On May 19, Boy Scouts from packs 45 and 59 and Girl Scout Troops 632 and 240, along with their parents visited Louisiana Methodist Children’s Home.  The Scouts were given a “VIP” tour by Patrick Blanchard, Director of Development and Public Relations, of one of the oldest buildings on campus, The James House.

The James House functioned as a girls dormitory for many years, but today houses offices for various employees of the home. The scouts were full of questions and particularly interested when pastoral care assistant Rebecca Deich showed them the Boy Scouts charter from 1955 when the Methodist Children’s Home chartered Pack 44, led by Scoutmaster W. A. J. Lewis.

One of the buildings on the Ruston campus was recently renamed for Mr. Lewis. The scouts discussed how Mr. Lewis must have lived up to the Scout Oath very well by displaying duty to God and country as well as duty to others, through his work on the Home’s Board of Director’s spanning 17 years, which paved the way for construction of the Home’s Reception Center which is now the W. A. J. Lewis II building.

The Boys Scouts also donated many packs of their famous microwavable popcorn and the Girl Scouts donated several boxes of their beloved cookies. Ms. Deich, of the Pastoral Care department, paired the popcorn with a “Popcorn Family Fun Night” activity pack that included the “Parable of the Popcorn” and popcorn “Olympics” games to be given to our local Methodist Foster Care families. The parable of the popcorn expresses the value of sharing with others the many blessings and gifts that God has given us.

The parable of the popcorn reminds us of those who answer the call to becoming a foster parent – particularly the last line:

“And thus we see that in the beginning all appear alike, but when the heat is on, some come forth and give their all, while others fail to pop and become as chaff to be discarded and forgotten.”