I thought it might be nice for you to know a little bit about whom you are supporting and what our ministry is.I am an American Baptist pastor's daughter.My dad served in a small church in Los Angeles for 27 years.My closest friends and moral support base are still from that church.

I served as the Director of the Communications Division for International Ministries for about 9 years before I married a missionary to Brazil, Philip Smith.Phil is a missionary kid, raised in Ethiopia.His two sisters were my college (and post college) roommates.The story of how I got to Brazil is simple—I married a missionary who lived here.The story of how Phil got to Brazil is an exciting one:

About 10 years ago when Phil was just finishing college he saw a television program reporting how the 8 to 10 million street kids were being tracked down by "death squads" and killed.Phil was shocked and immediately decided that if he, as a Christian, didn't take some sort of action; he might as well be pulling the trigger on the kids himself.He approached his dad with the idea of starting a program for street kids in Brazil.

Phil's father and mother were Presbyterian missionaries to Ethiopia and they started a similar program there.It is now completely self-sustained by the Ethiopians and has about 5000 students annually on 32 different campuses. In fact, one of his parents' students is the current president of Ethiopia and his brother is Ethiopia's ambassador to England!

Phil's dad had some frequent flyer miles, which enabled them to fly to Brazil to scout out the situation.While on the plane a young man sat down next to Phil.The two of them began talking and found out that a Brazilian exchange student who had lived with the Smiths was a mutual friend!

During the eight-hour flight Phil shared with this young man his vision for starting a program for street kids.Amazingly, the young man said, "My father holds the deed to a ranch/orphanage that has been closed for 10 years.If you are serious, I know he will give you the property."And he did.

That very week Phil and his dad received the gift of the property, buildings and all.It needed tons of repairs but obviously God had a plan—right down to the person Phil sat next to on the plane!Phil's dad went home to start raising funds and Phil stayed behind to start the renovations.Two weeks later the airline he flew to Brazil went bankrupt, leaving Phil with no way to get home anyway.And that is how Phil became a missionary and "Hope Unlimited, International" was born.