Some won't talk. Some won't stop talking. Some cry a lot, others are angry. But all of the children who come to the Asden Johnson Home in Brooks get the love, care and help that has been missing in their young lives.

A part of Fayette Youth Protection Home Inc., the Asden Johnson facility is the second location for abused, neglected or abandoned children in Fayette County. The Jim Friday Home has been operating at capacity since 1989, and the celebration was great when the Johnson home opened this summer.

It is named for Asden Johnson of Fayetteville, who started the Thrift Shop for the youth protection homes. She has been described as a tireless worker on behalf of Fayette's children in need.

A spanking-new "real home" sits in a wooded area in Brooks, designed to be a haven for up to 20 children. Fayette children are given preference, but other counties may house children there in emergencies. Houseparents Sandra and Bobby Windham say the whole purpose in having "a home" is that children who are traumatized need a normal, stable living arrangement. They have their own bedrooms, though they might have to share with a roommate, and they eat meals in a family dining atmosphere.

"We are grateful for this expansion," says Jane Gough, a board member, "but we don't want to ever turn into an institutional situation. We really do want the children to feel they are at home."

The $350,000 home is debt-free, thanks to the generosity of people from Fayette and elsewhere. The interiors are beautifully designed through efforts of Jennifer Green and the Fayette Board of Realtors. Many others also donated items for the inside, including a huge, blond-wood cabinet that enhances the living-dining area. Bright colors are everywhere.

Another one of the many volunteers and donors was Howard Nather, a local plumbing contractor. Of his work on the home, Nather said, "God has been good and merciful to us. It was time to give something back, and the best ones to give to are the elderly and children. We did not do it for recognition or tax reasons. We are a four-man company, so this could have been a big sacrifice, but we were able to do it because we spread it over a long period. We were not paid with money, but have been paid off tenfold in serenity and peace of mind. It really had nothing to do with me. I just got out of the way and let it happen."

Nather is not alone in thinking that God's help has been present for the youth homes. Bobby Windham used to be a policeman and then a nuclear plant technician, and Sandra says she had no idea that her "career" would turn out to be "taking care of younguns." The couple raised four of their own and thought they had finished.

"But then the Lord says, I have the perfect job for you, Sandra," and the couple wound up in Meansville, Ga., at one of the campuses of Georgia Baptist Children's Home. Georgia Baptist is the supervising agency for the homes in Fayette, responsible for full-time staff members. They spent more than five years at the Pine Mountain location before coming to Brooks.

They speak affectionately about the children, who generally number about seven to 10 at a time. Bobby and Sandra say their work at the Johnson home is different from what they've done before, since in west Georgia they worked with teenagers. At the Johnson home, the ages are seven to 14. Younger children, Sandra says, "sometimes require more attention, and definitely more supervision." They show affection more easily, she says, "and when they ask 'can I have a hug?' I just always remember that they probably haven't had many hugs."

The best part of the job, they say, is watching the "transformation" of the children, once they are in an atmosphere where they know that someone cares about them. The changes are seen in everything from basic table manners to renewed self-esteem.

Each child has chores, including making his or her bed every day, and on Saturdays the whole household does what Sandra calls "deep cleaning." Imparting a sense of responsibility is all part of the love, Sandra says, because all children need to learn the basics of caring for themselves and developing skills to help them function in the world. It's an "equal opportunity" situation where no one is turned away and all are treated alike. But there are differences in personalities which keep Bobby and Sandra on their toes; "keeping my patience," Bobby says, is sometimes the hardest part of working with children.

Sandra says the couple can easily see the difference in working with children who have had emotional or behavior problems, and those who are thrust into a "children's home" situation through unavoidable circumstances.

"These children have not done anything to get themselves 'sent' here," she says, "what's happened to them is not their fault. But sometimes they think it is, and we work hard to overcome that. It's a lot different from working with the 'level system' where kids who have misbehaved have to 'earn' their privileges."

It's a source of constant amazement, she says, how generous people can be. Many local restaurants donate food, people volunteer their time to help the children study, every now and then even a big item that is needed will turn up just when it's needed. Sandra says "God's blessing is on this ministry, I have no doubt of that."

She related a poignant story from a recent meal with the children, first telling the reporter, "you probably won't believe this, but it's true."