HISTORY

Hope and Harry in 2008, still deeply in love.

Hope and Harry on their 60th Wedding Anniversary

Hope in the dining room at Judson Park for a family gathering.

Hope and Harry MacDonald fell in love and married in 1948 shortly after Harry graduated from Westmont College in Southern California. On Young Life Student Staff, Harry concurrently studied for his M.Div. in seminary. After graduating, Jim Rayburn invited him to come on full-time Staff as an Area Director in Southern California, later in Seattle. At a Young Life staff conference, they heard about a staff member's moral failure in Pittsburgh that stirred up hard feelings toward Young Life in the area. Hope and Harry felt a tug on their hearts and were not surprised when Jim Rayburn asked Harry to head to Pittsburgh to be the new Area Director and seek to bring repair between Young Life and the local churches.

 

Five years later, Harry read an article about Francis Schaeffer in Time magazine and was fascinated with his ministry. Later, he was invited to meet Dr. Schaeffer in person, which further impressed him. Soon, Harry took his family with him on a sabbatical to study under Dr. Schaeffer at the Christian intellectual retreat center called L'Abri in Switzerland. He studied there for several months, before the stays were limited to shorter ti

 

While there, Hope became friends with Edith Schaeffer, who taught her supreme hostess skills, including how to tastefully decorate a table and serve delicious meals in an appealing manner. Hope applied these lessons for many years to come as she entertained ministry guests, church members, and hosted family gatherings.

(Below is a picture of Hope (left) with Edith Schaeffer.)

When the family returned from Europe, Jim Rayburn again approached Harry and Hope about his vision for someone to start a work of Young Life in Brazil. After much prayer, despite vehement protests from their children, aged 8 to 13, they headed for language school to start Young Life in Campinas, Brazil. They later moved to Sao Paulo to establish a YL ministry there (which Harry named "Alvo da Mocidade" (Target for Youth in Portuguese).

Meeting kids was not the same as it was in the United States. Inspired by a dream, Harry began to ride the public busses to connect with kids who rode them to school. Soon, teenagers by the dozen showed up to their home to listen to popular music on Harry's hand-built sound system, play ping-pong in their back yard, and sing such rousing songs that a few local, stuffy missionaries falsely accused them of holding "orgies" on Sunday afternoons!

Meanwhile, Harry established an adult committee to support the work and built a camp on a lake for the kids to getaway to hear the gospel in an atmosphere of fun. He met a lost, unbeliever who became one of his first converts and the "key kid" at the high school: Edgar.de Mundo. Edgar stayed in touch with them over the years, referring to Harry as his "father" in the Lord. Hal and Judy Merwald followed Harry's footsteps to build upon the work he began in Brazil. At last report, hundreds of thousands of kids have come to Christ and been discipled by leaders in Brazil who arose from those early beginnings.

  Edgar and his wife on a long-awaited trip to Seattle from Brazil

  to visit Harry and Hope as an adult.

The family returned to the United States after nearly five years in Brazil. Hope began preparing to write her first book, on prayer and Harry worked on his Ph.D. in Missiology from Trinity Theological Seminary. Bill Starr asked him to serve as the International Coordinator of the overseas ministry of Young Life, which he did for the next ten years. During that time, ten more countries were added to Young Life's international outreach. When Hope's book, Discovering How to Pray, was published, it became an international best seller and was used by church groups and Young Life leaders for Campaigner bible studies. As they traveled to many countries overseas, Hope was often asked to speak on the subject of prayer. She went on to write four more books, all of which brought in more requests for her to speak at conferences and retreats. Hope is socially warm but naturally shy, so she responded to these requests with a measure of anxiety. Yet, the Lord seemed to bless each and every event with people feeling spiritually uplifted.

 

When her book, When Angels Appear came out, she was inundated with requests to speak, appear on television, and do radio interviews. Her book was featured in big box stores and became quite a sensation. After a while she began to turn guest appearances down, as she didn't want to gain personal fame as the lady who told stories about encounters with angels (although they were true.). She preferred to draw people into a closer relationship with the Lord through her other books.

 

After 33 years on full-time staff with Young Life, Harry was called to a large church in Burien, Washington, where he served as the Senior Pastor of John Knox Presbyterian Church for 15 years. Hope entertained many parishioners and missionaries in their home, as well as their growing family of grandchildren and great-grandchildren. After they retired, Harry filled in as an interim pastor at another Presbyterian church in Seattle for three years and taught adult Sunday School for many years after that. Hope continued to teach on the subjects of prayer and obedience to Christ. In 2008, they sold their lovely home in Normandy Park during the housing crisis, and moved into a retirement community. Judson Park, in nearby Des Moines, Washington. 

 

Harry suffered a stroke in 2014 and passed away in his sleep in May of 2017, just one month shy of their 70th Wedding Anniversary. His memorial was a joyful celebration of his life as well as their amazing relationship of love and service together as a couple. Hope experienced several falls in 2022 and had to be moved out of their condominium to a skilled nursing facility. She turned 94 in May of 2022. While she can no longer walk and her memory isn't quite as sharp as it once was, she remains a bright light of cheerfulness, humor, and love to anyone who visits her. Truly an example of a life well-lived.

 

One of Hope's typical table settings for a            family Easter meal.

Hope speaking at Harry's memorial    service in 2017, typical of her teaching  style when asked to share about prayer.

Hope with her gregarious sister, Marilyn, in 2014, celebrating Marilyn's 90th birthday at the Secret Garden Tea House in Sumner, Washington.

MORE ABOUT THE FAMILY...