered four beds to a widowed grandfather raising four grandchildren. “He didn’t have any beds for them,” Tim says. They installed each bed with sheets and blankets. When they finished three of the beds and dressed them, the teenage granddaughter ran into her room and asked if she could prepare her own bed. “This is now my bed,” she said before crawling in to pat the mattress with delight. Tim grins recalling her joy: “She was so excited and happy to be able to make her own bed.” Even the grandfather, overcome with gratitude, wanted to come speak at the church about what the beds meant for his family.

And there are lighter, joyful moments too. Last summer Tim and Mary delivered a bed to a little boy whose parents were both incarcerated. The boy loves dinosaurs, so Mary snuck in special touches: dinosaur-patterned sheets, a matching chest of drawers, and a few stuffed dinosaur toys tucked in the drawer. “He was so excited to get his chest of drawers with the dinosaurs, and Grandma was so grateful,” Mary laughed. These stories show the ministry’s heart: a safe bed — and even a stuffed toy and storybook — can bring hope and healing to a child’s life.

A Community Effort

Deborah, who manages and submits grant applications and tracks demographics, emphasizes the importance of data. “When you write grants, funders want to know where the beds are going, what zip codes are most affected, and how many children are being served,” she said. “That information has been key to our growth.”

The ministry is sustained by Woodland Church’s missions' budget, individual donations, and grants from organizations like Home Depot, Walmart, Sam’s Club, HEB, San Antonio Area Foundation and many others.

Overcoming Challenges

Running a rapidly growing ministry has meant tackling unexpected hurdles. Many families live in apartments, so delivery can be tough. Tim explains, “Some of these families live on second and third floors of apartments… That’s where the struggle comes in: carrying the beds up there to assemble.” Volunteers have learned to get gate codes in advance and coordinate carefully, because “when we get there, we can’t get in the gate.” Even choosing beds involves trade-offs. The ministry found a beautiful wood twin bed at Walmart – but “it’s extremely heavy,” Tim admits. 

Finance also presents challenges. Many beds are imported, and recent tariffs have driven prices up. As Debarah notes, “With the tariffs beds are getting more expensive… We recently bought a bed from Brazil we could afford which likely will be unaffordable with a 50% tariff. We must be real stewards of those funds.” In practice, this means she must be constantly scouting for new sources, bulk discounts, and local suppliers. Meanwhile, they must ensure safety: for older children they check weights before using an upper bunk. “Some of these children are heavy,” Debarah says, “and the bunk bed we use… is rated for 165 pounds. We must make sure the bed isn’t overloaded.” Despite the hurdles, the ministry has adapted creatively so no child is turned away.

A Vision to Replicate

Tim describes Woodland Church as a moderately sized congregation of about 250 in worship, yet they’ve accomplished something far greater than their size would suggest. They know other churches could do the same. “We get grants from Sam’s Club, Walmart, Home Depots – these are all things that could be done in other cities,” Tim says. He dreams of partnering with other CBF churches in Dallas, Houston and beyond: “I’d love to partner with a CBF church, show them what we’re doing, give them all the information. The vision is clear – training others how to launch a bed ministry. This isn’t just Woodland’s ministry. Tim hopes it will spread, stitched into the fabric of communities statewide. 

In the end, it all comes down to children’s smiles. The delivery teams get to experience the best image of a kid jumping on a new bed, exclaiming, “That’s my bed!”  By giving a child their own bed, the ministry isn’t just furnishing a room – it’s offering dignity, stability, and hope. With the Lord’s help, the ministry team hopes to carry this mission beyond Woodland, ensuring every child in need has a bed to call their own and a community that cares.

A Ministry of Faith and Gratitude

For Tim, the ministry is a testimony to God’s power to multiply small beginnings: “We started with no idea if we’d do five beds or ten. But God had a bigger vision. He’s allowed us to impact hundreds of families.”

The ministry’s name — Child of God Bed Ministry — reflects its deepest truth: every child deserves dignity, safety, and the reminder that they are loved by God.

 A granddaughter asked her grandmother why she made her bed everyday when she was the only one who would see it.  The grandmother replied, “The act of making my bed each morning is a gift to myself. I realize not everyone has a bed.”

