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Some stories feel too heavy to touch at first glance, stories shaped by loss and grief. Yet, some of those stories carry quiet hope, the kind that doesn’t rush healing or demand answers but invites people to take the next small step forward. While We’re Waiting is one of those stories. Rooted in faith, community and compassion, this ministry offers bereaved parents a place to rest, speak openly and realize that healing can happen gently, even during the hardest seasons.
Nestled in the peaceful hills of Hot Springs, Arkansas, While We’re Waiting is not about healing grief or moving beyond it. It focuses on learning how to live well while waiting, waiting for reunion, restoration and hope (the kind that only comes in heaven), and doing so alongside people who genuinely understand.
What Is While We’re Waiting?
While We’re Waiting is a Christian bereavement ministry created to support parents who have lost a child, regardless of the child’s age or circumstances. Whether through stillbirth, illness, accident, suicide or military loss, each story is unique, but the pain is shared. The ministry offers FREE, weekend-long bereavement retreats, ongoing support groups and an expanding network of community-led gatherings across the country and beyond.
What makes While We’re Waiting special is its approach. There is no pressure to grieve in a certain way, no expectations to find answers and no set timeline. Parents are simply accepted as they are, to sit among others who have traveled this path and to take part in a healing process based on faith, honesty and hope.
Hannah’s Story: The Beginning of the Ministry
The core vision of While We’re Waiting begins with Hannah Sullivan, the daughter of Brad and Jill Sullivan. In 2008, at just 16 years old, Hannah was diagnosed with a grade 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. What followed was a period filled with uncertainty, treatment, care and unwavering faith.
Hannah faced her diagnosis with a strength that amazed those around her. She openly spoke about trusting God through the storm and once shared a prayer that would later shape the ministry’s mission. She told her father she had prayed for a storm in her life, not to suffer, but so that God could use it to draw others closer to Him. Hannah didn’t want her storm to go to waste. And that drives the daily commitment of the While We’re Waiting Team.
After Hannah’s death in 2010, Brad and Jill struggled to find words for a grief that was hard to explain to others. Their daily conversations felt disconnected from the life-and-death reality they experienced. Like many parents who have lost a child, they longed to be with others further along the path, those who could show them that survival and even happiness could still be possible.
Bereavement Retreats: Healing at The Refuge
That longing led the Sullivans to attend a bereavement retreat for parents in Nashville, Tennessee. What they learned there changed everything. Being in a room with others who had lost children created an immediate sense of connection. The details of each story varied, but the language of grief and pain was the same.
That experience led to the creation of a similar place in Arkansas. Now that idea has developed into The Refuge, a retreat center designed specifically for healing. Surrounded by nature, walking trails and quiet spaces, The Refuge offers a peaceful environment where parents can slow down and breathe.
Retreats run from Friday evening to Sunday morning and are intentionally kept small, usually with two facilitation couples and 10 participating families. The weekend begins with a shared meal, comfort foods and simple conversation, which helps ease the burden many carry upon arriving. Throughout the retreat, parents have space to openly share their children’s stories without judgment or discomfort. The focus is not on how their child died, but on how they lived and on providing a safe space to talk about them.
By Sunday morning, something has shifted. Parents often say they feel lighter, more connected and hesitant to leave. Many of the relationships formed during these weekends last long after, through private groups, shared prayers, vacations and lifelong friendships.
Other Ways to Connect
While We’re Waiting has significantly exceeded its initial goal. What started as two retreats a year in Arkansas has grown to over 27 states and several countries, including Canada, Germany and Botswana. Each retreat upholds the same core values of compassion, faith and accessibility, and all are provided free of charge to participants.
The ministry also supports monthly support groups, mini-retreats for mothers and fathers, a unique bereavement experience for parents of children lost to suicide and online spaces where bereaved parents can stay connected. As parents heal, many feel called to serve by leading groups, hosting retreats, or simply becoming more present for their co-workers, their living children and their communities.
Healing in Obedience and the Power of Drafting
A recurring metaphor in the ministry is that of drafting, which is like walking closely behind someone ahead, drawing strength and hope from their presence. In grief, seeing someone ahead of you who is still standing can make the impossible seem survivable.
For the Sullivans and Browns (an Arkansas couple who lost their son Adam in Afghanistan as part of SEAL Team 6 operations), this ministry is a gesture of obedience, a reflection of Hannah’s hope, and a response to the gentle prompts God placed along their journey. It began when a woman left a book in a hospice room, continued through relationships built over meals and conversations, and grew as others embraced their own callings.
Healing often leads to obedience, not necessarily to starting something new, but to living more present and compassionate lives. As parents heal, many find their roles changing. One day, they are following others; the next, they are leading the way.
A Place to Lean In
While We’re Waiting is a story that shouldn’t be rushed or avoided. It encourages us to see that healing can happen in community, in nature and with hope. For those who are grieving, it provides a safe space to start again. For supporters, it reminds us that just showing up, listening, and walking with someone can make a big difference.
To learn more, explore upcoming retreats or find ways to get involved, visit whilewerewaiting.org. And, while you’re on the road, don’t miss their podcast on hope after child loss, While We’re Waiting, available on all listening platforms.
Images throughout the story were used with permission from While We’re Waiting.
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