Hope Unlimited For Children

Dalva's story as told by our co-founder and CEO, Philip Smith: Dear Team Members, At last week's ceremony, you may remember I could not stop crying when Sra. Dalva was recognized for completing 10 years at HOPE. I could not talk, but tried to explain that I was remembering one of my most precious possessions: a letter written by Sra. Dalva a decade ago. Here, now, I will tell you the whole story. Most of you know that Sra. Dalva lost custody of her 8 children, 6 of whom we raised at the City of Youth. After the four older girls graduated, they pleaded for fellow members of our graduate church to join them in helping their mother. She had been a destitute drug addict for many years, and her shack was literally falling apart. When the team from CENE went to rescue her, they found her wasting away in a filthy shack, zoned out on drugs. They fixed up her house, shared God's word with her, and raised the money to intern her in an addiction clinic. To be honest, I never imagined that Sra. Dalva would stay. But six months later, from the treatment clinic, she wrote a letter to Pr. Derli and her children. Pastor Derli shared the letter with me. I still consider that letter one of my most precious possessions. Rarely have I seen such a powerful manifestation of the Holy Spirit. So, on Saturday night, when Sra. Dalva's name was called? It suddenly hit me that we were celebrating SO, SO much more than just 10 years employed as a cook at Hope Unlimited! I will share her amazing letter with you now -- it may help you understand my reaction. My Dear Pastor Derli, The peace of the Lord be with you and your entire family. I sit here at 7:25 PM, remembering as if it was yesterday the day the Lord extended His hands to me through a servant of God, a Christian man sent to help me. I don’t have words to thank you for what you did and still do for me and for my children. It is because of the love that our Lord Jesus Christ placed in your heart that I am able to speak to you now as a fellow child of the living God. May He bless you and multiply in your life. May He exalt you more and more for the love you showed me. The Bible says that whoever helps the poor helps God. Faith without works is dead. And you showed your love for God when you pulled me out from the midst of pigs and made me to sit with the princes. I am joyful in the presence of God, and I want to share this happiness with you. Yesterday I attended the church service. It was wonderful, full of God’s power. I am learning to worship. I read the Bible every day, and I pray often, both on my knees and in my heart. I pray for you, and I pray that God will continue to take care of your ministry. I am well. I won’t give up. 2 Cor. 5:17 says that I am a new creation, the old things have passed away, and all is made new! And I believe this. Please give this message to my children: Your mother loves you. I thank God every day for the great love in your hearts even though I do not deserve it. I will leave here soon, a new Dalva, restored by God, and your mother’s home will now be a house of prayer. I leave this scripture, that speaks of the day you dragged me out of the mire. It says, “Let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.” (1 John 4:7) God be with you! Sister Dalva That translation is word for word, with no corrections or embellishments. Seeing her in that shack, in that condition, who - who, but our Lord God - could have imagined her capable of writing a letter like this six months later? I always think it sounds like it could have been written by the Apostle Paul. Maybe it’s because the inspiration came from the same source. And by the way, her house did become a house of prayer, and remains so till this day. Why am I sharing this story, you may ask? Sra. Dalva was not rescued by Hope Unlimited! That's absolutely right - she wasn't. Which is precisely why the story must be told. She was rescued by children who had been rescued by Hope Unlimited, and had themselves become the hands and feet of God.

“I never dreamed Uncle Philip’s daughter and my own daughter would be best friends,” Golbery says stoically, ignoring the tears streaming down his face. Who would have? But that’s what happens. Children grow up to be peers, and eventually the roles reverse and they become the caretakers. Philip met Golbery was about 8. He was sleeping on the sidewalk on a piece of cardboard, not far from the entrance of Philip’s first apartment in Brazil. Philip had only been in Brazil for a matter of weeks and did not speak Portuguese yet, but he befriended Golbery and would buy him snacks. One day, Philip invited Golbery to come through the front doors of a fancy restaurant for a real meal. It was an incident which marked him forever. Below, Golbery recounts this incident, along with a few details of his incredible life. His narration involves murder, love, humor and intrigue, all without the special effects of Hollywood! See a video testimony from Golbery here https://hopeunlimited.org/about/graduate-stories/

Jose Nilton was one of our first graduates. He is one of 15 employees (who are Hope graduates) working at a local Renault dealership as an auto body repair specialist. He shares what life was like after his father was murdered. “I was five when I took to the streets,” he explains. He talks of starting out as a “vapor,” an expression for little kids used by drug traffickers as look outs for police, who then “evaporate” into thin air. His voice cracks as he points toward heaven and says, “If it weren’t first for God, and secondly for Hope Mountain, I would be dead.” To hear more of Jose Nilton's story visit our website https://hopeunlimited.org/about/graduate-stories/

I lost my mom when I was very young. After living in shelters in Sao Paulo until I was 10 years old, I was transferred to the City of Youth in Campinas because of my older brother. He got involved with bad company in Sao Paulo, so we had to go far away so they wouldn’t be able to find him. I did not have a hard time adapting to my new life at the City of Youth, mainly because I had my brother with me. But he decided to leave before he graduated and never came back. After that, I started to rebel against my social parents. I became stubborn, I fought with other kids, and I did not open up to others. But after a while, I started to adapt again without my brother. Some things that really helped me to find happiness and I really loved at Hope was the annual camps in July with the presence of American friends that came from really far just to have fun with us and bring very cool toys and activities for us. I also loved the birthday parties when we had delicious Milkshakes and hamburgers at McDonalds. I loved to play soccer with the other kids almost every day and to ride horses they used to have at the City of Youth. Hope represents my foundation, my roots, my education and it reflects who I am today. The best gift I received was Jesus, and Hope was the place where I accepted Him. I was able to participate in small groups and church services. Now, I am a salesman, and I am also going to college. My major is Information Technology (IT), which was my specialization when I was at Hope after I had the opportunity to attend the computer science course at no cost. My biggest dream is to have my own family, be a good husband and father, and teach my kids about God and how good he is. At the moment, I have a fiancé named Giselle. We are planning to get married in 2020 and have two children in the future. We met in 2015 at the annual graduate church retreat. We are now regular members of the graduate church. The graduate church is my family. It is a beautiful extension of the City of Youth for me. That is the place where I serve Jesus being part of the worship team. I play the drum or the bass guitar every Sunday service. It was through worship that God transformed my life. I started learning how to play the drum at the City of Youth and consequently my I began to behave better because I started to develop a good relationship with others in the worship team and also with Jesus.