By Alisa Hoober, HOPE Board Member
Earlier this year, I had the incredible opportunity to visit HOPE International’s work in Zambia.
I’ve traveled and seen poverty before, but being with my children changed how I related to those I met. It was a blessing to visit with our whole family, especially with my three young daughters.
Imagine your lunch break being interrupted by bombs exploding in the next town over. Hearing of war coming closer on the news. Realizing that to remain safe, you and your family need to leave your home. Packing up your car and waiting in traffic for hours. Living in another family’s house for months, not knowing if you’ll ever make it back home.
This is the reality for millions of Ukrainian men, women, and children today. Two years after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United Nations Refugee Agency, or UNHCR, estimates that there are now 3.7 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Ukraine.
Many in eastern Ukraine fled west, now living as IDPs with Ukrainian host families. As the war continues, they’ve had to adjust to being far from home with no end date. It hasn’t been an easy road.
Yet even amid loss and adjusting to a new life, these families are displaying determination, community-mindedness, and generosity. And at HOPE International, we’re dedicated to walking with Ukraine’s men and women—as we have been since 1997.
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Have you ever been rejected because of something you believe? Or looked down upon because of your faith?
As a Christian woman in South Asia,* that’s Farah’s* daily experience.
I met Farah on a humid summer day last year. HOPE and one of our partners in South Asia were conducting a training for women who wanted to start savings groups in their churches—including Farah. Although she quietly kept her eyes on the floor for most of the training, she approached me afterward and asked to share her testimony.
By the time she was finished, we were both wiping tears from our cheeks. Continue Reading…
Dumel Fontaine is a husband and father of three living in Les Cayes, Haiti. He’s always been committed to providing for his family—yet as someone without sight, he’s also almost always been barred from doing so. “My situation was … very catastrophic because I didn’t have a job until now,” he says. “There wasn’t enough clothing and food.” 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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“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (KJV)
The American Institute of Stress defines compassion fatigue, or empathy fatigue, as “the emotional residue or strain of exposure to working with those suffering from the consequences of traumatic events.” It most often affects individuals who are continuously empathizing with those they serve. And in the wake of a pandemic, it seems to apply to many of us as we see and experience needs in our communities and around the world. Continue Reading…
