Born from loss. Built around hope.
Raleigh’s Place began with one family’s story of suffering, faith, love, and the conviction that the Church can show up differently for children and families who need it most.
Before there was a ministry, there was Raleigh.
Raleigh’s Place is named for Tim and Sharon King’s daughter, Raleigh. Her life—and the people who chose to truly see and love her—changed the direction of their family forever.
A good life on the outside.
Like many people, especially in the South, Tim and I were raised in church. We, like many others, if asked would have said we were Christians. Yet our lives reflected just the opposite. More often we thought about ourselves rather than others. We were busy trying to get ahead instead of trying to give a hand. We were not good stewards of, well anything! You get the picture. Yet according to the world’s standards we had a pretty good life.
We lived in a very wonderful community, had a nice house, two good jobs and a fairly good marriage. Best of all we had two beautiful children. Our handsome son, Charlie, who was so kind and smart and loving, and our adorable little daughter, Raleigh, whose smile could brighten even the darkest days, and there were many to come.
Everything changed.
When Raleigh was 18 months old she had a seizure following a fever after an injection. Then at 2 1/2 another fever, followed by another seizure but this time she stopped breathing. They flew her by helicopter to a hospital and we had to drive the longest hour of our life hoping our baby would be alive when we arrived.
She was alive, barely, her tiny body in intensive care on the ventilator. The doctors told us that when she woke up she might be confused or slow to remember things.
We are thankful that she woke up, but our first Raleigh was gone that day and a new one, that we loved just as much, woke up. She had new struggles now. She had to learn some things again. It was harder for her to learn now and she would have seizures with and without known reason from that day forward.
We got something like, ‘We love your daughter, so glad you’re here.’
That welcome changed more than a Sunday morning. It changed the way Tim and Sharon understood the Church, faith, and the love of Christ.
Someone chose to truly see her.
During the first few years of her struggles, my grandparents that we had gone to church with died and their church was far from us so we attempted to find a church closer to home. We had found a church and had faithfully attended for a few months even though we never really felt like we were welcome, especially Raleigh. They seemed afraid of her.
Our fears were confirmed when she had a six hour seizure and had to be placed on a ventilator. My aunt called the church and the pastor mailed us his card. It said call if you need us. No one came. No one called. We never called or went back. I was already angry with God anyway and now “His people” were also a disappointment.
To make matters worse, we had a relentless neighbor, who we loved, that kept begging us to come to his church and invited our children to church things. After months of harassment we allowed Charlie to attend some event. He really liked it and became our neighbor’s partner in crime.
We finally attended a service. We had our guard up though, expecting no one to want Raleigh to be there. If Raleigh could not be there, then we were not going to stay either.
As soon as church was over, we saw her coming—the teacher from the class that Raleigh had been in—making a bee line straight for us. We knew it was coming. Instead, she told us how glad she was that Raleigh was there, asked what they could do to make her time more enjoyable, and hoped we would come back.
The greatest thing was that she meant it.
God used Raleigh to change our hearts.
Over the next few months God used Raleigh to allow us to see both the good and bad in the hearts of people. Most importantly, He had allowed us to see our own hearts.
We now earnestly desired to have what the people who so easily loved and accepted Raleigh had. That was a heart like His. They had a real relationship with Christ, one that allowed them to know and reflect Him.
We longed for that so we prayed and prayed and God restored our lives.
A family changed together.
Charlie accepted Christ and was going to be baptized. Tim and Sharon chose to be baptized with him—not out of tradition or expectation, but out of love for their Savior.
Then came a loss no parent should have to face.
From age 9 to now 11 years and 8 months old she would have up to 100 seizures a day, but some days without. At this time there seemed to be constant activity. Her seizures were so frequent and intense that walking became a struggle.
The following Monday night a tormenting cry came from my daughter’s room as Tim went in to check on her. I ran in but she was gone. It was the most terrifying moment of a parent’s life.
We called 911. I put her on the floor and, for what seemed like an hour, I tried to revive the cold lifeless body of my precious little girl.
Out of the pain, suffering, and death of Raleigh, Raleigh’s Place was born.
Raleigh’s story did not end there.
Now I know pain. Now I see clearly. I have understood in depth the love of Christ, the part of the Trinity that took my place, that paid my debt. But not until this moment was I able to understand the Father’s love for us.
I had watched my daughter suffer for years and I would never ever have chosen for her to suffer. The Father chose for His Son to suffer for us.
I could never have loved others as much as He loves us. But He could see that in the death of His Son there would be life for many. In that moment I could see only pain in the death of Raleigh.
But God used the death of Raleigh to accomplish something that we had never dreamed about. Out of the pain, suffering, and death of Raleigh, Raleigh’s Place was born.
Living the Gospel by loving the fatherless.
What began with one family’s story has grown into a ministry surrounding children and families navigating foster care from childhood into adulthood.
Strengthen the Family
Partner Homes
Encourage the Child
Camp 1:27
Equip the Young Adult
Workmanship Initiative
Engage the Community
Katie’s Kloset
Raleigh’s story continues through every life this ministry touches.
Join Raleigh’s Place as we surround children and families navigating foster care with practical support, lasting relationships, and the hope of Christ.