THE POWER OF PRAYER IS NOT IN THOSE WHO PRAY, BUT IN THE GOD WHO ANSWERS THEIR DEEPEST CRIES. At Hope Unlimited for Children we have seen God display His power in response to earnest prayer over and over again. Doors that would have remained closed have been opened. Hearts hardened beyond belief have changed. Children’s lives have transformed—and today their own children experience the benefit of our long-ago prayers. Next month we will begin 30 Days of Prayer for Hope. On each of the 30 days leading up to Orphan Sunday (November 8), Hope supporters will receive an email …
Residential Care
Fits and Starts
A lesson here, if we will hear it . . . The answers are not always easy, but these are children our Savior loves. And so will we. Enrique is a 17-year-old with a lifetime of bad choices behind him. He was first brought to Hope Mountain when he was 13 and terribly addicted to drugs. He was gone within two hours. Another few months on the streets, and then he was brought to Hope Mountain again. And again, he was gone within two hours. That cycle was repeated over and over again—at least ten times in the next few …
A Busload of Hope
I like the way this story ends. The buses at our City of Youth are absolutely indispensable. They ferry our staff from their homes to the campus, they pick up children from nearby favelas, and they carry our kids to the many off-campus activities—outings to museums and ballgames, Saturday evening services at our graduate church, and monthly birthday celebrations at the mall. Without them, all of the extras that make our programs work are gone. A few months ago… a devastating loss. We had sold both of our older buses, and with the help of a great donation from Princeton …
Hidden Treasures
I like old wood. I mean really, really old—and really, really like. And with those qualifiers, last week was a special treat. Susan and I had been looking at a small farm near the acreage we now have. Small, but bigger than our place. We ended up deciding against making an offer, but we spent several afternoons after work walking through the fields and woods. On our second afternoon there, we “discovered” (the land owners had always known it was there) an overgrown and dilapidated 18th century cabin. Not too dilapidated, and not too overgrown, but well past its prime—by …
Christian Alliance for Orphans Summit 2015
According to Christianity Today, the Christian Alliance for Orphans (CAFO) Summit has become the national hub for “the burgeoning Christian orphan care movement.” Last year’s conference drew 2,600 foster and adoptive parents, orphan advocates, pastors and leaders from 35 countries. On several occasions it has been my good fortune to attend, to lead topic-specific workshops, and to participate in panel discussions. And I’m looking forward to this year! CAFO Summit 2015 will take place in Nashville, Tennessee on April 30-May 1. While I realize the date is almost upon us, it’s not too late to make your plans to attend! And …
This IS Family
Yes, family is the ultimate answer. But family—as we understand it—is not always a possibility. Stefani did not fit the profile of the kids who usually come to Hope. She came from a middle class family, with two parents. She was not a typical child of the streets, but in her 15 years, she has experienced a lifetime of hurt, abandonment, and abuse. In her voice: My parents started to drink, and then to fight. My mother was being bi-polar, and the alcohol drove her over the edge. And then my father left. As mom’s drinking got worse, she introduced …
Five Contexts where Residential Care Works
A lot of folks are not going to like this post—but these things have to be said. Residential care works. Not for every child, not in every situation, and certainly not when it is no more than the warehousing of children. But, done right, it works. For kids who have been on the streets, for kids who have been trafficked, for kids whose years of being abused, abandoned, or exploited have destroyed their ability to accept love and build relationships, it works. But there is a cottage industry built around blasting residential care. Like the quote in last week’s post …
Mortal-risk children and residential care
Eventually, eventually, the story gets okay, but it has a lot of twists and turns to get there—and along the way an important lesson about thoughtful care for mortal-risk children. I’ll also introduce you to a debate that impacts the lives of millions of children. Jaime was a child of the streets. Abandoned by a prostitute mother, he spent his days in begging and thievery—and his nights under an overpass, a piece of cardboard his street mattress. Eventually sent to a shelter, he was adopted for the first time at age seven. By eight, he was back at the shelter, …
Valentine Cards SPEAK LOVE, Transform Lives
Many of the girls at Hope have been sexually abused and exploited. Thanks to the grace of God and staff members who SPEAK LOVE, that appalling truth is forever in the past as soon as they reach our campus. Unfortunately, it’s a more difficult and much slower process to change their self-perception. These children have been taught since birth that they have value only as a sexual object. But Hope Unlimited is about transformation. Our story is of a tragic beginning absolutely overwhelmed by a triumphant end. Each February, churches and individuals across the U.S. add a little something to …
Santa: From dirty streets to a clean sleigh
