Belton chapter of Houses of Hope enriches lives of forgotten children

This article is the first in a three-part series about new Belton companies and the impact on the community.

Across the street from the buzzing metropolis that is the Wal-Mart parking lot, a small shop sits humbly on the corner of the shopping center almost hidden except for its beaming neon purple letters.

A simple passerby might think the Houses of Hope gift shop, which opened Sept. 2, was just another retailer looking to monopolize on the extra change in someone’s pocket, but behind the glass-front doors lies a well of generosity for the world.

“Houses of Hope is an international group, and we are just their local chapter,” Bruce Burleson, the store’s manager said. “They are chartered in Florida near Fort Meyers, and they build and support orphanages in Third World countries. Any profits we make go to the Houses of Hope organization, and they distribute it as they see fit or where there’s a need.”

With the support of their larger international partner, the local Belton-based store supplies its own shop with items they’ve purchased at wholesale markets online and items they’ve received when missionaries return from the countries they are assisting.

“You can find good gift items for friends and family in our store,” Burleson said. “If anyone is interested in any particular item, let us know, and we’ll try to get it.”

Not only does every item purchased in the gift shop go to support the building of orphanages, the group also sponsors mission trips to visit the orphanages that have been constructed with the money raised.

Assistant manager Nicole Barnard who has visited the children after they have made themselves at home in the orphanages, said they are so grateful.

“It’s amazing to see the hope in their eyes that wasn’t there until we brought them resources,” Barnard said. “They love Jesus, and they call their house parents Mommy and Daddy.”

She said the children who take up residence in the orphanages often come from bad situations where they have been abandoned or abused.

“These are children that were found begging for their bread at a train station,”

Barnard said. “We all just have such a heart and desire for this, and that is why we opened the store.” Barnard became a part of the plan to open the shop when Burleson told her about the visit his church had received from the organization’s director and founder, Colin Fullilove, who explained Houses of Hope and how Central Texas residents could be of help.

“We brainstormed, and the idea for the shop just evolved,” Barnard said. “The Lord just put us there.” Barnard and Burleson, who works as an attorney, are new at being store owners.

“I work on the Web site and set up point of sale, purchasing and ordering merchandise,” she said. “None of us are retailers, so it’s an adventure.”

Even though their business is new, the owners hold tight to their beliefs and the promise that money spent in their store will go to its desired purpose.

“Some people may question an organization like ours, but I can tell you where the money goes,” Barnard said. “If someone wants to make a monetary donation to a specific country like India, we guarantee that money will go directly to India.”

Senior elementary education major Noelle Connell said she trusts the shop’s policy and has been happy with its products and services.

“The merchandise is good quality and really pretty,” she said. “I got some of their merchandise as a gift, and I wore it on a mission trip to Russia. It was a pashmina, which is a scarf that goes around your shoulders.”

Barnard said that the store is looking for students to be patrons of the gift shop.

“If college students get the word out and help support us with prayer or monetary gifts, it would help promote us,”

Barnard said. “It costs a lot to build an orphanage and provide food and clothes and still pay for office expenditures. I just want people to know that we are running out of resources, and we need the support of the community to keep serving the children we support.” Barnard and Burleson also encourage students to come to the store if they are interested in mission work because the international organization offers trips to the countries that benefit from the gift shop’s profits.

“We can arrange one or two week trips to see our orphanages for anyone interested in missions,” Burleson said. “We want these children to be witnessed to and show people what life is like in other countries.”