By Lesly Jules, HOPE Haiti Country Director
If you follow much of the U.S.-reported news on my home country of Haiti, you’re probably used to hearing reports of protests, violence, natural disasters, and corruption. In our country, our history is colored with chronic instability and volatility. Continue Reading…
by Chris Horst, Chief Advancement Officer
Sixbert lived on only $60 each month. With his family of nine, he struggled to provide for the needs of his family. After missing several rent payments, Sixbert’s family was evicted and became homeless.
As a husband and father myself, I can’t imagine looking into the eyes of my wife and kids in that moment, feeling completely helpless, alone, and uncertain. Continue Reading…
It’s no secret that, around the world, life can be inordinately difficult for women. From violence to unequal pay to limited access to land ownership, women face unique challenges.
At HOPE International, we believe in the inherent dignity and worth of women, and we’re grateful to be one of many organizations that are working to remove barriers for women around the world. This International Women’s Day, we invite you to explore these other organizations that are working for women’s equality around the world. Continue Reading…
By Drew Strayer, Pastor of Groups & Care, Manor Church
As one of the pastors in a local [U.S.] church, I am tasked with engaging our congregation with opportunities to grow in understanding God and God’s ways—as well as how they can engage the world with God. When our friends at HOPE International approached us with the chance to host a poverty simulation, we jumped at the opportunity to meet a need we knew existed in our body: We needed to go deeper in our understanding of God’s heart for those living in poverty.
Steve Burgess (pictured left) recognizes the expression he’s seen on the faces of entrepreneurs in Peru, Rwanda, and Ukraine. That’s because he can personally relate to the sense of dignity that comes with realizing a dream.
In 1988, Steve and his wife, Michelle, had the vision to start an IT business. But with Steve in college and Michelle supporting their family on $5.10/hour, there were no frills, and there was certainly no lump sum of capital to invest in a new business. (Steve fondly recalls how, when he and Michelle would host parties in their home, “It was BYOM: bring your own meat.”) Continue Reading…
Just two hundred years ago, almost the entire world’s population lived in extreme poverty. Today, less than 10 percent do. In the past 40 years alone, the percent of people living in extreme poverty has dropped by over 30 percentage points.
In my years of work in Christ-centered economic development, I have had the privilege of visiting places ranging from the small towns in Haiti to remote villages in northern Afghanistan. And I have come to realize that while poverty runs rampant in our world, the situation in so many communities is unquestionably getting better. The depth and complexities of poverty are not hopeless. The Church is on the move. Continue Reading…
![Before Eveness Mulungu joined the Walusungu (“mercy”) savings group through our church partner in Malawi, she faced days where she and her family ate animal feed because they couldn’t afford human food. But that changed when she joined the savings group. Eveness used her first group loan of about $1.70 (U.S.) to start a business selling doughnuts and beans.
“By the end of my first cycle I made $140 (U.S.),” Eveness shared. “My life is no longer the same now; [I] was regarded as no one in the community. ... This was the first time in my life that I ever touched and owned big money like this!”
Pictured: Eveness, with her husband in front of their piggery—a third successful business that she operates.](https://blog.hopeinternational.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)