For the children served by Woodland Church, receiving a bed is more than a gift — it is a foundation for hope, healing, and a brighter future.

To contact Tim Son about beginning a bed ministry in your congregation, email bedministry@woodlandbc.org.

Lighting the World with Hope: FBC Abilene

by Laura Gomez Reyes, CBF Texas communications intern
November 2025

At First Baptist Church in Abilene, missions are not just a program — they are a way of life. For the past 17 years, John Moore has served as the church’s Pastor for Missions, guiding both local and global outreach efforts. Alongside his pastoral work, he also serves as the Executive Director of City Light Community Ministries, a downtown ministry dedicated to serving neighbors in need. Married to his wife Beverly for 33 years and father of three grown sons, Moore describes his role as the best job on staff because it allows him to build relationships, meet people where they are, and help them find hope. “We’re not just taking trips – we’re transforming lives,” he says.

Under his leadership, First Abilene’s outreach has flourished, from affordable daycare and counseling services to City Light, a center providing meals, showers, mail service, and compassion to people in poverty. In 2023, the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF) recognized the church with a Mission Excellence Award for “actively responding to the needs of their community” and “breaking cycles of poverty.” Through it all, Moore insists that the work isn’t about accolades, but about seeing God at work in every heart, community, and nation.

First Abilene stays connected with people and families serving globally in North Macedonia, Southeast Asia, Cambodia and Cyprus. Closer to home, they have partnered with individuals serving along the Texas border helping with migration, Texas Baptist cooperative missions, and Baptist Student Ministry at Abilene Christian University.

When thinking about the impact of First Abilene’s work, John points to the family who moved out of a barely livable shack and into a brand-new home built from a partnership with Buckner International. Watching the parents and children walk into that house was life-changing for both the family and John himself; he recalls the joy and tears in their eyes. This project was supported in part by CBF Texas’s inaugural Border Building Grant; to learn more about the Border Building Grant and to apply, click here.

Transforming Lives, Not Just Taking Trips

John stresses that real mission work isn’t just sightseeing or drop-and-going. Instead, it’s about transformation – both for those served and for those who serve. He has seen how God can radically change lives through long-term partnerships. One story he loves to share is from Tepipilly, a high poverty neighborhood outside Mexico City. There, he and church volunteers partnered with CBF in a tiny Montessori school where local teachers devote themselves to a handful of children. John’s team helped deliver shoes and supplies to the kids, and he watched the pride the teachers took in each child’s success. Those simple moments – a child’s smile after receiving a new pair of shoes – are the “special memories” that inspire him.

Another example is a ministry to adults with disabilities in North Macedonia. Historically these men and women were kept in harsh institutional settings. But a CBF-supported project called Poraka transformed a former facility into warm, loving group homes. Now each resident has a room, a family environment, and opportunities to learn and work at their own pace. John says it’s “a picture of heaven” to see the joy in that community. “Those are stories that keep me moving forward,” he says.

These experiences underline a key lesson: seeing the world firsthand helps people grow in faith. John notes that when someone travels to serve, they can’t help but learn more about God’s work. “It’s life-changing when you go and see ministry in a different context,” he explains. Participants discover that the same love of God motivates people everywhere to help their neighbors, whether in Abilene or abroad. This realization leads to deep spiritual growth and discipleship. Volunteers often return home with broadened hearts and new questions about how to live out of their faith. For example, someone helping build homes in Mexico might come back eager to serve the homeless in Abilene. In John’s view, those ripples of change are just as important as the projects themselves. He reminds his church that through offerings and prayer, “we get to support field personnel around the world” and share in God’s ongoing work of renewal.

Serving Together as One Body

John loves that none of this must be done alone. He is quick to highlight the cooperative spirit of Baptist mission: “We do it together,” he says, echoing CBF’s ethos. The church, denominational partners, and countless volunteers all bring their unique gifts to the table. In fact, John thanks everyone he works with – from the missionaries overseas to the newest volunteer at City Light – for telling the story of hope. “You’re helping to tell the story that I can’t get out,” he told the interviewer with a grin. Whether it’s photographers, teachers, cooks, or simply people willing to pray, every role matters. He loves seeing the local church help the global church: for instance, the fbc children worked to provide the funding for Tepipilly children to go bowling, many for the very first time. The smiles on their faces were priceless. Back home, artists, business leaders and neighbors all come to City Light to pack food boxes or share a warm meal. John celebrates this teamwork because it reflects how the Body of Christ is meant to function – each person doing their part, together expanding God’s kingdom. 

