M:H 2019 Annual Report : simplebooklet.com

Thank you If you are reading this you are either a current donor partner or someone considering a partnership with Mission Hope We are excited and grateful to have you serve with us Last July I joined the Mission Hope team as their new leader I was warmly welcomed by Ben Mathes the founder and encouraged by our chairman Van Fletcher to lead with Jesus at the forefront Yes and amen He God gave us the ability to equip 672 mothers in Papua through a health program that eradicated malnutrition in five villages In 2019 we saw God at work through your support and by the grace of a mighty loving God He led us to save three precious children from sex trafficking in Bali He gave us the ability to equip 672 mothers in Papua through a health program that eradicated malnutrition in five villages I recall hearing about one mother who lost eight children to malnutrition Our God said No more In Nicaragua children were often sick from consuming contaminated water and were not able to attend school Today there is a water catchment system right next to their renovated school and the building is now filled with healthy children God delivered them through you Thank you Recently I received a response from a church concerning a proposal I sent them They responded with excitement to discuss an opportunity in a new region God has led us to explore Are we excited Yes When God invites us to do His work and bring His Kingdom here on earth how can we be anything less I pray that as we continue to serve you the redemptive stories you hear and the people that perhaps you will meet on a vision trip will bring true joy to your heart We want you to be excited just as you were when you first heard what God was doing through Mission Hope or Rivers of the World or WorldServe or Peace and Hope We are now one tribe serving one Lord It is a blessing to behold His glory and grace in the lives of the people we serve I m excited Are you In His grip MISSION HOPE PRESIDENT CEO W HAT S INS I DE A MODEL OF HOPE 02 WATER FOR THE THIRSTY 07 2019 FINANCE REPORT 11 WIDYA S STORY 05 TRANSFORMATION TREE 09 A KINGDOM CALLING 12 2019 IMPACT REPORT 06 A VISION TRIP TESTIMONY 10 Q A WITH BEN MATHES 13

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A MODEL of Hope BY BROCK BOLEMAN Senior Director of Global Programs W hen I first learned about Mission Hope known as Rivers of the World at the time I remember thinking it was one of the rare organizations that was serious about making a sustainable impact Instead of merely going to remote villages to show short term compassion Mission Hope strived to develop a model that would create long term transformation in the areas it served Four years ago I felt extremely fortunate to join a like minded passionate team of world changers Since then we have developed a transformational model that is Christ centered village led and holistic Recognizing that every community is unique our approach relies heavily on local knowledge ability and leadership in the villages we serve to accomplish our collective goals of seeing villages thrive 2 MISSIONHOPE ORG

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H OW D O E S M I S S I O N H O P E S E L EC T A CO U N T RY As we explored different regions to launch a transformational program we were led to the islands of Indonesia in Southeast Asia We are often asked what makes Indonesia the perfect place for this transformational program First our organization has sought out remote villages since the early days of our founder Ben Mathes traveling up the Congo River to deliver medical supplies Similarly Indonesia has thousands of islands most of which are isolated and underserved Second because Indonesia is the largest Muslim country in the world there are many unreached people groups and little to no Gospel presence Third many of the islands in Indonesia are vulnerable It is the most disaster prone country in the world has high levels of hunger food insecurity and has some of the highest rates of human trafficking Additionally I previously established strong working relationships with local leaders and churches while serving in Indonesia Build Relationships Equip STEP 1 BUILD RELATIONSHIPS The initial relationship building stage is the most important because local partners are critical to everything we do I already had a few Indonesians in mind who were highly trained experienced and had a heart for holistic mission Churches are typically underresourced ill equipped and struggling overall After establishing our initial small team we turned to select specific villages to work in This decision was based largely on the same criteria used to select a country remote unreached vulnerable and relationships Our initial search led us to communities on the volcanic slopes of Bali where we heard the same heartbreaking story time and time again Farmers in the area experience frequent disasters like droughts and landslides which wipe out their crops and income As a result these farmers are often forced to take bad loans to put food on the table which perpetuates a cycle of poverty and debt This generational cycle of poverty drives young girls into the sex tourism industry in the city never to return home again According to our survey results this devastating story is the reality for approximately 1 in 5 girls from the village So how do we go about tackling this massive problem This leads us to a pivotal step in the process equipping the local church Multiply STEP 2 EQUIP Lasting Impact We begin by meeting local church leaders in their homes over Indonesian coffee to hear their stories While they are passionate about reaching people in the surrounding village area churches are typically under resourced ill equipped and struggling overall Mission Hope works to bridge this gap We invite these leaders to join us for a nine week training course where we develop a shared vision and Thank You 3

