SOUTH ASIA - For Akash and Anika, the road to a safe home and healthy family has not been easy. They experienced shame and were mocked for their poor living conditions. Living in a small hut, all they had for a roof was a tarp that left them exposed to winds and heavy rains. They had to build fires to prepare meals for their family, and often could only find wet wood for cooking. “We used to live [in] a very filthy hut surrounded by rats and snakes for the past 12 years. We faced many struggles.” Grateful to find work laboring in a rock quarry in South Asia, this couple knows how hard life can be. 

RWANDA - Having once struggled to feed his family on an inconsistent income, Faustin is now flourishing. As a welder, he took work as it came but dreamed of expanding his business. His family was known as a poor family in their community when he was introduced to Urwego (HOPE’s microfinance institution in Rwanda) in 2012.

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.

At 13, Eric Jeche values going to school with other students in his neighborhood in Zimbabwe. Unlike many of his peers, Eric pays for his own education.

Eric has lived with his grandmother since he lost his parents at a young age. But it’s not easy for his grandmother to pay for his school fees on top of their food, clothing, and other daily expenses, so Eric understands the value of money and work.

For those living on the vulnerable edge of poverty, just one unforeseen health crisis can set back their progress toward financial stability. The security they’ve worked so hard for can vanish in a moment. 

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.” 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.  

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.  

Once Artem and his wife Alina began the pattern of missing their church service to tend to their successful wedding business, they realized they needed to make a change. “We switched to the restaurant business,” Artem says. “My wife loved [food] from an early age. She used to cook delicious meals with her grandmother. You can say that this is [an important part] of her life.” Little did they know that switching to the restaurant business would allow them to serve more than just good food to customers. During the challenges of war, they would provide people fleeing violence with meaningful employment and nourish their hearts with God’s love.

Jovelee Maala didn’t know the Payatas Controlled Disposal Facility as the largest open dump site in the Philippines—for her, it was home. 

Opening in the 1970s, the site served as a fixture in Jovelee’s hometown, Quezon City. Local families built their homes there, and thousands more traveled to the site to pick through the trash, searching for items to sell—and when she turned 18, Jovelee joined them.