“I can connect with HOPE on multiple levels,” says Marcia Malzahn (pictured above), laughing.
Born in Nicaragua, Marcia was a teenager when she and her family had to move to the Dominican Republic (D.R.) as refugees. Her time there helps her feel a special connection to HOPE’s work with Esperanza International, HOPE’s partner in the D.R. Continue Reading…
by Ruthie Claydon, Experience Team Assistant (summer 2021 intern) During my internship with HOPE International, I experienced spiritual growth in completely new and unexpected ways. Throughout the summer, I felt fully welcomed and integrated into the vibrant staff culture. Overall, here are four of the biggest ways I was impacted by HOPE’s employee-directed spiritual practices. […]
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Going to prison marked the beginning of Emmanuel Chamango’s openness to God’s transforming power.
Emmanual describes his former self as someone who avoided hard work, choosing to steal or rely on others to provide for his family. Emmanuel’s imprisonment humbled him. “What led me to come here?” he pondered. “Is it the person who reported me to the police [for illegally farming land he didn’t own], or was it God?” A visiting pastor preached on forgiveness, and Emmanuel took the message to heart. He remembers praying as he never had before. “Slowly I started changing, and that’s when I started loving God.”
by Isaie Ndayizeye, HOPE Rwanda Co-Director
The COVID-19 pandemic is a time of much fear: fear of hunger, loneliness, lockdowns, poverty, even death.
It’s also a time of loss. Weddings are canceled. Graduations are missed. Church buildings are empty on Sunday mornings, and many businesses are closed.
At HOPE International, we’ve been asking the question: Amid this fear and uncertainty, how do we bear witness to Christ and His Kingdom? Continue Reading…
Material poverty is a complicated reality, with many causes and perhaps just as many proposed solutions. According to the World Bank, just over 1 in 10 people lived in extreme poverty in 2013, categorized as living under $1.90 a day. While this number is falling, it still represents 767 million people.
Those living in material poverty face many challenges: lack of basic resources like food, shelter, and money; corrupt social systems; poor education; and limited access to health care.
But those who haven’t experienced poverty often overlook one of its most profound impacts: hopelessness and shame. Material poverty can compound the brokenness that exists in our relationships with each other, with God, with ourselves, and with the rest of creation. Material poverty says to those in its grasp: You are not worthy. Continue Reading…
Life in Haiti hasn’t been easy for a long time. More than half the population lives on less than $2.40 a month, while wealth and power are concentrated in the hands of a select few. For the last several months, government corruption, fuel shortages, spiraling inflation, contaminated drinking water, and food scarcity have caused many Haitians to rise up in protest against a government that has been largely deaf to their cries. These protests are making international headlines. Continue Reading…
