The Jacobs family
Richard Jacobs says he and his wife, Christine, feel like they’re on a mission trip “but we didn’t have to leave our home. The mission trip has come to us.”
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The Fort Myers couple are Florida Baptist Children’s Homes foster parents who focus on caring for infants and toddlers up to 3 years of age. The couple’s mission: to provide a temporary, safe and stable home for youngsters who are in crisis situations, and to show them Christian love.
Rick is pastor for Worship and Administration at Riverside (Baptist) Church in Fort Myers. His wife of 15 years is a full-time homemaker and mother to the couple’s three children plus any foster children who come their way.
The Jacobses set out on their mission trip in May 2007. The first foster child placed in their home was a girl who was born just five months earlier. Rick & Christine immediately went to work, not only caring for the child’s basic needs, but ministering to her father and even leading him to the Lord and baptism.
Rick Jacobs & Christine Arroyo started dating in the 11th grade at Cooper City High School near Fort Lauderdale. Around this time, the whole idea of “visiting orphans and widows in their distress” started to take root in their lives. Rick had a close aunt who adopted two children. Rick and Christine grew close to his new cousins. And the high-school sweethearts became plugged into a church that was linked to a local ministry which provides residential care for troubled boys and girls.
The couple went on to earn bachelor’s degrees at Palm Beach Atlantic University; then, with Christine’s help, Rick earned a master’s in Music from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
As they set out on life’s journey together, God blessed the Jacobses with three biological children: the first was Richard, whom they call R.J.; he’s now 13. Mikayla came along about two years later. And the family was complete six years ago with the birth of Julia. Along the way, they came to know Riverside Church members who were serving as foster parents.
In January 2007, the couple applied to Florida Baptist Children’s Homes to become foster parents, and enrolled in the required 30 hours of intensive training known as MAPP (Model Approach to Partnership in Parenting). Four months later, the Jacobses learned they had received their foster-care license. That same day, Children’s Homes’ Social Worker Terry Gebeau called to ask if they could immediately accept a 5-month-old girl named Mariah; they said yes.
Mariah’s father, Percy, had never married or lived with the girl’s mother. He was what social workers and courts term a “non-offending parent,” so he had visitation rights. At first, the Jacobses met with Percy at public locations. But it wasn’t long before they developed a trust for this man, and took the somewhat unconventional step of inviting him to their home.
Next, they invited Percy to church. It wasn’t long before Percy embraced Riverside’s teachings and involved himself in its ministries. Soon, he was embraced by the congregation and by the Jacobses’ children.
Though things were looking up for Percy spiritually and socially, he wasn’t doing so well financially. An electrician, he was struggling in Southwest Florida’s depressed construction industry, driving an old and unreliable car, and living in a rental house he couldn’t afford. His financial picture grew dimmer when he was laid off from work twice: the first time lasted three months; the second time, two months.
When Percy’s car gave out, fellow Riverside members stepped forward to give Percy a nice 5-year-old Mazda which he still drives. A Riverside family also provided Percy with affordable housing.
A miracle happened one Sunday morning in early July 2007: during an alter call, Percy walked down one
of Riverside’s aisles and committed his life to Christ. The following month, Pastor Jacobs had the honor of baptizing him in front of the congregation.
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What was it like “letting go” of Mariah? “I knew she was going to a dad who loved her and that she was going to be in a safe place,” said Christine. “And, you know, we (foster parents) do this and we know the goal is to get them back home to their parents. I think God just gets you through it because it’s hard. But with Mariah it was easier because I knew that’s where she belonged, with her dad.”
Easier than what? “Easier than it would be if I had to give him back,” Christine said quickly, referring to her latest foster child who was playing nearby. He turned 1 year old in August. He appears to be happy, healthy and normal. But when he came into the Jacobses’ care at about six weeks of age, he was a very different child. Christine said “he was skin and bones,” weighing only 7 pounds at the time. The boy’s skin was covered in rash, and his personality was listless, Christine said.
Rick and Christine cared for four other foster children between Mariah and their latest family addition; those were relatively short-term placements. The three Jacobs children have accepted these strangers into their home seamlessly: “They immediately say, ‘they’re my sister’ or ‘they’re my brother,’” Christine says, beaming. “This is teaching my children not to be selfish, and to be grateful for everything they have. It makes me proud.”