Be Still: A Letter from Show Hope’s Executive Director

Dear Friends, 

I have a question. Before I get there, though, I want to provide you with a little background. This year, the Show Hope team has been sitting in the Book of Exodus, zeroing in on the Israelites and the Egyptians’ pursuit of them in the wilderness. As they are camped near the Red Sea, their terror grows as Pharaoh and his army draw closer. The Israelites cry out in anger toward Moses, and his response is not one of panic or retribution. Instead, he says, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm … The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still” (Exodus 14:13-14, NIV). 

Moses was aware of the obstacles and challenges the Israelites were facing, with a vengeful Pharaoh and all of Egypt, essentially, hunting God’s people in a foreign wilderness. He knew they had to press onward to the Promised Land, as it was the mission God had entrusted to him. So with a clear-eyed determination, undergirded with a faith in the great I Am, Moses tells the people, “Be still because the Lord will fight for you.” 

As we look forward to Show Hope’s year ahead, we are meditating on this truth of Be still. Being still is not an excuse for inaction or to fall into laziness, far from it. Rather, it is a stopping and listening for the Lord’s direction, instead of taking matters into our own hands. In that stopping and listening, we are examining who we are—individually and collectively. Individually, we are seeing with fresh eyes our personal strengths that come more naturally to us as well as our other strengths that may be below the surface. Collectively, we are seeing more clearly how God creates a tapestry of teamwork from the gifts, talents, and abilities he has graced each of us with. All of this, a reminder of the Apostle Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, “From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work” (4:16, NIV).  

Being still is not an excuse for inaction or to fall into laziness, far from it. Rather, it is a stopping and listening for the Lord’s direction, instead of taking matters into our own hands.

Kristin E. Parks

With the need for Adoption Aid only growing, we have set our eyes on awarding nearly 100 more grants as compared to our goal last year, totaling $4 million or 40% of our budget. In regard to our Medical Care grants work, we are anticipating additional growth and expansion, with a plan to award 60% percent more grants than last year, totaling $700,000. And with an ever-growing need for trauma-informed care, we are launching a reimagined Hope for the Journey experience, with a new robust online platform for encouraging and equipping parents, caregivers, church leaders, and professionals. 

These plans and initiatives—along with others—could stir anxiety among us, even buckle us with fear. But in our individual and collective stillness, we remain rooted in truth, looking above for direction, clarity, and endurance in the work entrusted to us. We see more clearly the mission ahead of us and pursue it, knowing that God goes before us. He has equipped us, he has empowered us, and he has called us to press onward … once again. And so to my question to you, dear friends, will you join us? 

To him be the glory,