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transformation plan By the end of this course they are trained and mobilized to reach the most vulnerable families in their communities While the church training is underway we begin our assessment phase within the villages As we conduct directed participatory assessments we get to know local village leaders and learn about major needs and capacities within each community We strategically conduct these focus group discussions with men and women separately to ensure all voices are heard At the end of this process we present our findings to the entire community and invite its members to partake in planning the program This village led approach not only guarantees our program will address the community s unique needs but it also empowers the community members to take a lead role in the program s success Through our assessments in Indonesia we learned from the churches and communities that one of their greatest needs was food security A crop shortage prevents families from earning livings which further perpetuates the cycle of poverty hunger childhood malnutrition human trafficking and despair Recognizing these issues we then equipped a few churches and local leaders with the specific skills tools and seeds necessary to plant FAITH Food Always in the Home gardens Although many of the farmers were skeptical of these new techniques at first the entire village was amazed to see the new varieties of vegetables harvested from the gardens New vegetables like tomatoes cucumbers and chilies could provide their children with the nutrition they need for healthy development and also fetch a high price at the market The community loved these gardens so much they built panggungs in them which are raised stage platforms where people congregate to relax and drink coffee together In other words the FAITH gardens became the village hangout spot S T E P 3 M U LT I P LY During the harvest local leaders and churches generously shared seeds with one another and taught their neighbors how to grow the gardens What began as five gardens in the first season grew to 100 gardens at the end of the second season While the impact increased exponentially Mission Hope incurred almost no additional program cost Community members had the necessary training and materials to multiply these gardens within their means The impact was significant together we began eradicating malnutrition poverty and hopelessness throughout the communities S T E P 4 L A S T I N G I M PAC T Less than a year after witnessing this level of success within the villages the nearby volcano unexpectedly erupted for the first time in 50 years While the communities Mission Hope supported could have experienced a devastating crisis they were instead able to survive on the produce from the FAITH gardens Furthermore children who would have been left vulnerable were safe and protected This led many community members to ask why we helped in the first place Local pastors were able to share that because they have a God who loves them it was their calling and desire to share God s love with their neighbors Today it is evident these once impoverished villages are now resilient and these once struggling house churches are now growing communities of faith This is a true picture of sustainable transformation 4 MISSIONHOPE ORG While this was the story for only a handful of Indonesian villages just a few years ago Mission Hope has now replicated this model in roughly 50 villages around the world where we continue to see more stories of transformation

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W I DYA S Story BY MICHAEL CERNA D i r e c t o r o f S p i r i t u a l Fo r m a t i o n W idya is a local Christian leader who partners with Mission Hope in Indonesia on an island that is primarily Muslim Few churches exist in the city and none are allowed in the remote villages More than a decade ago every church on the island was burned and Christians disbanded Today only a small remnant of Christians live there including Widya She is a missionary leader and mom of three in one of the toughest environments for sharing the Gospel Widya is soft spoken but resilient strong but vulnerable Her parents were missionaries raising her in one of the most aggressively anti Christian places in the world As a young adult Widya graduated with her master s degree at a record pace yet she chose to follow in her parents footsteps and surrender comfort and safety for her Kingdom calling After a massive tsunami struck Southeast Asia Widya led relief efforts driven by love and what she saw as the natural response for Christ followers She spent half a decade serving desperate people whose lives were permanently changed by elements beyond their control Now amid the pandemic Widya is continuing to faithfully serve those around her She has networked with global partners to provide resources for the emotional and spiritual care of her community Resources didn t exist in the island s native language so Widya translated them When asked why she sacrificed so much she simply said it is part of the Christian life When you partner with Mission Hope you are choosing to support faithful missionary leaders like Widya Widya knows she is called to serve and love Muslims On the island where she is based many people are poorly educated and fanatical about their faith Christians are often viewed as bad people But Widya knows when you live a life that truly reflects the love of Christ demonstrating mercy and humility people begin to rethink their view of Christians When you partner with Mission Hope you are choosing to support faithful missionary leaders like Widya We invite you to experience God through their eyes and see the beauty of surrender and transformation Widya and others like her could not do it without you Thank You 5

