New Beginnings

What a week it has been! With it being Sunday, I finally have some time to sit down and reflect on these days. I want to start by saying that God has been faithful and present in every one of my steps. Not only did I arrive safely to Lancaster, but I have been able to enjoy my time here.

Driving 18 hours is no joke. I don't think I understood how much effort it would take to drive all the way. We began our journey on Tuesday and drove around 8 hours to Savannah GA. With all the excitement of the journey, I was unable to sleep. The next day we drove the rest of the way to Lancaster and enjoyed a warm and savory dinner. Although the travel was spent between catching up on sleep, driving, and studying, there were precious moments of conversation and reflection with my dad. I realized how much I appreciate his wisdom and his caring yet challenging words.

As we spent that Thursday moving in, I dropped my dad at the train station and went back to campus for our interns orientation. The majority of interns are not from the area. Thankfully, we were given the opportunity to get housing in Lancaster Bible College, a great way to stay locally and form bonds amongst the team. From there, the rest of the days have been spent in plenary sessions, worship, various talks at meal times, and seminars.

I won't go in detail as to all the things we have learned, however, I will share my thoughts on the things that I have been impacted by. I have been greatly impressed by this new perspective of a Christ centered way of doing business. Every morning we have had devotions and a time of worship. Imagine seeing a room full of professionals, all in business casual clothing, singing and praying together. Not only that, but various topics of business, suddenly flipped in what seems like a polar opposite of what my classes have taught me. I am getting a Project Management minor and attended the Project Manager seminar on Saturday. The idea of organization and communication within team members was repetitive of my previous courses. However, a new element was brought in. As the panel of directors began sharing their experience, I realized that here at HOPE, projects were not "result driven" but people driven. What is the difference? Instead of basing success on the time and money spent, success was based on the lessons learned and experiences. Does this mean HOPE has unlimited resources and time? No, but it shows a balance of the meaning of success. Within my course, we had learned that if there are problems with the performance of members, members would be replaced or trained. However, these directors showed much more understanding and care for their team members and their well-being, knowing that life happens and people are more than employees.

Another interesting point was learning of the need and risk of agricultural lending. Many people in developing countries survive on farming, both for their personal use as well as profit. I had never heard of the many implications and risks are involved in lending to farmers. Because they only receive money back after the harvest, the loan is based off the hope that it will be a good season, as well as other factors. However, this is not true. Floods, droughts, pests, are problems that can occur and prevent farmers from paying back. How can this be solved? We learned of communal lending as well as teaching farmers sustainable farming. Communal lending allows farmers to come together and essentially pay a small fee to rent a piece of land. Here, farmers are able to use the field to experiment with new crops and methods without risking a whole field to try it. In sustainable farming, farmers are able to go through classes and learn how to use greenhouses as well as how to use other methods in order to save on resources and have a higher percentage at receiving a plentiful harvest.

Apart from all the learning we have experienced, the atmosphere with HOPE staff and the rest of the interns has been exciting. Meeting all these people from all over the world, has been a great opportunity to learn and understand the work of HOPE. With the interns, I have been blessed to have such an encouraging and transparent team. Most of the students come from Christian colleges, something that is quite foreign to me. I have been able to have meaningful conversations and learn much from each one of them.

Currently we are in the process of getting ready for the annual celebration of HOPE. This is a huge event where stakeholders, partners, and donors come to celebrate what God has done through the year. Although this is exciting, it will take a lot of energy. This will be occurring Tuesday and then Wednesday is our first day on the job. Please pray that I am ready for those tasks and am able to remember all the accounting I have taken through the years. I am also in the process of taking my last undergraduate class. I have two exams left as well as a group project. Please pray that I will be able to unplug from work and concentrate on this class.

I want to finish by sharing this verse I have been meditating on recently: "3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope" Romans 5:3-4