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 going to take the child out of the car, a “welcome team” of Hope peers greets him. “Hi, this is your new home. You are going to like it here.” And for the next several hours, these children welcome, soothe fears, and make the new child comfortable at the City of Youth. By the time a staff member comes on the scene, the child truly feels he is already at home.

In the following years, these welcoming peers will be the primary shapers of his life as they journey to adulthood together. Culture is a powerful tool, especially at Hope Unlimited, and godly peers help our children transform their lives.

Father, we thank you for children who love unconditionally and model the Christian life for other children. We pray your blessings on them.