Submitted by Annie Farrell,
Bright Hope Team Member

Last week, I took a vacation from the poor.

It’s hard for me to even write that sentence, but it’s the truth.  My husband and I had planned carefully for a full week off to travel to Michigan.  We put it on the staff calendar, socked some money away and packed our bags with excitement.  It had been several years since we had a “real” vacation, and we were looking forward to it. 

We had a beautiful time visiting family, sleeping late, eating out, walking along clean, beautiful beaches and doing a lot of nothing. 

While I did spend a little time on a few family laptops (mostly checking email and downloading photos), I found myself actively avoiding BBC World News and other places that would bring me face to face with what we see every day here at Bright Hope…

The starving children with their wide eyes and raggedy clothes, the refugee families living in cramped, unsanitary camps… the devastation of families living through the cyclone in Myanmar… the earthquake victims in China  …  It’s as if I couldn’t bear to look at them, just for a week…

And even though I knew this, of course, it struck me in a new way, that the poor — the people I get to serve in my job here at Bright Hope, never ever “get a vacation” from the poverty and desperation they live under.  They never have a reprieve from the daily struggle to come up with a few bites of food, or shelter from the rain, wind or sand.  Most of them will never in their lives stroll a clean, safe beach and stop for a cold drink or an ice cream cone.  

Most will never ever wake up in a clean, safe hotel room, take a long hot shower and then saunter downstairs for breakfast.  They’ll never wake up with absolutely nothing pressing on their mind for the day, and the freedom to go where they want, when they want, and how they want. 

I enjoyed my time off.  I do believe it allowed me to refresh my spirit, my soul and my marriage and I thank God and Bright Hope for providing it for me. 

But I came back to my desk here this Monday feeling an incredible sense of “privilege” that I get to be one of the people here who serves the poor, in my own small way.  Our team here starts our day with morning prayer, praying for our partners overseas  — the people in country who are face to face with the unrelenting daily needs of their families, communities and villages.  Then we ask God to show us how to serve them best -  how to raise support, how to develop programs and campaigns to engage people here in our own country, and how to create new and challenging opportunities for more people to partner with us in reaching people who desperately need our help.

I would not want to be any other place than where I am right here, as part of this team.  Before I got here, I knew about the poor. I had been to places like Russia and Cambodia, on short term trips, to “catch the vision” of serving the poor.  And now, I am trying to share that vision with everyone I meet. 

But I’ve changed since I got here.  I can’t forget the poor any more.  They have become part of my mind, my heart, my spirit, my soul.  And I thank God for that.  I wouldn’t want it any other way. 

Today I met with my fellow team members.  We made plans to get help to the people of Myanmar and a few other places in very desperate need.  It’s good to be back.

The following story came in an email from one of our partners in the Mathare Valley, Kenya:

Jane (11yrs) and Benson (9yrs) are orphans and have faced a lot of challenges in their young age; born out of single parenthood their father’s whereabouts is unknown. Jane and Benson have a sister who is just 3 years of age as well as two older brothers. Benson and their youngest sister are HIV positive.

Their mother, who has been ailing for a long time, was diagnosed with HIV about 8 years ago. She had defaulted on ARVs drugs, abused alcohol and was addicted to ‘changaa’ an illicit brew. All these worked to worsen her condition. Her lifestyle and health negatively impacted in the life of her children.

In February 2008, Jane and Benson lost one of their brothers (15yrs). He was beaten by his older brother and suffered injuries that led to his death.

This was a challenge to the already ailing mother and seemingly this affected her health. Around this time she also began to seem psychologically disturbed. After this incidence she did not move from her sick bed, she kept ailing and was not even able to attend the burial ceremony for her child. Not even two months later she gave in to her illness and died.

The woes of these children only grew worse with the death of their mother. The children could be found roaming the neighborhood collecting nails, and selling them for money to buy some food. They dropped out of school and also seemed to be psychologically disturbed. Jane and Benson were later adopted into the outreach community children’s home.

They are still in seed of psycho logical support. Benson in particular is in need of medical support as he is HIV positive, and thus his condition very volatile. At the time of adoption into the home he had also defaulted from the ARVs thus putting his health at a risk.

Please keep our partners in your prayers as they care for Jane, Benson and others in the community who face tragedy and heartache.

A commentary on the article, “Expecting Miracles” by Paul Gifford in Christian Century, July 10, 2007.

Submitted by Bright Hope Staff Member, Aaron Subich

In his article, Paul Gifford really brought to light an interesting dynamic of what’s happening in African Churches that are experiencing growth. The congregations of these churches are expecting miracles… Gifford says, “Africa’s various and growing Pentecostal churches have on thing in common: a focus on success.” He goes on to reveal that the success they are focused on is most strictly material.

It’s a sad reality that the preaching of ‘gods blessing’ and ‘prosperity found in blessing’ is extremely appealing to those in abject poverty in Africa. Especially as many Muslim communities are able to give incentives and subsidies to their community members due to external funding, many poor Christian churches sometime struggle to remain relevant. These Sub-Saharan Africans need material goods as much as anyone in the world today.

While I found that the article by Mr. Gifford was very revealing, I was rather saddened by its conclusions. At Bright Hope we believe that truly effective ministry is holistic. While it is exciting that the church in these African countries is addressing the poverty and the lack of basic necessities, it saddens me that the content of this report suggests: they are so singularly focused.

One of the most basic commitments at Bright Hope is to ensure that our projects are holistic in nature. Bright Hope partners with churches and communities that address the spiritual, emotional, intellectual, familial, and material needs of their community. I believe that in order to achieve lasting growth and development, balance needs to be found among these goals.

As incidents of AIDS, Child led households, Orphanages, Starvation, and Ethnic conflicts continue to increase in much of Africa, I want to challenge others to seek to holistically uplift and support the church in Africa. For we, too, are seeking Miracles! It is my desire to seek the miracles that bring the Kingdom of God to stay, particularly the kind of miracles that change a person’s life from the inside and enable them to offer the same to others in need of the life-giving hope of Jesus!

In this article in the Ugandan New Vision, Bright Hope’s Partnership Developer Carmen Brubacher is shown delivering Med Packs in Uganda. Read the article.