Facing Challenges, Holding Fast

Of course, John is the first to admit it isn’t always easy. “Time just gets going quick, and you’re busy,” he says with a chuckle. Explaining that fitting missions into already-full calendars is a constant challenge. He also struggles with the weighty decisions of stewardship. As budgets tighten, he and his committee often debate: should they send a team halfway around the world, or direct that money instead to a local project? “Maybe it’s more effective to send our funding there instead of spending to get there,” he asks, seeking the right balance. He also warns against doing things just for the sake of it. “We want to be God’s presence, and we want to let God be the Savior, not us,” John emphasizes. In other words, the goal is to point people to Christ, not to make the church look good.

Such challenges can be discouraging. Sometimes a mission trip might not “feel fruitful,” he admits. But even frustrated, he encourages his congregation to persevere. “It’s hard. It’s messy. It’s not always easy,” he acknowledges, but “it’s worth that extra effort… worth those hard times to do what we feel God is calling us to do as a church”. In other words, even when logistics are tough or results slow to appear, John trusts that God is at work in unseen ways. He has seen enough glimmers of new life to know it’s true.

Looking Ahead: New Dreams on the Horizon

With the new City Light facility completed downtown, John’s thinking is already moving to the future. Now that Abilene neighbors have a bigger, better space to eat, clean up, and connect, he asks, “What’s the global vision that God has in store?”. The church remains committed to its field personnel around the world, faithfully praying and giving support to their work. But John is also eager to go deeper. They are ramping up involvement in CBF’s Latin America strategy, aiming to make a lasting impact in Mexico and beyond. Back in Texas, leaders are already asking how to do even more for people living in poverty. Having witnessed what a second of care and dignity – a hot shower or a meal with a kind word – can do for one person, they wonder what more God might accomplish through expanded efforts.

John describes this phase as a time of dreaming together. The church celebrated that 95% of its members voted to build the new City Light Center, and now they’re praying for equal commitment to “how else can we serve?”. One of John’s favorite verses is Jeremiah 29:7 – “seek the peace and prosperity of the city… and pray to the Lord for it, for in its peace you will find your peace.” He sees First Baptist Abilene living that call, and he invites everyone in the church to keep asking, “Lord, where do You want us next?” By God’s grace, he trusts the answer will come.

How You Can Join the Mission

John’s excitement isn’t reserved only for church staff – he believes everyone can play a part. His advice to anyone feeling stirred by this story is straightforward: stay committed, work together, and trust that God can use your efforts for good. As he puts it, “It’s worth that extra effort… to do what we feel God is calling us to do”. Even small contributions count.

• Pray. Ask God to bless the work of missions – both the local outreach at City Light and the global teams supported by CBF.

• Volunteer. Whether it’s serving a meal, leading a Bible study, or teaching a skill, find a way to give your time. City Light and similar ministries always need more hands and hearts.

• Give. Financial gifts make mission projects possible. Consider donating to build homes through Buckner, to supply shoes in Tepipilly, or to keep City Light’s kitchen running.

• Go. If you have the opportunity, join a short-term trip. Students and seniors alike have life-changing experiences on mission trips – just ask John and the Abilene teams!

• Share the story. Talk with your church, family, and friends about what God is doing in your community and around the world. Your voice can inspire others to get involved.

John reminds us that missions isn’t only for a select few, it’s a calling for the whole body of Christ. As he says, every gift is needed to tell the story of God’s love. His church has seen first-hand how one answered call can bring hope to a family, a neighborhood, even an entire community. He invites you to be part of that call. Moore points to the Baptist tradition of cooperation: “We can do more and make a greater impact by working together.”

In the end, John believes, God will use each willing servant to bring light and transformation. “Having the heart to respond in love and kindness to those around us – that’s the message I hope others get from our story,” he says. And that could be your story too. When we all step out in faith, even the smallest candle can light up the darkness. Will you let your shine?