Stories. The best ones catch us by surprise, bring a smile, and perhaps refocus our priorities. This one—this week—from (missionary/Hope Unlimited for Children CEO) Philip Smith in Brazil: Christmas 2014 in Brazil. Think hot. Sometimes Santa is not who we expect him to be. Sweltering in the Hope Santa suit this year was a former street kid. Luciano graduated from Hope in 1996, got a good job, married, and became a worship leader at his church. A few months ago, he reached out to me saying he felt called to return to Hope as a houseparent. Then in July, he …
Life Lesson from Orphans #4: Bless as you have been blessed
It’s a really wonderful part of the worship tradition at the City of Youth. At some point in each chapel service, our kids have the chance to give back. Not financially, of course, but of what they have. They do this through their prayer requests. During what we might call an offertory, the kids walk forward and place written prayers and prayer requests in a large bowl at the front of the auditorium. Many of the prayers are simple, a line or two composed at the last minute, but nonetheless heartfelt. Lord, thank you for giving me this place to live. …
Life Lesson from Orphans #1: Expectations and Outcomes
It was an extraordinary conversation. The local Children’s Council was visiting our Hope Mountain campus. The problem, it seemed, was that we are creating “unrealistic expectations” in the lives of former street kids. They are well-clothed attend private schools have high-level vocational training programs live as families They come to expect that their lives will be different than those of their parents and the kids who ran the streets with them. They somehow believe that their education, the social skills they learn, their vocational skills—and their dreams—will lead to better lives. But, according to the Children’s Council, hoping for a …
Beyond Our Jerusalem
Day 30: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8-9) Our goal is not to “plant the Hope flag” around the world—but it is to see change in the lives of mortal-risk children everywhere. We have discovered that we can impact thousands and thousands of lives by helping other organizations doing similar work understand how we do what we do. We call it Hope Institute; our CEO, …
Transforming Future Generations
Day 27: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15) Our mission: Transforming the lives of children at mortal risk, providing them and their future generations with a productive future and eternal hope. It’s thrilling to sit in our graduate church and look around the room at generations …
Graduates: Building A Future
Day 24: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.” (Isaiah 28:16) For many Hope Unlimited kids, being launched into freedom can be terrifying. The only period of real independence many of them have ever known were the years spent abandoned to the street by the adults who should have taken care of them. This new beginning is a big—and sometimes very scary—step. They will …
Anna: Overcoming drugs
Day 25: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope But as for me, I am poor and needy; come quickly to me, O God. You are my help and my deliverer; Lord, do not delay. (Psalms 70:5) Drugs are constantly available to children from the streets and slums of Brazil. Once at Hope, many of our kids must work incredibly hard—with God’s help—to be free from them. Anna is one of those kids. As a child, she was introduced by a caregiver to the drugs easily-accessible in the slum where she lived. . . . One day he made me smoke a …
Guilherme: Finding Peace
Day 22: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. (Psalms 147:3) Guilherme rarely appeared in Hope photos. He was just too cool. Try as we might, we could never get him to stop flashing a peace sign or wearing his hat to the side; that was just his personality. He was a great kid, full of smiles, but he was definitely his own man. And he ran away. He had done it before, and he always came back. This time though, on his first night away, he was hit by a drunk …
Biblical Charity
Day 21: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. (1 Corinthians 13:13 KJV) Sometimes the King’s English can be a challenge, but it really hits the point here. Charity, in the truest Christian sense of the word, is an outgrowth of our relationship with our God. And it always calls us to look at the big picture for our kids. Hope is not a bowl-of-rice-in-a-warehouse organization. The kind of love—charity—that we show for those God has entrusted to our care must be transformational—long-term, life-changing care. That’s …
Luis Roberto: Runaway
Day 20: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here. (2 Corinthians 5:17) The children’s stories do not always end as we want them to—as we pray for them to end. Luis Roberto was a bright, sweet kid who saw his father shot down by drug traffickers. Worried for his safety, his mother convinced the authorities to send him to Hope Mountain. But even at Hope Mountain, Luis often expressed the heaviness he felt of needing to fill his father’s shoes and provide for his …
Houseparent spotlight: Jardelho and Natalha
Day 19: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:5-7) Like the other Hope houseparents, Jardelho and Natalha have made a ten-year commitment to Hope. They are primary care providers for a home with three sibling groups—a total of …
Houseparents: Family for life
