On June 13, 2003, a group of friends gathered in Franklin, Tennessee for the purpose of establishing a disaster response ministry — Hope Force International. These individuals formed the founding board members of the organization. Upon completion of the perfunctory legal details necessary to satisfy governmental requirements, we stood to form a circle and prayed...committing the future of this newly formed disaster relief ministry to the Lord.
It is almost incomprehensible that 20 years have passed! God’s sustaining, undeniable, consistent, and abundant faithfulness has carried the ministry through to this day. Hope Force is still in existence — not because of a brilliant strategy, super talented people or notoriety. We stand on God’s generosity toward a small band of people who were...and still are...willing to inquire, listen and to the best of our ability, worshipfully obey.
Many of those original friends…and several new friends, are gathering today as Hope Force board members — 20 years to the day of the birthing of the ministry. We will take time to celebrate the God who sustains what He initiates; reflect on the privilege of service, assess where we are today and consider the direction in which Hope Force should be heading into the future. Hope Force staff members are joining in from Haiti, South Carolina, Georgia, Canada, Oklahoma, Mexico and here in Tennessee. Today is a special day, and one in which we express gratitude to God and to people who believed with us, served with us, invested financially and through prayer. It continues to be an honor to convey the compassionate love of God to people impacted by crisis and disaster around the world.
