Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart. Psalms 27:14

It’s God’s work, this caring for orphans, but it seems we often forget that. We want to take things on our shoulders, figure out the answers, and get it done.

Fix the problem. Save the children. Now.

But it’s God’s work, and that means God’s timing.

Let me tell you a bit of our story of the last few years. We actually have been fortunate on the income side as God has miraculously provided, time and time again, through the faithfulness of His people. But a plummeting exchange rate and skyrocketing costs in Brazil pushed us to the point of breaking. We found ourselves overextended, and began to cut; first just fat (never much of that), and then the lean meat, until there really was not anything left to cut.

And so we questioned: “God, why did you lead us to add a campus in Vitoria when You knew the time was coming when we could no longer afford it?” And then the unfolding answer, “Because I have a new work for you.”

Time passed. The state where the Vitoria campus is located came under international condemnation for the condition in its children’s prisons; one prison averaging two murders of children each month inside the prison. At first, there was a tentative approach: “Would Hope Unlimited be willing to work with us to provide a home for a few of the kids who have been incarcerated?” Subsequently, the system began to melt down, and a more pressing “Are you willing to talk to us about working alongside us to care for every child in the state prison system?”

Obedience to God over a decade ago when we opened Hope Mountain in Vitoria. God putting Hope Unlimited in position.

Actually, if we had been flush with money, we probably would have been content to continue our work with the “good” orphans, not with the bad kids of the prison system. The result? Those children would have never heard that God loves them; never known the promise of a future. If we had plenty of cash in hand, would we have been open to the new venues of ministry God apparently has planned for us?

There have been many struggles these last few years. But now they begin to make sense. It’s interesting… The word that is translated “wait” in Psalms 27 is also the Hebrew word for hope.

His timing, not ours. Because in Him is our Hope.