HOPE UNLIMITED BLOG

I flew into São Paulo to visit Hope Unlimited, which was started as an answer to the hopelessness of street children. Most have been so severely traumatized, abused, and taken advantage of that they can barely grasp the concept of "home" or "family." Imagine yourself at 8, 10, 12 years old, and all you've seen or known of adults is physical abuse. Sexual perversion. Rape. This is your absolute and definitive frame of reference.

As I prayed for Natalia yesterday and reflected on our relationship, it dawned on me that when we talk about our success stories it may seem the transformation is immediate. But in reality, it is a generational ministry. Just like with biological children, it takes years and years of investment. Only through time can you tell if the Father will say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant.” Patience. Not one of my stronger qualities. I became nostalgic remembering the young Natalha.

As valedictorian of her graduating class, Estefania made a speech which summarized her past life, her future aspirations, and her very real anxiety about leaving.  "I never thought I would be able to overcome the things that happened in my life: the grief of being separated from my siblings and the daily struggles of getting by. I was very angry at life because of the loss and bad memories. I finally reached the bottom of the well, knowing I'd reached my human limit of endurance, and thinking there was no more hope.

Every non-profit dreams of being fully funded. To be relieved of the pressure of the (gulp) "ask." Our offices were on a main road in a good part of town, and we often received donations we could not use. Why not open a thrift shop? It seemed to work. Then we got more strategic about it, actively soliciting donations. First there was one store. Then two. Then someone thought, what about people who are remodeling their homes? What do they do with their old cabinets or tiles? A larger space was rented, and another type of thrift shop was born.

Where Roger came from is not nearly as important as where he is going. He has a plan. He's smart, cute, compassionate, and willing to put out the effort. That doesn't mean he was always cooperative about chores, or didn't tease his housemates. He's a teenage boy. 

Fernando, the House Parents Coordinator we prayed for yesterday, recently spoke at a staff meeting of particularly discouraged house parents. It happens. I wasn't in the meeting, but what I can say is the same slump-shouldered house parents left the meeting with their heads high, giving high fives, and ready to face another day. I asked Fernando to summarize what he had said, and this is what he sent me

You know that feeling when someone listens to you so intently you feel their stare will bore holes in you? Even as a teenager, that's the way Alex was in church. His tattered and well-highlighted Bible first caught my attention. Then I observed how earnestly he wanted to learn everything he could about the Word.

It's pretty flattering when someone offers to take a significant pay cut to work for you. But that's the dedication of Marcos. He ran our auto body repair course until 2006, when economic woes forced us to cut back. He went on to get a job at Renault, practicing what he used to teach, but for a much higher salary.

The view from my kitchen window at the youth ranch is beautiful. Green, lush hills, sprinkled with tall palm trees that sway in the wind, heavy with coconuts begging to be picked. But just beyond the palm trees, in the distance, I can see little houses: the "boca," or mouth—the most dangerous part of the slum...

Getting a call in the middle of the night is never good. But when the call is from thousands of miles away, it's even worse. I was in the United States, and João Pedro was on the line from Brazil,  moaning in agony, and begging for help...

"It's not that they don't want you," I heard myself say to Nicolas. He was sitting on the edge of the sofa, while I knelt down beside him, trying to gaze directly into his grief-stricken eyes. I struggled for the words to finish this sentence. I understood both sides...

Life is messy. And people in ministry are broken, impulsive and struggling—just like everyone else. Several of our staff are former street kids, and have struggled with addiction. For some, their only "crime" was to be orphaned. Others have had more sordid pasts...

Michelle, our cosmetology course instructor, is Miss Congeniality. She's a great teacher and takes a real interest in her students. When she and her husband took young graduate Rhai under their wing (remember him from yesterday's prayer?)...