How Did H4L Begin?
In 2019, I led a team of four women to Liberia to serve at an orphanage. It was during that trip that God opened my eyes to the overwhelming poverty and hopelessness etched in the faces of these precious people. Liberia’s long history of suffering—two brutal civil wars and the devastation of the Ebola outbreak from 2014 to 2016—left behind more than 100,000 orphans. The needs were everywhere. For many, survival itself was a full-time job: standing in long lines at the well for water, wondering if there would be food for the day… or not. Life was hard.
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But the Lord had been preparing my heart for this long before Liberia ever entered the picture. Back in 1998, God began stirring this calling when we cared for the baby of a woman incarcerated in a Philadelphia prison. In 2000, we adopted three children with various needs. Later, in 2008, after returning from missionary work in Australia, we adopted two more children with significant challenges. Each of these steps was part of the journey, equipping my heart and hands for what was to come.
So when I left Liberia in March 2019, I knew. I knew this wasn’t just a one-time trip—it was the beginning of a God-given mission. The passion, the calling, the skills… everything aligned.
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The next question was… what would my husband think? Little did I know, while I was overseas, the Lord was preparing Jim’s heart too. Just before I returned home, Jim had traveled from Pennsylvania to Nebraska. On the way, his van’s transmission broke down in Missouri. “Coincidentally,” a pastor friend from Colorado was filling in at a church nearby and came to his rescue. During their drive, Pastor Phil shared about his three mission trips to Liberia with World Vision. By the time Jim picked me up from the airport, it was clear—God had already been at work, preparing both of our hearts for what would become Hope 4 Liberia.
Jim is every bit as invested in this ministry as I am. He is the backbone of Hope 4 Liberia! He helps share the vision, keeps life running smoothly at home with our special needs kids while I’m in Liberia, and will soon be leading the effort to spiritually prepare future mission teams. We truly are a team—and I couldn’t do this without him.
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Since that first trip, God has allowed us to help several orphanages, and now, with His help, we are building our own orphanage campus in Careysburg, Liberia.
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My calling has never been clearer. God has provided in ways beyond my wildest expectations. With all my heart, I want to spend every ounce of life left in me bringing glory to the Lord by loving my family and offering hope to Liberia’s orphans.
The words of missionary John Keith Falconer sum it up well:
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“I have but one candle of life to burn, and I would rather burn it out in a land filled with darkness than in a land flooded with light.”
Oh, that my faith and dependence on Christ would grow deeper still.
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Because of His grace,
~ Kelly Wagner
Founder & CEO
Our Mission
Hope 4 Liberia is a registered NGO that exists to meet the spiritual, physical, emotional, educational, and economic needs of double-orphaned children in Liberia.
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Foundational Scriptures
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Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; please the case of the widow.
Isaiah 1:17
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Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
James 1:27
Our Vision
Hope 4 Liberia’s primary mission is to nurture and raise double-orphaned children to become godly, productive men and women, equipped to make a positive impact on their communities. Our campus spans 10 acres and includes completed homes for boys and girls, medical rooms, a school, and farmland where we cultivate food to provide for the children and staff. In addition, we have 100 acres of land that we plan to develop into a palm oil and cocoa bean farm, with the goal of becoming a self-sustaining orphanage community within the next 10 years.
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All of our education is rooted in a Biblical worldview. Our teachers and caregivers not only instruct but also model a godly lifestyle, integrating faith into every aspect of life. We strive for faith to be a way of life, not something compartmentalized or limited to education and church. The children are taught to love God’s Word, to “hide it in their hearts,” and each day includes dedicated time for devotions, where they can grow in their relationship with Christ.
