In 2018, HOPE International had the great privilege of walking alongside more than 900,000 families around the world!
Through our blog, we’ve shared a few of their stories, along with insights into our work and the communities where we serve. We hope that you’ve been encouraged, challenged, and inspired in your own life to grow in faith and service to the Kingdom.
In case you missed any of these, here are the five most-read posts from 2018: Continue Reading…
By Roger Morgan, Africa Regional Director
It was in September 2017 that I, along with HOPE’s senior management team, recommended to the board of directors that we close operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
As one of the world’s most difficult places to do business, HOPE DRC’s history had been fraught with challenges. Since launching in 2004, we had faced numerous environmental, political, and operational hurdles. With HOPE’s desire to serve underserved places, we remained committed to working in DRC, even when so many organizations could not. But after more than a decade of combating challenge after challenge, we recognized that the program had stagnated, unable to grow in the increasing tumultuous environment and creating ongoing risk for other HOPE-network programs.
We could not provide a plan for improvement; we made the difficult decision to close.
![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)