Wendy J. Smith, Colorado Ambassador of Hope
“One of the ways God brings His kingdom, ‘on earth as it is in heaven,’ is through His people…vehicles God can use to bring His love, justice and beauty to a world desperate for all of these things.” — N.T. Wright
From the beginning God created mankind in His image — Imago Dei (Gen. 1:27). Yet through the Fall, sin entered the world, and the enemy has worked to destroy that image ever since. We see the devastation everywhere: human trafficking, addiction, pornography, violence, corruption, and confusion that distorts what God designed to be good and beautiful.
For over 18 years my husband and I served weekly in prison ministry. We met both the abused and the abusers — often the same person. One woman and her truck-driver husband pulled their 8- and 10-year-old children from school to sell them at truck stops. They were captives of the enemy (2 Tim. 2:26).
At the Super Max in Florence, CO, we met a man who had been incarcerated 30 years with no calls, letters, or visits. His mother once sold him for rent; when he wet the bed, she sent him to school in urine-soaked clothes, fueling rage and violence that later marked his life. But everyone has a story, and only through Christ can we see where people are — and where God can take them. In 2017 he read Romans 1, came under conviction, and surrendered to Jesus. We watched God’s Word change his heart.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come…And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors…” (2 Cor. 5:16-20).
I see myself as an Ambassador of Hope for Christ first and foremost. The simplicity of the gospel gives what the complexity of human wisdom cannot (MacArthur). Hope in Jesus — grounded in His Word and redemptive work — compels me to bring light into darkness: to prevent trafficking, fight for justice, and walk with the wounded toward restoration. Christ’s love moves me to “Defend the weak…Rescue the needy” (Ps. 82:3-4).
My prayer is that every survivor would know they are loved, valuable, and precious — not defined by what was done to them, but by Christ who redeems them. At the cross, grace, mercy, forgiveness, healing, justice, and love meet.
Soli Deo Gloria
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