Brazilian Street Kids Transform into 'Princesses and Princes'

By Michelle A. Vu, Christian Post Reporter Monday, February 05, 2007

The thought of a child resorting to gangs, drugs, and forced prostitution to survive is unspeakable and saddening to all. But as many missionaries and agencies working with street kids have learned, reaching out and trying to love these children is no easy task either.

Hope Unlimited, a Christian ministry that has reached more than a thousand Brazilian street children, has been recognized with numerous awards and praised for its ability to help transform the lives of hopeless children.

The secret? Not fancy psychological therapy or smothering of love, but “biblical, godly parenting,” according to the Hope Unlimited co-founder/president Philip Smith.

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“They come into our family and we raise them as I was raise in my family,” Smith told The Christian Post in a recent interview.

“I come from a Christian family and my children are going to come to church with me and worship with me just as I did with my parents and it works towards their stability,” he explained.

Smith said that many people have criticized the ministry for its Christian orientation, but he believes that like any parent raising their child, the parent would teach the child about their religious belief.

“People actually get it – it’s like the light goes on and it’s been amazing that we received support and major financing when we are able to present it in that way,” said Smith.

Professional and committed Brazilian Christians help transform the lives of the children through a program that uses long-term, Christ-centered approach to family life, education, therapy and vocational training. The children reside on a 35-acre ranch which includes dormitories, classrooms, vocational training facilities, a farm, recreational facilities, offices, and a chapel.

However, it is not easy for the children to accept love from the adults in the ministry or from their Heavenly Father.

“The name of our training manual that we use is called When Love is Not Enough.,” said Smith. “It is not intuitive.

“We think about how do we tell these children about the concept of a Heavenly Father when they have no idea what the love of a father is all about. For them the father figure is that drunken guy who stumbles across the room towards their bed at 2 o’clock in the morning.”

Hope Unlimited has learned that in order for the children to overcome their insecurity and begin their transformation they need to learn to respect the adult in the ministry.
“The kids cannot trust and unless they can trust somebody they are not going to turn over control to them,” explained Smith. “You have to get their respect and establish yourself in a position of being stronger than them so they will begin to trust you and relax and then you are in the position to help them.”

Smith, whose ministry has received funding to write a manual on how to work with street kids, made the analogy that if the kids treat the adult like a doormat and they are underneath the adult, then that makes them the dirt underneath the doormat.

“How will they have self-esteem that way,” questioned Smith. “For them to have self-esteem, to be princesses and princes, you need to be the kings and queens.”

He concluded though that, “The exciting thing is these psychological therapeutic techniques are no more than what we learn in the Bible about parenting. It is just biblical, godly parenting.”

Hope Unlimited, which was founded in 1992 by Philip Smith and his father the Rev. Jack Smith, is currently helping 600 kids, has graduated 300, and has placed back 500 children with their families. Brazil has recognized the ministry with the Kanitz Award, which named it one of Brazil’s top 50 charities of the decade. Currently, there are an estimated 7 million street kids in Brazil.