Dear Hope Force Reservist,

We are self-professed news and weather junkies in Hope Force International (HFI). We see a storm brewing out in the Atlantic, and the cogs in our brain start to churn as well. Will it evolve into a hurricane? If so, will it blow out to sea or come ashore? If it’s the latter, where will it land? And if it lands, how much damage will be done? 

Keeping an eye on the weather and other developments is more than simply curiosity for us. It’s our job. Read the full story here.

Haiti: Full-time Haiti Field Team Members, Rene and Marianne Lako, recently assessed and interviewed candidates for the next set of Houses of Hope in Haiti, both in Babay and Sous Savanne.

HFI is now poised to begin construction of four more new homes in Haiti, with the goal of building at least 25 this year. For Hope Force, it is very important that recipient family members participate in building the house to instill pride and ownership, rather than creating a sense of dependency. HFI has strengthened its “qualifying program” to encourage even more owner participation in the program.

Two out of four classes for the first potential candidates have already been completed. The classes have topics along Biblical worldview principles, responsibility and community health teachings.

The participants have been very involved so far, and Marianne reports that they loved René's bible teaching using an old-fashioned ‘flannel board’. René was also able share the story of Creation all the way through Resurrection in the weeks leading up to Easter.

Interested in learning more about a House of Hope? Read more here.

If you’d like to be a part of rebuilding Haiti and would like to make a donation towards a House of Hope, please click here.

Celebrations

Ten years ago this month, Hope Force International began its journey in Nashville, TN with a handful of dedicated people. Today, there are over 1,200 Reservists across North America, and every day we see more interest in our training. In fact, we will be bringing the HFI Reservist training to Switzerland in October – our first European training! We thank God for His faithfulness, provision and the opportunity to serve so many! If you’d like to see more of what Hope Force has been up to recently, check out our blog on our website.

Chaplaincy Partnership

The Salvation Army, in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, called upon Hope Force International to assist in providing Chaplains and Emotional Spiritual Care workers to some of the hardest hit beach communities in Union Beach, New Jersey.

Full-time HFI Reservist Chaplain Glenda Alexander said this about her experience: “It was unbelievable to see such devastation 120 plus days after the storm. The overwhelming response from those living there was simply how tired they were – how ready they are to get back to a place of normalcy.”

Read the full story here.

TRAINING

Spring is here and summer is around the corner, as well as hurricane season. If you know someone in the Washington DC area who is interested in disaster response, space is still available for our next Reservist training in Northern Virginia, April 11-13, 2013. Cost is $195, and registration can be found online here.

If you need a refresher, remember that Reservists may audit the training for free!

Other Upcoming Training Events:
Nashville September 17-19, 2013.
Sign up online here


HFI Reservist Chaplain Stu Raynor will be teaching following courses on May 4th, at the Salvation Army in Newport, KY (across the river from Cincinnati), in conjunction with the Salvation Army.

* Intro to Disaster Services
* ServSafe Food Safety Training

If you’re interested in attending, please contact stuartrayner@aol.com to express your interest. Registration will soon be found here.

 

GO

HAITI

HFI needs your help in Haiti! The residents in the villages are asking in anticipation when the next team is coming – why not be a part of a life-changing trip?

The HFI team in Haiti is looking for a few more individuals to join the team May 5-18. Spaces are open for either week in that time frame.

Team members interact with Haitian villagers regularly, so there is a lot of opportunity for cultural exchange. The teams in May have a health care component, but they will also be painting and/or building houses, and possibly visiting two orphanages. There will be simple health education teachings, Bible stories, and working with local schools. Translators are available to help with communication, and the teams work in a rural area that is much safer than the city.

If you are interested in serving in Haiti, please contact: HaitiTN@hopeforce.org

If you can’t serve at this time, but would like to make a donation towards efforts in Haiti, please click here.

ATLANTIC CITY

While members of the Atlantic City team have reported that it’s a joy working with the people there, they are still facing some challenges – mainly that they are in need of an appropriate place to host visiting teams.

Please pray for suitable housing for teams to come and serve in Atlantic City at this time. If you, or someone you know, can help with this need, please contact Glenda Bashor: glenda.bashor@hopeforce.org or 609-541-2189.


CALL FOR CHAPLAINS
Do you feel a pull towards emotional and spiritual care? Are you craving a desire to put your chaplaincy skills to use? HFI is looking for more chaplains to serve. 

Read Chaplain Chuck Duby’s note here.

Emotional and Spiritual Care
You’ve already completed HFI’s Reservist Training, but you know there is still more to learn – and the Internet lists far too many resources than you know what to do with it. Look no further. HFI Reservist Chaplain, Stu Rayner, who is a Family and Marriage therapist, compiled a short list of resources for more training in Emotional and Spiritual Care. In the coming months, we’ll feature even more, but here are a few to get you started: Click here.


Disaster Response
Living through a disaster is no laughing matter. PrepareMetro KC knows that, and instead offers some entertaining and informative videos on how to prepare for various disasters before they strike.

This site actually makes disaster preparedness fun – and has some of the best information we’ve found to date! Be sure to check out all of the resources on this great site: http://www.preparemetrokc.org/Be_Prepared/archive.asp

Please consider a special gift as part of your support of our work this month. Every dollar given to the work of HFI is considered sacred and our financial stewardship principles are taken very seriously by each and every staff member. Thank you for standing with us.