Day 14: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. (Psalms 68:5-6) Hours after the children scuttle off to bed, houseparents gather for a late-night dinner and prayer meeting. Almost every night, as dinner winds down, the houseparents form a circle, and—holding hands—they intercede before God for each child. Together, their passion for every child in their care is palpable. These special houseparents sign ten-year contracts …
On Mission
Day 13: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:9) Every year, hundreds of visitors grace our campuses with their presence. They come from the local churches and communities, from the U.S. and Europe, and from all over the world. They come for one reason: to be on mission — sharing the love of Christ with the children of Hope. They leave changed, just as the children are changed. One of the realities of New Testament …
Transformation from the Inside Out
Day 12: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2) When children come to Hope Unlimited, they bring short lifetimes of destructive behaviors with them. Sexual promiscuity, drug abuse, violent acting out, theft, and dishonesty are all part of a street kid’s life. Hope Unlimited’s staff—and, importantly, children whose lives have already been transformed—work diligently to help newcomers put harmful life choices behind them. …
Cultural Noise
Day 11: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; He lifts his voice, the earth melts. (Psalms 46:6) Our children come to us steeped in a culture that places values on all the wrong things: materialism, carnality, and disregard for those in need. Much of what the team at Hope does is help children listen for the quiet voice of our Sovereign Lord—calling them to a deeper faith in Him, to care for others, and to practice spiritual disciplines. Please pray with us that in the midst of the cultural noise, the voice of God …
Earning Their Trust
Day 9: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his …
A Cultural Current
Day 6: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11) Before coming to Hope Unlimited, the children we serve are often swept into destructive lifestyles by a cultural current pulling them towards drugs, crime, sexual exploitation, and poverty. A central part of our philosophy is maintaining a campus culture that, instead, directs the children in a positive trajectory. We count on older children, whose lives have already been transformed, to help …
Paulo Vitor: Abandoned
Day 5: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; you consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to you; you are the helper of the fatherless. (Psalm 10:14) Paulo never knew his father, and he was abused and neglected by his mother. She turned him in to the authorities, saying she did not want him anymore. She abandoned her son. Thankfully, he recently found a home at Hope. He asks every day about when he might return to the only family he has ever known, but his …
Culture: A Powerful Tool
Day 4: 30 Days of Prayer for Hope Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. (Ruth 1:16) We have seen it happen so many times: a squad car arrives at the City of Youth with a terrified child in the back seat. The child does not know why he has been picked up and does not understand why he’s being brought to this place. That’s why, instead of adult staff members …
Prayers and Pray-ers
Many of you readers are new here, so I’m reprising this post from several years ago. Its words are timeless… Reading 1 John again this evening… “But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” Must walk as Jesus did.” That’s a tough one; one I’m not sure I have completely worked out. But I do know that it starts with relationships — both with God and with others. And I think John’s point is that …
Orphans, residential care — and outcomes
It’s a refrain I hear pretty often. “Orphanages are bad. All of them.” That sounds good, and perhaps it echoes the well-meaning hearts of those motivated by Christian love to see every child in a family. Besides, we shudder —with good reason—when we see the cold walls of nursery orphanages in eastern Europe or places where young children and teenagers are essentially warehoused. “Please, sir, said Oliver, “I want some more.” God forgive us for ever treating children so. And so, in that line of reasoning, unequivocal statements are made: For all orphans, residential care is bad. We immediately assume …
Calling … and Following
I’ve heard it more than once . . . Okay, I see the numbers. I know there are 153 million orphans out there, and they need to be loved. I hear the need… and I am really glad you’re doing what you are doing, but God hasn’t called me to do this. Well, actually He has. I do get this. I understand your point. You are not ready to sell everything and move to Brazil, Mozambique, Thailand. But you are called. Look at Scripture’s definition of acceptable religion: In the book of James – “Religion that God our Father …
When Life is Cheap, Smiles Disappear
I received this email today. It is reality we see far too often. Tough kids, kids for whom life is cheap, but kids that God loves as deeply and as passionately as He loves you and me, and as He loves our children and grandchildren. Kids that we are called to love. From my friend Corenne: It is rare that I suddenly drop whatever I am doing to write, but feel compelled to do so today. Luis Roberto, 13, is dead. Shot by, well, who really knows. He was a bright, sweet kid, who saw his father shot down by …
Five contexts where residential care is the best answer for orphans
