At HOPE, we’re fervent believers that prayer is the most important part of our work. We take God at His word that He hears our prayers (1 John 5:14). And we believe that as we bring our requests before our Father, He will move mountains (Matthew 17:20).
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March 2024 Prayer Update “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3). These encouraging words remind us that we have a living hope through Jesus! By defeating death on the cross, He has given us a chance to live anew, and we praise Him for it. Join us in praying the words of 1 Peter 1:3 over the families we serve, that they would experience new life in Jesus.
Week 1
This past Saturday was the two-year anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. We continue to mourn the loss of life, and we lament the hardship so many are enduring right now. In this brief update, Andrey Kopyl, HOPE Ukraine’s managing director, shares specific ways we can keep praying. HOPE Ukraine is actively working to further expand spiritual integration activities with the men and women we serve who have a small-and-medium-enterprise business. Pray these efforts enrich the faith and lives of the business owners we serve, as well as the hope and well-being of their employees.
Pray for the safety of farmers in Ukraine. Ivan was worried his farm would come under Russian occupation. “Praise God they stopped just 10 kilometers from my farm,” he shares. Currently, Ivan is in the process of applying for his second loan with HOPE Ukraine, which he plans to use for fertilizer. He employs 19 people at his farm and has a dream of opening a dairy to sell milk and other products. Pray for the economic and emotional resilience of Ukrainian farmers and their families!
Pray for the HOPE Ukraine team as they seek to serve Ukrainian business owners who are the least served right now. A new loan officer was recently hired to work with entrepreneurs in a city near the frontlines of the war. Pray for the safety of this loan officer as they seek to find those most in need of financial services in a place where other banks are not serving. Week 2
Praise God that Charlotte Mukabahizi has found new purpose and a way to serve her neighbors by opening a wedding dress shop. Through Urwego Bank, HOPE’s microfinance institution in Rwanda, Charlotte took out a $150 loan to start her business and subsequent loans to increase her inventory. Before engaging with Urwego, she felt discouraged due to a lack of resources, but now she is empowered and has experienced a life transformation. The income has enabled her to build a new home, send her five children to school, employ five people at her shop, and help take care of widows and other vulnerable neighbors. She says, “For the first time, my kids have three meals a day.” Pray that more entrepreneurs served by HOPE will experience transformation as they access Christ-centered financial services.
In a country in South Asia,* where 99% of the population is unreached by the Gospel, we praise God that through our partner there are 293 members (mostly women) in savings groups. Many of these women share that their savings group is the first and only opportunity they’ve had to receive any type of financial training or education. Pray for more women and men to join a group and benefit from biblically based training, Bible study, and saving together.
Pray for Diaconía, HOPE’s partner in Paraguay, as they upgrade their core banking system to better serve more families with tools to break the cycle of poverty. With a goal of serving more than 10,000 clients, the upgrade will allow for digital transactions, which will increase the safety of loan officers who now carry cash. The upgrade will also enable electronic loan applications, which will allow capital to get into the hands of entrepreneurs more quickly and accurately than paper applications. Pray that the upgrade process is swift and seamless. Week 3
With loans from the Center for Community Transformation (CCT), HOPE’s partner in the Philippines, Jovelee Maala opened a milk tea shop, grew that business to 43 branches in 10 cities across the Philippines, and now employs over 100 people! “We still talk about how grateful we are that God found us and that we joined the church,” she shares. “I always thank the Lord that because of certain people and through an organization, my entire family was saved.” Pray that more men and women will hear the Good News of Christ and fulfill their dreams of opening a business.
Praise God that rice farmers in Burundi have benefitted from a new loan product from Turame Community Finance, HOPE’s local microfinance institution. Pray that farmers using these loans to purchase new equipment will produce an abundant harvest and that Turame will continue to innovate and pilot loan products for more specific needs like housing and construction.
We celebrate that the Doma community, an isolated and spiritually unreached people group in Zimbabwe, is being introduced to Foundations for Farming—a biblically based agricultural training program—through a HOPE partnership. With 86% of Doma households reporting that they eat less than three meals a day, the physical need is immense. Pray for the success of these training initiatives, improved nutrition, and increased income for families. Week 4
Pray for SMEP Microfinance Bank in Kenya as they continue to work on various projects to more fully integrate them as a HOPE-managed microfinance institution. We’re diligently working to solidify security systems and establish processes for working with new data protection laws—all to improve and expand SMEP’s services to more entrepreneurs and churches! Pray for a spirit of efficiency and collaboration during this time of transition and learning.
Before joining a savings group in Malawi, Samson Kalagho shares, “I felt God created me for more than this.” Samson’s job as a bricklayer was inconsistent, and there wasn’t enough money to meet his family’s needs. But after he joined a savings group through his church, he began saving $1.24 (U.S.) each week and used a group loan to purchase land to farm. Today, Samson is a business leader who generously supports his community. “From being uncertain about my own children’s education to paying school fees for a child I just adopted, my life has really changed because of the savings group,” he says. “My mindset about poverty has really changed.” Pray that God will use savings groups to empower more men and women to dream beyond poverty.
Through HOPE microfinance institutions, we’re developing a new tool to help families thoroughly assess each area of their home to identify potential risks and create an improvement plan. Together with their loan officer, those we serve can determine what their priority housing needs are and use loans over time to reach these goals. Pray that this tool will equip families to pursue their dream of having a safe place to call home. *Location withheld for security
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At HOPE, we’re fervent believers that prayer is the most important part of our work. We take God at His word that He hears our prayers (1 John 5:14). And we believe that as we bring our requests before our Father, He will move mountains (Matthew 17:20).
Read Our Latest Prayer UpdateAt HOPE International, we invest in the dreams of families in the world’s underserved communities as we proclaim and live the Gospel.
Resources: If you’re part of a church, nonprofit, or school and would like to learn more about HOPE’s methodology, visit our resource library. If you’re part of a church network or organization and would like to learn more about implementing HOPE’s savings group (SG) methodology, visit our SG Multiply page.
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