It’s 5 a.m. and the aroma of freshly baked bread fills the air. Telma is delivering French bread, sweet bread, and campechanas (pastries) to her customers’ homes before opening her shop. She feels blessed to have a physical place to sell her baked goods in her community in Guatemala.

As a single mother, Telma struggled with the burden of providing for her children, especially their education. Her bakery has been vital to the family’s well-being, but it was a challenge to increase her production and sales.

Telma found the support and financial services she needed through a microfinance group with Fundación de Asistencia para la Pequeña Empresa (FAPE), a Christ-centered microfinance institution in Guatemala. Continue Reading…

When a co-worked shared Evelyn Nyamasoka’s story with me, it felt familiar. Having experienced poverty myself as a child in Rwanda, I know it can be difficult. I’ve seen how poverty robs families of dignity and opportunity.  

When Evelyn’s husband left her unexpectedly several years ago, she was abandoned to care for her six children alone. A member of the Doma community in northern Zimbabwe, Evelyn experiences such extreme poverty that the idea of saving anything, even just a few cents, once seemed impossible. Life is hard for Evelyn. She must farm and fish alone, which can be dangerous because of animals like crocodiles and hippos in the area. And with sporadic rains, crops are difficult to grow.  

At HOPE International, we consider the Doma a “frontier” community: A group of people who have been isolated by poverty, marginalized, and unreached by the Gospel. When we surveyed some 200 Doma community members, 42% of them reported eating only one meal a day—and according to the Joshua Project, just 1% of the Doma people know Jesus. They live isolated from the rest of the country and receive few public services. 

I hear about the challenges of communities like the Doma and it breaks my heart. I believe it breaks God’s heart, too.  Continue Reading…