Cherie and I are currently walking through a very personal and profound crisis. My brother has been diagnosed with late stage cancer and is fighting for his life. Recently, we received a phone call that prompted an emergency trip to Chicago to be with him.

We had planned for months to spend a day with the entire Hope Force team for a spiritual, relational and strategic retreat together at our HFI headquarters in Nashville.
It’s not often that we can do this, since we’re spread out from Texas to Haiti to Atlantic City. To go to Chicago meant canceling the retreat. However, it became obvious that being with my brother was more necessary than the retreat.

Read the rest of the story here.

Dorothy’s famous words spoken in the fabled Land of Oz live on in today’s society, “There’s no place like home…”

Yet, for over 360,000 internally displaced persons (down from 1.5 million) in Haiti, home seems less attainable than a pair of glittery red slippers.

The direct effects of the earthquake are felt every day as countless still live in tent cities, over three years after the disaster. Many more still live in makeshift shelters without much infrastructure, outside the city.

There may not be a yellow brick road anywhere in Haiti, but there is a way to bring people home, one house at a time.
Click here to learn more.

We want to extend an invitation for you to be a part of inspiring hope in Haiti. We still have several openings for church teams and individuals to work in Sous Savanne and Babay. Team sizes range from 5-22. Most teams stay for one week – however longer stays can be facilitated if needed. For more information, please contact Sue Duby at dubys@hopeforce.org or by telephone: 615-371-1271.

Within months after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Hope Force started the Child Sponsorship Program. By the end of 2012, 85 children had sponsors. Recently HFI completed several more candidate interviews for the program. 

Sergeline is a soon-to-be 13-year-old, with a beautiful smile, who loves school – despite the hour-long trek to get there by foot.

During the earthquake Sergeline lived with her grandmother in Grand Bory, a village a couple of miles from Sous Savanne. Both her parents died before the quake. Sergeline and her grandmother were in the house at the time of the quake and ran outside in time to see the house collapse. Thankfully no one got hurt. Sergeline’s grandmother however, died in early 2012. Sergeline moved in with her aunt, who also cares for two other girls. The four of them live in a small Red Cross home in Sous Savanne.

If you are interested in sponsoring a child like Sergeline in Haiti, please click here for further information. There are several new children on the list – $29 per month ensures basic food supplies for the child and family, health programs in the village, and simple things like soap – which is one of the most effective methods of preventing bacteria transmissions!

When Hurricane Sandy struck the East Coast in October 2012, Hope Force had responders on the ground within days of the disaster. After weeks of assisting homeowners in flood clean up and emotional/spiritual care, the leaders of Atlantic City invited Hope Force to join them in creating a long-term recovery center to meet ongoing needs of flood survivors.

For more information on the Long Term Recovery Center, click here.

Atlantic City brings to mind sandy beaches, high-rise casinos, and “vacation paradise”. The Atlantic City Expressway whisks holiday-goers straight into the heart of expensive shopping and dining.

The reality for many of the residents of Atlantic City is anything but a holiday. Many residents struggled before Sandy arrived; later they found themselves in dire situations after the storm flooded their neighborhoods.

Read the rest of the story here.

For more information on how you can get involved in Atlantic City’s recovery, click here to email us.

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. In some local municipalities, 100% of the businesses were destroyed and countless homes flooded and even decimated by the storm surge from the hurricane.

Four months into the recovery, thousands are still separated from their homes – many are understandably angry and in despair over the length of response time and the lack of resources needed to make things “normal” once again.

Survivors of disasters and any crisis often need more than simply material items to get back on their feet. A crucial part of recovery is emotional and spiritual care. Sometimes a person only needs a listening ear – other times prayer, a meal or clothing. The Salvation Army has partnered with HFI since 2004 with both organizations signing a Statement of Understanding in 2005. Since that time, HFI has had the privilege of working closely with the Salvation Army, often times in the deployment of chaplains.

For more on the Salvation Army and HFI’s partnership in New Jersey, click here.

Are you interested in serving with Hope Force as a chaplain?

Read Chaplain Chuck Duby’s note here.

Tornado season is nearly upon us, and summer marks the start of hurricane season. If you made a resolution in 2013 to be prepared for disasters and to serve others in crisis, don’t miss out on the chance to become a Hope Force Reservist!

Sign up for our next Hope Force Reservist training event online here.

Northern Virginia: April 11-13 2013, $195

A reminder to current Reservists: You may audit the training in Virginia for free! Please share this info with friends, family and churches in the area that you think may be interested in HFI’s training.

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.

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.