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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…

HOPE launches new savings group program in Benin. Families in poverty can have a safe place to save, access to loans, and community.

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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…

When launching HOPE Tanzania last year, Peter Greer, HOPE’s president and CEO, emphasized, “The reason behind every expansion at HOPE is to invest in the dreams of even more families.” 

One year later, we’re praising God for opening the doors to do just that. Check out these stories of how savings groups are already impacting Tanzanian families and communities—there’s so much to celebrate!  Continue Reading…

Bosco Murengera Ntwari was frequently suspended from his school in rural Rwanda for not being able to pay his school fees. His father had left the family when Bosco was young, and with three other siblings, it was often difficult to make ends meet. 

 Then, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Bosco and his neighbors faced a new wave of challenges. As schools and businesses shut down, he says, “People here in the community had lost hope.”  

 Around the same time, a fellow church member invited Bosco to join a savings group and attend an agrifaith program through Sowers of HOPE—HOPE International’s discipleship ministry that equips farmers through savings groups to proclaim the Gospel through agriculture.    Continue Reading…

John and Grace smile with their arms around each other in their field.

Seeing lives transformed is the joy of our work at HOPE International–and we know it is happening across the globe. In 2021, we administered the HOPE Quotient—our internal survey to measure material, spiritual, social, and personal impact—to almost 300 savings group members served by our church partners in rural Zambia. This model works!  

We also sat down with John and Grace Bender in their home in Ibenga, Zambia. What we learned from them illustrated the transformation we are seeing in the broader lives of savings group members.  Continue Reading…