Serious, and important, discussion here. I was reading an orphan care blog a few days ago. The blogger wrote about his new and deeper commitment to supporting orphan care, and how he was ready to make some lifestyle changes in order to financially underpin the work of those caring for orphans. And then his throw-away line: “except I will not give anything to help any orphanage, and you shouldn’t either.” Tough words, but words that reflect many, possibly most, of those who are serious about orphan care. The word orphanage has become an epitaph, conjuring images of a Twistian warehouse …
Day 2: Darkness Showing Through
Read:Psalms 121:1-3 I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip—he who watches over you will not slumber The city of Vitória, and its surrounding communities, is one of the most beautiful areas in Brazil. But soon the darker side of Vitória becomes apparent: signs in hotels along the beachfront warn that soliciting minors for sex is illegal; the children’s prison at Cariacica looms forebodingly; and favelas with subhuman living conditions are everywhere in this …
Day 1: Hope For The City
Read:Psalms 68:5-6 A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families, he leads out the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land. Campinas, Brazil is a city of great wealth and extreme poverty. It is a world leader in private helicopters and personal armored cars per capita. Yet, nearly 40% of its three million inhabitants live in squalid slums (called favelas). Children living in these desperate conditions are abandoned, abused, and exploited as their parents struggle to survive. Families live in cycles of …
Life-Changing Valentines
My wife, Susan, recently wrote about Hope’s Valentine project at her blog, My Place to Yours. With her permission, her words are reprinted here. My word for 2013 is shelter. Simply hearing the word brings to mind thoughts of safety … stability … home. I suppose it’s because I’m one of the fortunate ones. Many (most?) of you are, too. While I’ve had my share of challenges in life … some I pray none of you will ever experience … there’s never been a time when I wondered if I was loved or a time I questioned my long-term safety or …
Unwrap Hope
I’ll admit it. I don’t understand the rush from Summer to Christmas. I prefer to enjoy my days without wishing them away. But I do understand anticipation. I like watching the eager anticipation of little ones as they prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior. I like teaching them about gift giving, about how it commemorates the bringing of gifts by the Magi. And especially the looks on their faces as they tear through wrapping paper to open their presents on Christmas morning. As our thoughts begin to turn to the gifts we want to give (and receive) this …
Thrive Team
EVERY child deserves the chance to Thrive . . . and YOU deserve a chance to help! Through the years, many supporters of Hope Unlimited for Children have asked if we have a child sponsorship program. Because Brazilian privacy laws expressly prohibit us from linking a sponsor to an individual child, we have always had to answer “no.” Even so, that did not change our desire to find a way for supporters to connect with our kids. Out of this long-time desire, our new Thrive Team program was born. While not linking a sponsor to a specific child, Thrive Team …
Failure
The interviewer sat in a chair a few feet away from Philip: “What is the most difficult thing you face in this work?” The question hung in the air several seconds; a cloud passing over Philip’s face. He composed himself and began, “For me, the most difficult thing,” he paused, struggling for control again, but tears wetting his eyes. “The most difficult thing is when we invest our lives in a child, and we see the transformation; we see the change. We think this one is going to make it, and then a few months later he runs away to …
A Difficult Call
I have told you her story before, but I come back to her today to ask a really hard question. Prostituted by her mother at age nine, Natalie herself became a mother by the time she turned 11. I remember seeing her stand before the graduate church, confidently telling her story. It was hard to believe that Natalie was the same scared, horribly abused child the juvenile authorities had brought to Hope seven years earlier. In a very real sense, she wasn’t the same; she was transformed during her time at Hope. A few minutes later when she introduced her young …
Because every child is a story yet to be told
We use that phrase a lot. And we believe it, because we have seen the stories unfold before our eyes. Two weeks ago, I saw the story of Patricia, one of the girls in our graduate transition home, begin to be written. Patricia came to us, like virtually all of our kids, a victim of abuse, exploitation, and abandonment. When Patricia arrived at Hope, she quickly showed herself to be a good student, with a special drive and focus. In a rare occurrence, she completed high school by the time she was ready to leave for the graduate house. But …
Tiago
It was the first time I had ever seen him on a basketball court. He ran with a limping, broken, uncoordinated gait. It was obvious he did not understand the game; he chased the ball no matter which team had it, slapping at it as he had seen the other boys dribble. Occasionally, someone would toss the ball to him, and he would run toward a basket and clumsily throw the ball in the general direction of the goal. The boys, all younger than him, knew that any really competitive game was impossible with him on the court. But they …
Recharging (or charging for the first time . . .)