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2019 I M PAC T Report So he told them this parable What man of you having a hundred sheep if he has lost one of them does not leave the ninety nine in the open country and go after the one that is lost until he finds it And when he has found it he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing Luke 15 3 5 ESV 1 109 children prevented from sex trafficking and early child marriages 1 500 people reached with the Gospel through radio programming BALI LOMBOK 3 TRIBES RECEIVED THE GOSPEL IN THEIR HEART LANGUAGE FOR THE FIRST TIME NICARAGUA INDONESIA 559 farmers equipped to provide for their families NICARAGUA INDONESIA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 227 local volunteers and change agents trained 468 women counseled and empowered to stand against domestic violence PAPUA DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 50 NICARAGUA INDONESIA 14k 6 youth protected from drugs and gang violence will receive water for the first time MISSIONHOPE ORG PAPUA 3 CHILDREN RESCUED FROM SEX TRAFFICKING

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WAT E R F O R the Thirsty B Y A D E LY N B O L E M A N Senior Manager of Donor Experiences B efore COVID 19 spread rampantly around the world I traveled to Bali Indonesia with my husband Brock who is the Senior Director of Global Programs for Mission Hope Having heard so many stories about Mission Hope s work in Indonesia I was excited to finally see the work firsthand We traveled to the village of Tianyar located on the steep volcanic slopes of Bali As we visited many communities within the village I began to realize this village contained an entire town s worth of people around 12 000 except unlike my town this one was without running water I was told during the rainy season the village is lush and green This however was hard for me to imagine as I looked around at the byproducts of the dry season wilting crops dry soil and children unable to bathe among many other things In Tianyar it rains only five months of the year This rainwater happens to be the only water source within the village I stood there wondering what options villagers have during the dry season which can be more accurately described as an annual drought I met Made pronounced Mah day a local leader in the village He explained that during the dry season the only source of water comes in the form of water jugs brought to the village by truck Due to water scarcity families without livestock are forced to spend more than half of their income on water while families with livestock spend essentially all of their income on water and some even go into debt To make water go further and last longer children often do not take showers and family members go without drinking water As someone who has been blessed with clean water all my life I had no idea how many issues stem from water scarcity The strained income during the drought forces families to borrow from loan sharks to put food on the Thank You 7

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table When families are unable to repay their debts loan sharks offer to provide jobs for their children in the cities Though these jobs typically start in massage parlors or spas they often take a very dark turn Children as young as 12 and 13 are frequently forced into human trafficking Even if children are not sent to the cities they often drop out of school to help their parents work to make ends meet and are unable to reenroll in school I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders after While running water within the village will meet the urgent physical needs of families in Tianyar it goes much further It shows a glimpse of God s Kingdom on earth seeing the devastation of the drought and learning more about its ensuing effect on this community Families should never be faced with having to choose between starvation and sending their children to cities to work in spas However that was the harsh reality so many of these families faced I began to understand how important it was for Tianyar to have a water system I then had the opportunity to see what Mission Hope had been developing to help alleviate these struggles and instantly I felt an overwhelming sense of relief that nearly brought me to tears Alongside local leaders Mission Hope developed a piping system to pump water from a nearby freshwater lake to the village Finally families will be able to sustain gardens and livestock N ot only does Mission Hope establish sustainable and thriving communities in remote villages around the world but we also seek to nurture relationships with our stateside community As one Body and one Church we want to give pray and serve to advance God s Kingdom and equip the vulnerable It is out of this universal desire that Mission Hope Sisterhood was born And it is just that a true sisterhood Sisterhood is a group of empowered women working toward the empowerment of women worldwide Once a year we meet to encourage update and inspire each other as we celebrate all that God is doing through this unified network of godly women Last fall Sisterhood raised 45 000 to support our anti sex trafficking and 8 MISSIONHOPE ORG year round which will result in sustainable income and ultimately break the cycle of trafficking and despair Water has always been integral to Mission Hope s history of serving the most remote and vulnerable communities From its beginnings as an organization bringing medicine to fight river blindness up the Congo River to serving Nicaraguan villages that are only accessible by water to the large scale water project in Tianyar today water connects us Even for Jesus water is what brought the woman to the well and allowed Him to share His message of living water As we discussed the piping system with community members I saw their entire faces brighten I saw their desperation fade Most importantly I saw hope in their eyes I began to understand the multifaceted nature of the water project While running water within the village will meet the urgent physical needs of families in Tianyar it goes much further It shows a glimpse of God s Kingdom on earth It shows His love and grace In the same way that water drew the woman to the well this water project provides a platform for Mission Hope to teach about God s goodness and the true living water that will quench the spiritual thirst an eternal hope for all Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life John 4 14 ESV MISSION HOPE prevention programs in Bali It is by the grace of God and Sisterhood s support that three young girls were rescued from sex trafficking and are now receiving trauma therapy and are back in school pursuing life giving careers It is also through the provision of our faithful Sisterhood partners that 12 000 Indonesian villagers will soon have clean water for the first time We are celebrating each and every win but our work is far from done We will be hosting our third annual Sisterhood event virtually on August 7 you won t want to miss it

