International Family Missions

HOUSE OF CORNELIUS

This is really a love story...
In 1976 Buddy and Georgia Baca left the banking world in Texas and sunk their finances and lives into the rural area east of El Paso called Fabens. They loved the Lord and had a vision to serve the needy, unloved and forgotten ones of this world. They called their land and their ministry The House of Cornelius and dedicated it Him as a place of refuge and healing.

Their overall goal was to provide help for anyone in need, but the Lord began to send them primarily needy children - lots of them. They kept pace with the Lord’s will and became a licensed Children’s Home in the state of Texas. Eventually they cared for over three hundred and fifty children throughout the next two decades.

In 1991 Buddy was diagnosed with leukemia and was called Home to His Lord in November of that year. Georgia came home from the hospital to seventeen children grieving the loss of their "daddy". There was no time for her to grieve herself. She hit the ground running...

It was that following spring that we first met Georgia. We saw a woman of unusual faith from whom we could learn much. We also sensed the anointing of the Lord at the House of Cornelius. A spirit of refuge seemed to rest on the place. We began to take our outreach teams to visit her and the kids, and we sometimes used the House of Cornelius as our base camp for an entire outreach.

Somewhere along the way we went from "ministry associates" to deep friends and eventually extended family. Our relationship was forever cemented when in 1995 the Hart family, directors of IFM, adopted Noel who had spent eleven of his growing up years at the House of Cornelius.

In the spring of 1997, Georgia contacted us and asked if we would be willing to incorporate the House of Cornelius into IFM. The House of Cornelius belonged to the Lord, she said, and He was directing her to make some big changes. By that point, most of the children were gone - grown up, back with their own families, or placed with other families. Her desire was to move the remaining children in her care to her own home ("Bacaville"), and stay involved with IFM as she was able.

We considered the offer before the Lord and strongly sensed His leading for us to take on the House. So we began. It was a total faith venture from the start and has remained so. There hasn’t been one boring moment since we told Georgia "yes"!

The House of Cornelius is now a fruitful, regional base for our ministry. As stewards of our Master’s Home, we thank Him for all He’s allowed us to do there, and we're sure He has much more in store. The original vision of the House as a place of refuge will continue; Isaiah 58 is our touchstone scripture. We will look to Him for all that that may mean. Please join us on an outreach and enjoy your stay at the House of Cornelius. It has a blessed history-and a blessed future as well!