Sharon and Tim King are living life on a mission to help orphans. They put their faith in action 11 years ago when their daughter Raleigh passed away after suffering chronic seizures for most of her life. The couple prayed for answers about what they should do. Sharon King says the scripture from the first chapter of the book of James in the bible is where they discovered what God wanted them to do. Most notably the part that reads "religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...." That is the foundation for Raleigh's Place, a Christ centered home and camp for foster children.
Sharon says, "one of the things he taught us is that all children are a gift. Whether you have them for three months, eleven years or their whole lives. They are a gift and that's the one thing we think we are able to offer the children who come here, that we love them unconditionally as a gift from God. We know that Raleigh was that to us." The King's have been foster parents to 55 to 60 children over the last eleven years. They've adopted quite a few children too. Right now they have ten children living at home and two who are married. Thanks to their non-profit organization they are in the process of building their first home on the farm in Clanton, AL that is Raleigh's Place. Eventually the twenty acres of land will have three homes and a summer camp for foster children to experience.
Mission teams from various churches have donated their time and services to help build the first home at Raleigh's Place. They still need help with furnishings and finishing touches. When the home is finished in early December 2009, it will have enough space to house sixteen children with Tim and Sharon King who are the first house parents for Raleigh's Place. You can learn more about Raleigh's Place at
www.raleighsplace.org.