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T R A N S F O R M AT I O N Tree BY ROGER DROST Nicaragua Program Officer even between family members He says One person named Lopez won t even sit down with another Lopez It also saddens him that the Miskito youth have little understanding of the Bible and he hopes to do something to change that We work with church leaders in the communities and help mobilize them to serve and meet all kinds of needs Pastor Eddi has a vision to see community transformation and to see God s Spirit move through the Church We at Mission Hope share his vision We encourage and equip community pastors like Eddi to be agents of change in their communities We work with church leaders in the communities and help mobilize them to serve and meet all kinds of needs spiritual physical social emotional and mental We believe that the local churches are called to care for their communities and are uniquely positioned and qualified to bring about sustainable positive change as they act as Christ s hands feet and voice where they live F ollowing God s call Pastor Eddi and his family leave the life and community they know so well and travel across lagoons and up jungle rivers to reach their new home and new church in the wilderness of Nicaragua He finds himself living in a very remote and isolated jungle community but that is what he signed up for He is willing to scratch out a hard living as a farmer so he can serve God and lead the small church in the Miskito village of Makantakita He talks about his vision to see reconciliation among community members and laments the conflicts To bring this vision to life our team conducted research among community members and developed a culturally contextualized training curriculum based on The Transformation Tree curriculum by World Relief The training program examines Scripture and presents short narratives about characters facing challenges similar to our community members It explores the Church s calling and mission the reasons for poverty God s answer to the world s brokenness what development means how the Church can bring about positive change the impact of harmful beliefs and the role of the Church in proclaiming God s truth The training concludes with each local church leading and developing a community outreach project to address a specific need in the community We believe this training is foundational to sustainable change as the local church leads development and outreach ministries in its community Thank You 9

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A VISION TRIP Testimony O ur hope is for our partners in the States to experience the work they are supporting around the world We want to take you on a trip to remote areas where you can see and experience God at work in a new way Our team will be leading a vision trip later this year and we would love for you to join Below one of our partners shares her experience on our last vision trip to the Dominican Republic in February 2020 I loved walking through the village meeting people and seeing where they live and how they live Coming from the U S it s hard to imagine the way people in these remote areas live but when you immerse yourself into the community it s almost like you re getting to see life through their eyes if only for a moment I couldn t help but look into the eyes of those we met and think maybe they have something I need to hear Going on a vision trip not only brings the work to life but it brings my gift to life Instead of simply giving to a project outlined on a sheet of paper I can now connect my gift to an actual person I ve seen and touched A new life is breathed into every gift I give It was a true blessing to come together with other partners who joined the vision trip A group that started as six strangers grew into a team in which each person contributed their strengths and gifting Together we went into the communities and lived out our gifting and passion to love people and experience God s work through Mission Hope It is important to see different passions coming together and spreading so that many more needs can be met Going on a vision trip heightened my understanding of the priority and urgency of the needs in these communities I would absolutely recommend going out and experiencing God s work in this way if you re able Sarah F from Texas 10 MISSIONHOPE ORG

