With less than 10 days until Christmas and the anticipation of a heavy snowfall, our household is in full Christmas mode. We’ve decorated the tree and hung an excessive number of lights throughout our home. We’ve splurged on cookies and hot chocolate as after-school snacks. We’ve listened exclusively to holiday playlists. And I’ve rediscovered the piano playing of my youth and made time to plunk out a few Christmas carols.
The lyrics of one of my favorite carols hit especially close to home this year: “a thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices.”
Does anyone else feel a bit weary at the end of 2020?
Yet, what we celebrate on December 25 is the thrill of hope we desperately need. Christ has come. Because of that, there is joy to the world.
Looking back on this year, we have seen glimmers of hope through the resilient faith of global families, the sacrificial generosity of supporters, and the courageous love of the Church. Here are just a few of the ways we’ve seen God at work through the HOPE network:
- Though Peru has been one of the hardest-hit countries by COVID-19, Comas CMA Church, HOPE’s partner, has seen the crisis as an opportunity. Due to the pandemic, more families are showing interest in learning about their finances, building their savings, and growing in a relationship with Christ. Comas Church celebrates that 17 people have given their lives to Christ this year while the groups met virtually.
- For the last eight years, Susan in Indianapolis, IN, has faithfully supported HOPE both prayerfully and financially. Debbie Birkey, HOPE’s associate director of development, said of Susan: “Though blind, Susan enables the rest of us to see in ways that we wouldn’t have without her.” When the pandemic hit, Susan was one of the first supporters to give an additional gift, saying, “My needs are met; therefore, I will continue to support those who need help right now.” Her selfless generosity has been an inspiration to HOPE and a gift to families around the world.
- Following the country-wide shutdown, the Center for Community Transformation, HOPE’s partner in the Philippines, teamed up with a local news station to deliver programmatic updates about the virus, share health guidelines, report the impact on marginalized communities, and read passages of Scripture. The station has become both a go-to platform for reliable news and a form of ministry outreach. One listener shared, “The more I listen, the more I hunger for the Word of God.”
- In Haiti, 75 savings groups banded together to form a bakery. Amid the economic downturn, the bakery has provided jobs in the community and given families access to bread.
- The microfinance club at Cherokee High School in Canton, Georgia, regularly raises funds to support the families HOPE serves. Each year, they ask members to contribute at least $20—the approximate amount it costs HOPE to serve one person—as a club fee. When the club was temporarily shuttered due to COVID-19, club president, Harrison Russ, researched stocks and invested in a business that was poised to perform well during the shutdown. His investment more than doubled in value, and he donated over $850 to HOPE to support families around the world.
- Over 60 new savings groups have been formed in the savings group ministry at HOPE Burundi this year! Many times, upon finishing their savings cycle, groups pool their savings and use the money to provide extra food for their families or rebuild their homes. In Burundi, several groups chose to put their combined savings toward building more church facilities around the country.
This Christmas, we celebrate the many ways we’ve seen God move across the world as the Church responds with sacrificial love.
The weary world rejoices!
