From shame to joy: Leta’s story

For years, Leta owned just one set of clothes. If they weren’t dry by Sunday morning, she stayed home from church. Poverty had taught her to expect a life of going without. Then her church in southern Ethiopia partnered with HOPE International to launch a savings group—and everything began to shift. See how a weekly meeting with neighbors, a small loan, and a growing business helped Leta step toward a future she once thought impossible, and back into the church she’d been too ashamed to enter.

Published September 16, 2026