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A KINGDOM Calling BY JOHN SITTEMA Senior Advisor to Mission Hope a n d Fo r m e r Wo r l d S e r v e P r e s i d e n t S omeone recently asked me Why does Mission Hope do Gospel ministry the way you do it You work with the poor the vulnerable the hungry the trafficked and all so very far from home in areas so remote so hostile doing work that appears to be thankless that s got to be hard It is hard We work this way because we believe it is what Jesus taught his disciples to long for to pray for to work toward Remember how He taught them to pray Our Father in heaven hallowed be your name He is not a fearsome divinity In Christ He is a wonderful Father We are His children Jesus makes it clear what we His children ought to pray for Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven What a vision Pray that His reign of grace will break out on earth here and now in us and through us to bring life rather than death We are colonists citizens from another land sent into this broken and sinful world to establish outposts of His Kingdom that display the glorious wonders of our King This is the vision the prophet Isaiah set before God s people many years earlier In Isaiah 61 he had promised that when the Messiah came He would bring good news to the poor bind up the brokenhearted proclaim liberty to the captives to comfort all who mourn And the Messiah s people 12 MISSIONHOPE ORG They will be called oaks of righteousness a planting of the LORD for the display of His splendor We live and work that way and we invite you to partner with us Side by side we will be oaks of righteousness strong deeply rooted in God a people who pray that God s Kingdom will come to broken places and desperate people to set things right to make things righteous just the way they are supposed to be Will we end poverty No Will we fix the whole world Not that either Those issues are in God s hands He is the Redeemer and He has already accomplished the foundation of that work For God was pleased through him Christ to reconcile to himself all things whether things on earth or things in heaven by making peace through His blood shed on the cross Redemption is God s work Ours is to make Him known We will lead with deeds of love mercy clean water and justice working among those who have never seen such things When asked why we keep coming back we speak the Word of love mercy and justice in Christ We live for the display of His splendor We do it so the hopeless will find hope in Him Please partner with us You will be blessed You will be a blessing And you will find purpose beyond anything you have ever known

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Q A WITH Ben Mathes FOUNDER OF MISSION HOPE RIVERS OF THE WORLD B Y C O R Y C H A R L E S Global Commmunications Consultant Mission Hope T he year 2019 was marked by strength and change for Mission Hope After 25 years of faithful service through Rivers of the World and Mission Hope our founder Ben Mathes is now preparing for his retirement While Ben steps away from full time ministry with Mission Hope his impact and legacy remain In a recent Q A we asked Ben what Mission Hope means to him and here is what he said M H represents effective evangelical transformational Christian mission development that influences entire communities for the Lord When asked about the legacy he hopes to leave Ben answered Theodore Roosevelt said what I d like as a legacy Far better it is to dare mighty things to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows not victory nor defeat Go for it In the name of Jesus what s the worst thing that could happen We are thankful for Ben and the way he has faithfully led this ministry and continues to impact so many lives A Special THANK YOU across the globe While Ben steps into retirement he will always remain a part of the Mission Hope team If you are interested in joining the mission and carrying on the legacy God started through Ben 25 years ago we invite you to become a monthly partner We need your help and cannot further God s mission without sustainable giving We recently launched the Hope Tribe to show appreciation for our ongoing partners The Hope Tribe is a community specifically for monthly donors to stay connected and receive our latest news updates blogs prayers and praises and more Join the Hope Tribe and make a sustainable impact in unreached villages around the world Mission Hope is committed to helping you engage and inspire your families to be Kingdom focused in answering the Great Commission Call and creating a family legacy For more information contact us at familylegacy missionhope org We are grateful for the leadership faithfulness and generosity of our board and executive team PRESIDENT CEO BOARD OF TRUSTEES Van Fletcher Board Chair David Flanigan Karen Robinson Cope Craig Gentry Board Secretary Greg Greenbaum Mark Fikse Rob Hiday Board Treasurer Nancy Vepraskas Chair of Personnel Committee SENIOR TEAM Elisa Goodwin President CEO Brock Boleman Senior Director of Global Programs Shelia Buchanan Senior Director of People and Operations Systems Abby Hutchinson Assistant Marketing Director Michael Cerna Director of Spiritual Formation Tim Sittema Thank You 13

M:H 2019 Annual Report

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