HOPE International is a network of microfinance institutions based in Lancaster County, PA, and operating in 16 countries around the world. Hope International invests in the dreams of the poor while simultaneously living and proclaiming the Gospel in the world’s most under-served communities.
Internet Link: Hope International
About HOPE: HOPE International is a network of microfinance institutions operating in 16 countries around the world. HOPE works to empower men, women, and families to break the cycles of physical and spiritual poverty through the provision of biblically based business training, savings services, small loans, mentoring, and discipleship. By incorporating a strong witness for Jesus Christ and employing a variety of approaches to microfinance, HOPE is an innovator in the field of microenterprise development. HOPE International offers micro-loans and savings programs to poor individuals of all faiths in third world countries. Approximately 82% of those clients are women. Furthermore, all field staff are native to the communities in which they work and are evaluated by their clients.
In its network, HOPE includes traditional microfinance programs, microfinance plus programs (which incorporate health care, literacy training, or other community empowerment initiatives outside the realm of traditional microfinance), savings-led microfinance programs, and small and medium enterprise development programs.
HOPE’s programs are effectively reaching over 400,000 entrepreneurs around the world with the love of Jesus Christ and the opportunity to start or expand a business. From inception to present, HOPE’s programs boast a 96 percent repayment rate, pointing to the efficiency of HOPE’s methodology.
Microfinance attracts donors who want to make the most of each donated dollar. Many are impressed by the compounding effect that is achieved as clients repay their loans and the same funds are issued to new borrowers to help support more livelihoods and families.
HOPE International (HOPE) is a Christian faith-based, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on alleviating physical and spiritual poverty through microenterprise development.
The Difference: HOPE practices a holistic approach to poverty alleviation. Microcredit and basic business training enable individuals to build businesses and break free from physical poverty. Clients find that their increased income enables them to provide more nutritious and regular meals as well as improved housing and education for their children. But HOPE isn’t only concerned with physical poverty. Christ-following loan officers share the hope of the Gospel in the context of relationships, ministering to spiritual poverty as well.
A Worthy Investment: When one of HOPE’s programs becomes profitable, instead of returning profits to the United States, HOPE invests the money in further program growth and in community initiatives such as Christ-centered children’s ministries or complimentary health care. HOPE’s programs are highly successful, boasting a historical repayment rate of 96 percent, and highly leveraged. These high repayment rates coupled with HOPE’s commitment to stewardship ensure that every donor dollar is maximized.
Why Microenterprise Development Around the world many creative, intelligent people are mired in poverty because they lack access to capital. Microfinance services can make the difference between economic entrapment and the realization of their dreams. HOPE believes that microfinance can be a powerful force in changing the world for the better and that loving people as Christ loved others means caring for both physical and spiritual needs.
HOPE ministers to the poor in 16 countries, working in the hard places and thriving there. HOPE’s microfinance programs offer a sustainable alternative to the short-term forms of charity that have often left a wake of disempowerment in developing countries. Microfinance isn’t a handout but a hand-up. It demands ownership and active participation from the beneficiaries of the intervention. Microloan recipients can take pride in knowing that their own hard work has made the difference between poverty and provision.