A Place of Hope

Hope Gardens is a place for women and children who have been in abusive relationships and have chosen to leave, but needed a safe place to be with their children. Hope Gardens work with helping these women to get jobs and to transition back into society. We went and played games with the kids… something kind of like fugitive where we are all running in the dark, trying to smuggle Bibles to the finish line but if you get caught by the ‘police’ you have to go to ‘jail’. Its pretty much the most fun game ever! I got separated from my team and was wandering around aimlessly when a little girl named Mia asked what we were doing, I told her we were playing a game, did she want to come along. She ran up to me, took my hand and we went to ask her mom. We picked up her sister who was probably 5 and took off running. I guess we weren’t suspects because we made it all the way to the finish line without anyone chasing us! Mia and her sister—whose name I can’t remember—were having such a blast playing with the bigger kids. On our way back down the hill, Mia disappeared. The sister got really nervous, so we went on a search behind the apartments and it was really dark, she was really scared. I told her that this was an adventure and it was fun, she said she didn’t like adventures. Then we started walking through the little opening and the sprinklers came on! I picked her up and ran through them and she was laughing; afterwards, I said, ‘see, adventures are fun!’ and she informed me that that wasn’t fun. What can you say to that?! We gathered with all of the students to pray together and to say goodbye. Mia gave me a big hug and said she was going to miss me, then she took her barrette out of her hair and gave it to me ‘so that you don’t forget me,’ she said.


I wonder how many people come into her life and leave just like we did. But she didn’t hold back, she loved on us, she sang her heart out and even prayed the closing prayer as we left. I hope that I never do forget a little girl name Mia who didn’t assume that we were going to leave, but she maybe knew it, but she loved us anyways.