I’m writing this while sitting in an airport 5,000 miles from the kids in Brazil. Though there are ample reasons to be home—plenty of chores, a grandson on the way in the next few weeks, taxes (although, to be honest, I tend to be more of the spectator as my wife crunches numbers), and always, always, so much that needs to be done for Hope. But I need to be in Brazil. I find my passions for changing the lives of these kids not growing cold, but at least ebbing. I need to see the need. I need …
But with God…
I listened with horror as the social worker, Adriana, told us Fran’s life story. With her mother dying of AIDS, custody of Fran was given to her older sister. That was when her nightmare really began. Instead of caring for her, the older sister prostituted her 12-year-old little sister, selling her on a nightly basis. Her story only got worse from there. I interrupted Adriana’s recitation by asking, “What will happen to her? In the U.S., she would be so scarred that she would probably be institutionalized for life.” Now it was Adrianna’s turn to look at me …
Valentine’s 2012
Last February I introduced our readers to Hope’s annual Valentine’s Project. We transform Brazil’s Day of Love to make it a special affirmation and learning time for our girls, and we inviting you to participating with us. Because many of you are new to “The Least of These,” I am reposting last year’s blog. It is an appalling truth that many of the girls at Hope have been sexually abused and exploited. Thanks to the grace of God, that is forever in the past as soon as they reach our campus. Unfortunately, it’s a more difficult and much slower …
Beginnings
New Years, 2012. Already? A friend and I were talking a few days ago about getting older, and how time seems to accelerate with age. He told me that his elderly dad had recently remarked, “This has been the quickest life.” I am finding that to be more and more true myself. Fortunately, throughout our lives we have chances to press the reset button, and the beginning of a new year is a natural time to do that. I don’t make New Year’s resolutions per se, but I do find myself deciding that some part of my life—usually …
Why not the best?
We received really exciting news from Brazil last week. Just as in the U.S., Brazilian states put great emphasis on standardized testing to measure the effectiveness of their schools. The state of Espirito Santo, where our Hope Mountain campus is located, just released statewide standardized test scores, and Hope Mountain had the highest average scores of any school in the state. The average student score statewide was 418; the second highest school’s students averaged 516. The scores of the students at our Hope Mountain school averaged 620. As you read those numbers, remember where our kids come from: Our residential …
VIEWING the Story of Hope
A different kind of post today… As regular readers know, last weekend Hope Unlimited for Children celebrated 20 years of work with street children in Brazil. My wife posted about the event on her blog, My Place to Yours, and she’s given me permission to share an excerpt here with you – so you can celebrate with us! Hope’s 20th Anniversary Celebration was held in the 8,000 square foot multi-level Redwood Hall at CuriOdyssey in San Mateo, California. These photos are “broad stroke” overviews. I’ll take you on a close-up tour in a minute … Upon entering the lowest level, …
Twenty Years of HOPE
Two decades ago, two men boarded a Pan Am flight for Brazil. They had heard of the plight of street children there; international attention had turned its focus on Brazil after reports that these children were being systematically murdered by police vigilante squads. Jack Smith, his son Philip, and David Swoap had felt God’s call to do something, anything, for these kids, and so Jack and Philip had cashed in their airline miles to make the trip south. Not much of a plan, but a heartfelt conviction that every Christian had an absolute obligation to care for those Jesus called …
Changing a culture
I get very excited when I think about our numbers at Hope: over 200 children in full residential care, 450 teenagers in day vocational and academic programs, 470 children in our preschool — and these numbers don’t even touch the families of our students or the graduates that we minister to every day. Feel-good numbers. But then the other numbers hit me: millions of children still call the streets home, 400,000 girls forced into prostitution every year. And that’s just Brazil. No matter how much money we raise, no matter how many sponsors we enlist, no matter many …
Toward What End?
I will never forget the night we met Fran. It was our first night at Hope, and only her second or third. My wife and I had traveled to Brazil to see the program there firsthand. A pizza outing for some of the girls at Hope Ranch let us meet a few of the kids without being overwhelmed. While most of the girls actively engaged us—they were very accustomed to English-only Americans on mission trips—Fran shyly caught our eyes and smiled, head down. It was obvious she was new and didn’t yet know the ropes. The next day we …
But What Happens When the Model Doesn’t Work?
