Created in God’s image
A child’s worth is not earned or erased by circumstance. Every young person carries God-given dignity and deserves to be seen fully.
A Christian vision for children and teens
Wonder is still within.
Helping children and teens affected by trauma and difficult circumstances rediscover safety, hope, and possibility through creativity, play, faith, and caring relationships.
Explore the visionA growing vision, rooted in the love of Jesus and the God-given worth of every young person.
Every child carries a future worth imagining.
Awakening the world through
the wonder within.
A small invitation
Pause & wonder.
Take a breath. Let one question interrupt the ordinary and open a little room for possibility.
Wonder prompt 01 of 06
Who helped you feel seen as a child?
What we believe
A hard beginning does not get the final word.
Every child deserves more than protection from harm. Through creativity, play, caring relationships, and Christ-shaped presence, young people can be given room to rediscover safety, hope, and a future that belongs to them.
Wonder is still withinFaith at the foundation
Every child is known, loved, and created with purpose.
“Let the little children come to me.”Jesus · Matthew 19:14
Christ-shaped presence
Care begins by coming alongside young people with humility, consistency, compassion, and the willingness to remain present.
Redemptive hope
Trauma is real, but it does not get the final word. We believe God can open a future shaped by healing, belonging, and new possibility.
From conviction to context
Faith shapes why this matters. The evidence helps us see where compassionate action is needed.
The reality
The need is measurable. So should the response be.
Behind every number is a young person who deserves safety, belonging, and the freedom to imagine a future beyond what has happened.
532,228
Children were determined by U.S. child-protection agencies to be victims of abuse or neglect during federal fiscal year 2024.
U.S. Children’s Bureau · Child Maltreatment 2024Why this number leads
It represents more than half a million children whose stories call for protection, qualified care, steady relationships, and new experiences of possibility.
64%
Nearly 64% of U.S. adults surveyed reported at least one adverse childhood experience.
CDC · BRFSS 2011–2020Response
Safety, trust, consistency, and trauma-aware care.
33%
One in three U.S. high school students reported persistent sadness or hopelessness in 2025.
CDC · 2025 YRBSResponse
Belonging, expression, caring relationships, creativity, and hope.
328,947
Children were in foster care in the United States on September 30, 2024.
U.S. Children’s Bureau · AFCARSResponse
Consistent belonging alongside foster, kinship, and adoptive communities.
Great Wonder Awakening is a developing vision. Future programs would be built with qualified partners and measured by the safety, belonging, agency, and hope young people experience.
Why wonder matters
Play and imagination can help open a path forward.
They are not cures for trauma. But research shows that thoughtfully designed play, creative expression, and positive experiences can support stress regulation, connection, expression, and resilience—especially alongside qualified care.
Play
Choice & agency
Create
Expression & discovery
Belong
Trust & connection
Hope
Purpose & possibility
What the research says
Play-based care shows promise.
A 2026 review of 127 studies found small-to-moderate effects for play therapy and large effects for sandplay among trauma-exposed children 12 and younger. Trauma-focused CBT remained the strongest-supported treatment.
Creative expression offers another language.
A 2025 meta-analysis covering 4,587 young people found a large pooled reduction in PTSD symptoms across creative-arts interventions. Results varied widely, and the North American subgroup was not statistically significant.
Positive experiences matter.
Adults reporting six or seven positive childhood experiences had 72% lower adjusted odds of depression or poor mental health than those reporting zero to two. This was an association, not proof of causation.
The Great Wonder Awakening perspective
Play can open the door. Imagination can give shape to what words cannot. Wonder can make room to believe that life may still hold goodness, purpose, and possibility—and that God is still at work in a story not yet finished.
Great Wonder Awakening would use these elements as trauma-aware supports—not as substitutes for licensed mental-health treatment—and partner with qualified professionals when activities are therapeutic.
From evidence to experience
Research can inform the response. Wonder becomes tangible through the ways young people are invited to play, create, belong, and hope.
Choose a way in
How might wonder begin?
Explore four connected pathways. Each offers a different doorway into safety, expression, relationship, and a future that feels possible.
01 · Play
Safety can begin with a moment of joy.
Play creates low-pressure ways to explore, connect, make choices, and experience the freedom of simply being a child.
What this could look like
A young person chooses the game, sets the pace, and experiences safe connection without pressure to explain everything.
What wonder could look like
Small moments can begin to change what feels possible.
These are not programs or impact claims. They are three grounded examples of the young people this vision hopes to serve—and the human moments it hopes to help make possible.
A human possibility
Seen.Known.Becoming.
Expression
A child begins to trust their own voice.
Imagine a child who has learned to stay quiet. Given paper, color, music, or movement—and an adult who does not rush them—they make one honest choice, then another. Confidence begins with discovering, “My voice matters here.”
Belonging
A teenager experiences a relationship that stays.
Imagine a teenager who expects adults to leave. A caring person remembers their name, returns when they said they would, listens without demanding disclosure, and makes room for both silence and laughter. Trust grows because presence becomes dependable.
Possibility
A future becomes imaginable again.
Imagine a young person whose past has made the future feel already decided. They name one hope—a place to belong, work worth doing, or someone they want to become—and meet people who help them take the next step while reminding them God is still at work.
The vision begins with people willing to notice, create, remain, and hope.
Wonder Stories
One day, this space will hold their stories.
When the work begins, this space will share verified stories of courage, creativity, belonging, and hope—with dignity, consent, and privacy at the center.
A future story, held with care.
When Great Wonder Awakening begins creating experiences with young people and families, this space will hold one verified story at a time—shared only with appropriate consent and with the young person’s dignity and privacy protected.
No composite stories. No invented impact. Real stories, responsibly shared.
The world needs their wonder
There is more ahead than what happened.
This vision is still taking shape. Each young person bears God’s image and carries dignity, possibility, and wonder worth protecting. If you want to help shape what comes next—through partnership, expertise, prayer, or practical support—let’s begin a conversation.
Have a question, an idea, or a desire to help? Send a note—or email gwashbyjr@gmail.com.