HOPE International

What am I doing here?!

congo

So first things first. My name is Becky, and I work for HOPE International’s Central Service Unit as a grant writer. Part of my job is to serve as a go-between bridging the informational gap between HOPE supporters (typically in the U.S.) and HOPE’s 14 international microenterprise development programs – including the 270,000+ entrepreneurs HOPE serves. On a daily basis, I find myself doing some pretty cool things – interviewing interesting field staffers, researching living conditions, answering donors’ questions, and learning about and describing the inner mechanics of microfinance institutions and the challenges our staff and clients face. I love my job! But the thing is…I do all of these things from the gray stillness of my very American cubicle in a very American office in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Continue Reading…

HOPE Client at le Marche Total in Brazzaville

Greetings friends!

I’m so excited to finally be able to write my first post from Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo! Before I left, I had originally intended to introduce myself to you over the blogosphere, provide some background on the HOPE Congo program and why I’m here, and give you a bit of a travelogue for my flights to Brazza. But honestly, right now, my mind is racing with the sights, smells and sounds of Brazzaville’s largest market, le Marche Total. Specifically, I can’t stop thinking about the entrepreneurs I met there who recently became clients of HOPE Congo, HOPE’s newest microfinance institution that launched its first loans a week ago. These clients were vivacious and confident, knowledgeable about their business, excited to be a part of HOPE Congo, and full of hope and ambition for the future. I just wanted to let you know that I’ve arrived safely, and I’ve found that HOPE Congo is already impacting families in Brazzaville in powerful ways. More to come as the adventure unfolds!

Cocaine Charity

My friend, Brian, recently returned from a missions trip to Kenya. He led a group of youth as they supported their Kenyan partner church ministry for two weeks. The Kenyan ministry’s focus was HIV positive mothers in its very poor slum community. They provided food, money, prayer and helped their children—demonstrating the love of Christ in word and deed. Brian and the youth group dove in. They spread the news of the church’s ministry into the neighboring communities.

A week into the trip, Brian had a stirring, even haunting, realization. This Kenyan ministry had become “the cocaine of its community.” He shared candidly with me that these mothers were completely dependent upon the charity, and indirectly on Brian’s church which funded it. Instead of working, these capable women would sit every day at the door of the charity, waiting for the free distributions. As a result, their children saw their moms time-and-again not as providers, but as placid receivers. Continue Reading…

We’ll Come to You

I love online banking and e-commerce. I love the convenience of checking account balances, making transfers, and purchasing products in sweatpants from my living room. I’ve quickly become accustomed to the ease of doing business from home, although this luxury is unique to the past decade. It’s easy to forget that just ten years ago online banking was nothing but a dream.

Last month I visited HOPE’s work in the Dominican Republic. There, I had the privilege of meeting our clients, seeing their businesses and soaking in the culture of a country I have come to love. One of the questions I asked to a few of the community banks (groups of 15-30 clients) was “Why HOPE? Why did you choose to become a HOPE client?” Time and time again, in different communities throughout the country, our clients responded, “Because HOPE came to us.” Continue Reading…

Anonymity & the Gospel

This past week has been encouraging regarding relationships I have with neighbors on my block. Four years ago, my husband and I intentionally (and we think, obediently) moved into a tougher inner city neighborhood. We’ve formed some really great relationships with adults and kids, but haven’t really “done” anything to write home about. No one’s professed new faith in Jesus. No one’s drastically improved in school. No one’s changed their status from unemployed to employed. And no one has gotten off of government funding. To sum it all up, no one’s really that drastically different at all…not even us. Continue Reading…

We are gearing up for an exciting fall. As the educational year gets into full swing, we’ll be taking advantage of a number of opportunities to educate new audiences on the transformational power of microfinance.

HOPE is especially excited about Sunday, October 18. We’re launching Give HOPE Sunday, a national campaign retrofitted just for churches. We’re aiming to break down the perceived barriers that exist between churches and this new mission field of Christ-centered microfinance. We’re claiming that missionaries can be bankers and affirming that for the three billion people living in poverty on this earth, there is Good News: God cares for His children’s physical and spiritual condition. For Give HOPE Sunday, we’ll happily provide sermon points for pastors, bulletin inserts, posters, videos, and other supporting materials to help your church explore God’s heart for the poor. If you are a pastor seeking ways to encourage your congregation to reach out to the world’s poorest people or if you are a layperson seeking a chance to share your love for what HOPE International is doing, then host a Give HOPE Sunday.

Even before Give HOPE Sunday gets underway, we’ll be heading down to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta on October 7 to hear some great speakers and to leave our mark as well. HOPE International President Peter Greer will be launching his new book The Poor Will Be Glad. We are brimming with excitement over the book launch! God is creating paths for our message, and people are responding. We’re also excited for an opportunity Peter will have to introduce conference participants to microfinance in a radical and personal way. Stay tuned to hear more!

Becky Svendsen

By Becky Svendsen

What am I doing here?!

Becky Svendsen

Becky Svendsen

First Impressions of Brazzaville

Chris Horst

By Chris Horst

Cocaine Charity

Chris Horst

By Chris Horst

We’ll Come to You

HOPE Intl

By HOPE Intl

Anonymity & the Gospel

HOPE Intl

By HOPE Intl

Get your church excited about fighting poverty with Give HOPE Sunday

About HOPE

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