Over the last two decades, the model for care of orphans has greatly changed. Decades ago, long-term, large homes were the prevalent model for orphan care. Big dormitories, or at least large group homes, dominated the landscape of care facilities. Without question—and especially in the emerging world—this model had its problems. Sometimes the problems were fairly minor—kids needed more interaction with society outside the grounds of the orphanage. At other times they were quite severe—children essentially warehoused to get them off the streets and out of sight. Think Oliver Twist repeated around the world. Abuse of children in these facilities …
Noblesse Oblige
A good friend has a framed, embroidered motto on his desk, “noblesse oblige” (the obligation of the nobility). I sometimes give him a pretty hard time about it because it can symbolize all that I think is wrong about the Church’s response to issues of poverty and need. It’s like an uncomfortable line that was popular in the privileged class of the South in my childhood, “There but for the grace of God go I”. Condescension is so imbedded in both phrases that they are the very opposite of Christian charity (using that word in the truest sense of 1 …
But God had something else in mind…
A few months ago, the Board of Directors of Hope Unlimited for Children reluctantly voted to close our Hope Mountain campus. It was not without pain to make the decision; the need is desperate there, and hearts, efforts, and money had been poured into the transformation of this former prison facility into a place where the lives of boys could be transformed. But, a decade into the project, only marginal local support had joined the U.S. investment, and the cost of running the project was threatening to strangle the Hope organization. The Board made the decision provisionally: if Hope …
Maddie
Today I welcome Maddie to the blog. Last summer sixteen-year-old Maddie and her family visited Hope Unlimited’s City of Youth in Brazil. She recently spoke at a chapel service at her school about her experiences in Brazil. These words are excerpted from her presentation. Imagine a girl who lives in a comfortable suburban house surrounded by a loving family. She attends Stanford games and vacations in Newport Beach with her family. She attends private school. Imagine another girl who lives in a home of cardboard and plywood, without plumbing or electricity. She walks barefoot on a dirty, trash-filled street. Her mom suffers from mental illness …
A Heart Made New
When Carlos first arrived at the City of Youth two years ago, he was just like so many of the kids who have come to call the City of Youth their home. He had virtually no contact with his mother and became a child of the streets when he fled a physically abusive father. But we soon realized there was something different about Carlos. He was weak, often short of breath, and simply did not have the robust appearance that a young teenage boy should have. A pediatrician in Campinas scheduled Carlos for a battery of cardiac exams. Before he made it to …
Feliz Aniversário!
The post this week comes from Karen Rodriguez, a member of Princeton Alliance Church in Plainsboro, NJ. A group from Princeton has been in Brazil this month ministering to our kids and refurbishing the sanctuary. How do you get to spend your birthday? Do you get to go out with your family to a nice restaurant? Do they shower you with love, affection, and gifts in many forms? Do you get to pick any cake you want and have people sing to you? Does your dad sing the birthday song to you a week before your birthday and continue to …
Oh Lord, hear my prayer
At the City of Youth, our flagship campus in Brazil, we have a mid-week chapel service for the kids. During the service we have an offertory. Our kids, of course, have no money to give, but come forward and place written prayers and prayer requests in a large bowl at the front of the auditorium. Many of the prayers are simple, a line or two composed at the last minute, but nonetheless heartfelt, “Lord, thank you for giving me this place to live.” Others are longer, maybe running a page or two as a child pours out her heart to …
A New Beginning
It is an appalling truth that many of the girls at Hope have been sexually abused and exploited. Thanks to the grace of God, that is forever in the past as soon as they reach our campus. Unfortunately, it’s a more difficult and much slower process to change their self-perception. These children have been taught since birth that they have value only as a sexual object. But Hope Unlimited is about transformation. Our story is of a tragic beginning absolutely overwhelmed by a triumphant end. Each February, churches and individuals across the U.S. add a little something to their Valentine’s …
The Ripple Effect
Jack and Evangel Smith are two people who changed the world. In 1962, they were Presbyterian missionaries teaching at a mission school in Ethiopia when they started a school for homeless kids in their back yard. This was a mission on top of their mission, but they were so overwhelmed by the poverty they saw, they felt they could do no less. Seeing the desperation around them, they told one little orphan boy, “Tomorrow we will start a school for street children. We want you to come, and bring your friends. But,” they warned him, “don’t bring any thieves.” The …