A History of Hidden Treasure

On April 23, 1978, a young pastor completing his seventh month as pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Greenville, South Carolina, ended a message with the text of I Peter 4:12-13: "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings: that when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." At the end of the message, his wife shared with him a decision she had made regarding her willingness to be used of God in whatever way He saw fit. Little did this couple know that in just a few short weeks God would use this message and these verses to provide the comfort and encouragement needed to proceed through the personal trials that lay ahead for them and their family members.

Just over three weeks later, on May 20, 1978, an explosion and resulting fire in the home of John and Brenda Vaughn resulted in severe injuries to Mrs. Vaughn and her two-year-old daughter, Becky. Mrs. Vaughn sustained third degree burns over 65% of her body in an attempt to rescue her daughter Becky from what would have been certain death. Her two-year-old sustained third degree burns over 95% of her body. Neither were expected to live through this tragedy.

Seven months later, Mrs. Vaughn was released from the South Carolina Burn Center in Charleston, South Carolina. Seven months after Mrs. Vaughn's release, the Shriner's Burns Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, allowed Becky to return home. Becky is one of only a few children to survive an almost total body burn along with its many complications. The future held many additional surgeries for both mother and daughter.

With recuperation as the primary concern for both mother and daughter, two years quickly passed, and the issue of Becky's schooling surfaced. Realizing that something needed to be done to provide for her education, her father began to search for a school that would be able to minister to Becky's special physical needs as well as her academic and spiritual needs. At the time, John Vaughn's two older children were enrolled in a private Christian school where academics were presented in the context of a biblical world view. His desire was to see to it that his children received an education consistent with bible principles so he set out to find such a school for Becky.

Two of the three needs could have been met in the schools in the Greenville area. However, accommodations were not available to meet her special physical needs. After much prayer, consideration and encouragement from individuals in the areas of medicine, education and business, Pastor Vaughn began Hidden Treasure Christian School in August of 1981. The enrollment for that year included two students – his then five-year-old daughter, Becky, and a thirteen-year-old mentally handicapped young lady
.
The following year, enrollment doubled to four students. The original 2,500-square-foot building that had housed the membership of Faith Baptist Church was remodeled into a school building. The growing church rented and renovated a vacated Winn Dixie grocery store on Old Buncombe Road in Greenville. During the second school year, in addition to the special education program, a traditional school program was started as well. Before long it became evident, however, that the traditional program would soon overshadow the special education program. If the traditional program continued, the enrollment of students needing special education services would have to be limited. Since the primary purpose for starting the school was to provide for the spiritual and academic well-being of children with special needs, it was decided to discontinue the traditional program after its first year in order to focus primarily on meeting the needs of those with physical and academic challenges.

Student enrollment increased every school year. What started out to be a school designed to meet the needs of the mentally and physically disabled in the local area soon became a school providing for the needs of students with varying disabilities from around the nation and literally from different parts of the world. The challenges represented in the student body included physical disabilities, mental disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, aphasia, learning disabilities, and giftedness. Parents relocated their entire families from the states of New York, Pennsylvania, California, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, and Colorado into the Greenville area in order to provide their disabled child or children with an education based on scriptural principles. Members of Faith Baptist Church opened their homes during the school year to children from Guatemala, Haiti, and Saudi Arabia in order for them to receive the training provided by the teaching staff of Hidden Treasure. In 1988, we were out of space in the original 50 by 50 metal building. Enrollment necessitated that the school occupy a mill house on the Hammett Street property that had been renovated for the use of Sunday school classrooms.

As room and space became available, additional students were added to the enrollment so that our student body consisted of 85 young people. Now operating at full capacity, with a waiting list of parents desiring to enroll their children when additional space became available, Hidden Treasure was proving to be a viable alternative for students needing special education services.