April 2024 Global Report
You reached Santy — now he’s reaching his family
You reached out to Santy’s neighborhood in Argentina when the pandemic hit it hardest — our OneHope partner church opened a soup kitchen that helped keep Santy and his family fed …
When Santy’s family got back on their feet, they didn’t come to the soup kitchen anymore — but last year, our partner church launched a Sunday school outreach, and Santy turned up! He received God’s Word through our Superbook program. He was following Jesus and wanted to be baptized.
Today his grandmother attends church with him and says Santy is the driving force that moves her to follow Jesus. They’re praying the rest of the family will soon come to know Him, too.
Fast Facts
My story of hope:
JOSUÉ IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
Hello, my name is Josué, and I am 12 years old, and this is my testimony.
Before I met the Lord and knew that He had a plan for me, I remember that I was not doing well at school or with my friends or my family. I thought that nobody loved me. I only saw that at home my parents argued about everything, and I thought I was to blame.
But I visited a Sunday school where we watched Superbook videos, and I heard that God had a plan and that if I gave Him my heart, He would help me, and everything would change.
From that day, I gave my heart to Jesus, and how different I felt! I have been following Jesus for one year now, and everything has changed. I know that He will always be with me.
At home, things are changing because Jesus entered my house, and He is doing great things. Even at my young age, I can testify of the greatness of God in my life and that of my family, and I thank you for being an instrument to introduce me to Jesus through Superbook.
Catalyze: developing Christian leaders for tomorrow
Naomi was finishing high school — and graduating from our Lead Today program, too.
Her heart’s desire was to go on to pursue higher education, but she comes from a struggling family in Kenya, and there was no money for college.
Thanks to you, this didn’t stop Naomi from getting an education: she was able to begin our internship program, Catalyze.
Catalyze is a OneHope community-building initiative that helps Lead Today graduates to continue to develop as leaders. In Kenya, our local partners have added to the Catalyze curriculum with a selection of online classes that interns can take.
It’s not the conventional college education Naomi wanted, but she is pursuing academics at the same time as she grows in her faith and develops the leadership qualities she learned in Lead Today.
Today, she’s volunteering at a local nonprofit, taking her online classes, and participating in Catalyze leadership development and community building, too.
Vision 2033 has a goal of getting God’s Word to the next 2 billion young people by the year 2033, along with catalyzing a movement that will reach every child in every generation — and model discipleship for 20 million young people. Naomi is one of those 20 million, and Catalyze is playing an important role in her life and in the vision of Vision 2033.
In a limited access nation —
YOU SHARED JESUS WITH THE WHOLE FAMILY!
Ayaan was struggling with a severe health issue. In the limited access nation where he lives, the traditional religion offers him little solace … and health care is limited for impoverished families like his.
But Ayaan had a friend, Kenji, who was learning about Jesus in a OneHope Friend-to-Friend Champions program, where children receive two copies of the Book of Hope, one to keep and one to share with a friend.
Kenji gave his second Book of Hope to Ayaan, introduced him to Jesus, and prayed for him. And Ayaan was healed!
His family was so thrilled Ayaan was healthy again that they asked Kenji to tell them about Jesus, too, and today, the whole family has committed their lives to Christ!
This is the power of God’s Word to transform children and whole families, even in places where Christians are a persecuted minority! No country is closed to the Holy Spirit.
What can we do for modern-day refugees?
By OneHope President Rob Hoskins
The daily news cycle drives us face-to-face with the plight of millions of refugees seeking to escape conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine. These realities hit home for me since I grew up with my missionary parents in the Middle East. We experienced firsthand the ravages of war, being evacuated several times and finally forced to flee for good, leaving everything we had behind in Lebanon.
Those who know this part of my history think that my family and I became refugees, but in actuality, what should have been a traumatic experience of being chased away from home and country was not because of the provision awaiting us by believers stepping in the gap to provide for our family’s needs.
This has given me an acute sense of what Kingdom living looks like.
In every geographical context there are displaced people and humanitarian needs in close proximity. Christ — the ultimate displaced person coming to earth from heaven — has placed in all of us a strong calling in this world to reach out to the foreigner among us.
I think the greatest evangelical outlet of the Church today could be looking for those who have been uprooted and are living in fear and inviting them into your life. It can be as simple as opening your door and inviting them to dinner. Or starting a conversation when everyone else is passing them by. Any act of love helps further the missional vocation of the Church while showing Christ to them.
Nothing will change unless you make redemptive hospitality a priority and make the time for it. You make room for a new child or someone who marries into the family — why not make room in your family for “the other”?
This is a challenge to me as much as you. Kim and I are intentional to exercise more redemptive hospitality. I would love to see more people less afraid and more open to putting on the love of Christ and being a light to those in darkness.
NATION BY NATION
NIGERIA
PARAGUAY
LIMITED ACCESS
Catalyze equips Scarleth to reach her city!
In many Latin American nations, the Catholic Church declares September the Month of the Bible, and local communities celebrate in different ways.
Scarleth, one of the young people in our Catalyze program in Peru thought the Month of the Bible would be the perfect time to reach children in her community with God’s Word. Using the training she received at Catalyze, she organized her church to present their first-ever children’s evangelism outreach.
The outreach included a Month of the Bible parade and celebration — with the parade led by LeonEl the Lion, the mascot of OneHope programs in many Spanish-speaking nations. LeonEl and the parade were a big hit among children and families!
Children received the Book of Hope and were invited to church for Superbook programs, too.
“This event showed other churches that they can go out of their premises and reach the children of their surroundings with the Word of God,” Scarleth says.
We’re excited to see how God is using the young people in our Catalyze and Cultivate programs as part of Vision 2033. Our partner churches in many nations have invited young people to help them raise up the next generation of Christian leaders, and the Vision 2033 plan calls for OneHope to model discipleship for 20 million young people worldwide.
Scarleth’s evangelism program is a beautiful picture of how this looks — and how Vision 2033 is catalyzing a movement to reach every child in every generation with the Word of God. Thank you for being part of it!
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$1 shares the Gospel with 3 children. HOw many will you reach?
