Hey all – Bryan here. I’m currently serving as HOPE’s Asia and Eastern Europe regional director. Matthew did a great job describing the main purposes around the Summit as well as walking you through the best of what is currently happening in Eastern Europe with HOPE and beyond. It’s now my pleasure to walk you through what I considered to be my favorite part of the Summit —dreaming of what could be. In a world where we spend so much of our time addressing and confronting challenges and constraints, we as a team were challenged to intentionally free ourselves from them and to envision a much more fruitful future. Imagining that 10 years from now each microfinance institution in the region has become the organization of our dreams—having a huge impact for Christ—what would that look like? Continue Reading…
Archives For Spiritual Integration
“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 (ESV)
Greetings from Eastern Europe! In my first post, I explained the purpose of the individual lending Spiritual Integration Summit. I also realized how hard it is to write anything in only 250 words (sorry Marketing). Today, I’d like to talk about how we started the individual lending SI Summit.
To begin, I’ll share a bit of personal confession: My personality is naturally oriented toward noticing the things in life that are incomplete or need to be fixed. This mindset can be helpful and has its place, but I’ve been learning that an overemphasis on problem-solving has a sneaky downside. Sometimes it leads me (and maybe a few others) to forget to praise God for the amazing things He does in our midst. Sometimes it leads us to become discouraged by the brokenness of the world rather than inspired by the goodness and power of our God. Continue Reading…
Hello everyone. My name is Matthew Rohrs, and I serve as HOPE International’s Director of Spiritual Integration. In case you are newer to HOPE, for us spiritual integration refers to our intentional effort to put Christ at the center of everything we do. This includes client and community outreach, staff discipleship, partnership with the local church, and a deep desire to honor Christ in the way that we offer financial services to the poor.
Over the next few days, I am going to share some thoughts and reflections from the 2012 Spiritual Integration Summit for our individual lending programs. This is my first ever blogging experience, and as a rookie blogger, I hope to share some worthwhile thoughts with our friends in cyberspace. Continue Reading…
In this video interview, Pedro Lacen, director of microfinance at Esperanza International, HOPE’s partner in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, discusses the unique role of Christ-centered microfinance in the Caribbean.
Several months ago, Peter Greer, HOPE’s president, sat down with Pedro to discuss Esperanza’s work in the Caribbean. In this excerpt, Pedro talks about the particular impact Esperanza and HOPE are having as Christian organizations and shares a story of how the God Provides films, shown at community bank meetings through HOPE’s partnership with Crown Financial Ministries, are impacting clients through their simple presentation of key stories from the Bible.
This evening we concluded an incredible day of learning at HOPE’s Annual Global Leadership Summit with an hour of worship and prayer. As we sang I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross, the words to this familiar chorus hit me with a new profundity. If we didn’t truly and deeply believe those words, would any of us be here? Would anyone give up a life of relative comfort to serve in countries as devastated by poverty as Haiti or the Democratic Republic of Congo?
Surely these people who worshipped alongside me tonight have been radically transformed by the love of Jesus Christ. And they’re on a mission to spread the Good News of that love to others, from Kinshasa to Kigali to Chisinau.
The song that best summed up my experience with HOPE was “Our God” by Chris Tomlin.
And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? Continue Reading…
It is more blessed to give than to receive.
How many times will you hear these wise words this holiday season? This is my favorite time of year primarily because of this season’s emphasis on giving. The charitable and gift-giving yearnings among us all are stoked and encouraged more in December than at any other time of the year. This spirit is encapsulated and affirmed in what might be our favorite Christmas saying: It is more blessed to give than to receive.
The axiom could not be truer. Giving is a joy. Research suggests that generous people are happier people. Generous countries are happier countries. Benevolence brings vibrancy to our faith. Historically, openhandedness and abundant giving have been the fragrance of the Church. Part of our mandate as Christians includes a call to a countercultural understanding of our role as stewards, rather than owners, of our time and treasure. I’ll just speak for myself, but my hunch is others will resonate: My charity often robs the poor of the opportunity to give, rather than encouraging generosity. Continue Reading…
