Feb 2011: Change is on its way!

This morning, we first got a tour of the City of Youth, where all the children of Hope Unlimited attend school, worship and where the boys reside. It was tremendous to see the facilities as well as hear about the many opportunities the students are given once they graduate. We saw the different subject area classrooms and also the vocational courses the children can opt to take in order to prepare for their futures. We got to partake of the goodies the culinary school prepared as well as see the computer lab and the cosmetology program. The kids that attend here are being fully prepared to head into bright futures.

As part of the tour, we saw a house where 8 boys live and met Daniel, who supervises the residential area. As Janet explains: " Imagine a home where a father, mother, and their immediate children live along side 8 additional boys. These 8 boys come from situations that I cannot begin to describe. The host family serves as God's instrument by demonstrating unconditional love, structure, and balance for those that pass through their front door. As a result of these cornerstones, the boys experience stability, love, and instruction. With minimal personal belongings, and very few conveniences, these lives are knit together in such a way that cannot be undone. Boys' lives are changed, and generations are impacted. While I imagined the boys receive the greatest blessing from this arrangement, the host family believes they are the recipients of the greatest blessing. They speak highly of the boys and savor every opportunity to pour into their lives." Needless to say, Daniel's testimony moved many of us on the team. His passion and love for Christ, the boys, and his work with the boys was so inspirational.

We also heard from Adriana, who is one of the social workers on the campus. As one team member, Conrad, put it, "The testimony of the spiritually alive social worker who (spoke) of the saving work of the local Presbyterian church in helping her illiterate, widowed mother support her destitute family... (and then) earn her social worker degree to rescue others and bring hope in Christ, where heartless social workers could not." Her story was powerful and really showed us how God uses each and every one of the staff members.

After an emotional morning, we went to the auditorium to look at the space we are going to transform and started plans on how we were going to accomplish the many goals we had in front of us. As we unpacked all the supplies from our 160 large suitcases and laid out our plans, the months of planning and praying started to become realized.