HOPE: CHIYEMBEKEZO
Good afternoon! We are THRILLED to share a BIG announcement with you about the outcome of the Passion Into Action campaign we, Circle of Hope, were included in. The following is an excerpt from the blog of the campaign's creator, Amy Abell. Visit her blog here.
The time has come to share the results of this year's Passion Into Action campaign, which is part of the larger Forget the Frock movement. Our theme this year is HOPE because, let's be honest, the world so desperately needs the HOPE of Jesus.
By definition, HOPE is an assurance of things to come; a feeling of expectation and trust; the ability to expect with confidence. When we say that God is our hope, we are saying He is the one in whom we place our full confidence. Not in ourselves. Not in our husbands or wives. Not in our family. Not in our friends. Not in our money. Not in our jobs. Not in our world leaders. Our hope cannot be reliant on anything of this world. Jesus, the Son of God, is the HOPE of this world! Hebrews 11:1 states:
"Now faith is confidence in what we HOPE for and assurance about what we do not see."
For our 2017 Passion Into Action campaign, we chose five organizations that are bringing HOPE to this world, and they all have the word HOPE in their names. We translated HOPE into the languages spoken by the people they serve to display on the front of our shirts.By simply shopping with a purpose and wearing a t-shirt on Easter Sunday, we have the opportunity to bring HOPE to this world!
My goal for this year was to sell at least 400 shirts, but when I would pray over this campaign, I asked God to help us sell 500 shirts. I am SO excited to share that thanks to all of you who purchased shirts and shared our campaign with others, we sold 536 shirts this year!! For every shirt purchased, you had the opportunity to vote for which organization you wanted to receive 100% of the proceeds.
Are you ready to see how many votes each organization received??
Project HOPE: 94 votes (18% of total votes)
Hope Road Nicaragua: 62 votes (12% of total votes)
Hope For The Warriors: 90 votes (17% of total votes)
Hope For Justice: 129 votes (24% of total votes)
AND THE WINNER IS....
Circle of HOPE
161 votes
(30 percent of total votes)!!!
When I met Kayla Stine for the first time at our church on Orphan Sunday, I had no idea how much God was already at work. During that first conversation, Kayla shared with me her passion for Circle of Hope. This organization exists to witness to the good news of Jesus Christ by engaging in works of mercy and justice alongside the world's most impoverished people in rural Malawi. Kayla sponsors children through Circle of Hope and has travelled to Malawi with CoH on short term mission trips.
Because you decided to forgo traditional Easter clothes and instead purchased one of our HOPE t-shirts, we are able to donate...
$5,000 to Circle of Hope this year!!
We could not be more pleased to see God working in such magnificent ways and providing for our children by creating new partnerships and connections each day.
When deciding what to spend this $5,000 on Karen Roller, COH Executive Director, had two major goals for the would-be project. 1. Something that represents HOPE 2. Something lasting
We have decided...
drum roll...
We will build an outdoor dining shelter and play area at Patricia's Home! We cannot wait to see our children play on clean, cement floors, and eat, not in the dirt, but on a clean, purposeful surface! Can you imagine the dance parties, fun, and singing these walls will see?
Thank you again to Amy Abell and the Passion Into Action campaign. We want to challenge our COH community to post a picture of themselves in their new t-shirts and use #passionintoaction2017 and #cohcommunity! Let's see those pearly whites as we lift up prayers of thanksgiving for God's provison for our children once again!