CEO Addresses Values and Challenges at HOPE worldwide Annual Meeting

Importance of Christian Values
While faith-based organizations like HOPE worldwide have been leaders in service and constructive social change, Jordan said, many individuals and organizations in the past avoided supporting them. He believes this trend is changing. Organizations like the American Red Cross, the Freddie Mac Foundation and the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships were active participants in the 2009 Global Summit.

Jordan described a “climate change” from “estrangement” to “engagement “ among funding institutions as reported by a European think tank in a paper entitled “What is Distinctive About Faith-Based Organizations?” The Obama White House has continued the Bush administration’s involvement with faith based organizations. Institutional donors increasingly are asking what are the “distinctives” that explain HOPE worldwide’s work in more than 60 countries and poverty relief that reaches more than 1 million people annually.

“Faith matters”, said Jordan. “Our value added is in the intangible yet essential and powerful values that we stand for." The Christian values of love, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control from Galatians 5:22-23, “in some way and in some fashion are making a difference.”

The Bible says that those who serve Christ are like an “aroma”. A child living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, for instance, may receive some helpful education, maybe some food or some medication from a HOPE worldwide worker, Jordan said, but they will also be touched by the Christian values of love, kindness and gentleness. “It is the aroma of Christian values that has a special impact on those we serve and differentiates organizations like ours.”

Impact of the Current Economic Downturn
HOPE worldwide has experienced a series of “interventions” in recent months that began with common discretionary expense cuts and escalated to include staff lay-offs. These budget changes came after prayer and analysis over a period of several months. Jordan emphasized the difficult personal nature of staff reductions that have affected “dedicated servants and friends who have given years of their lives to serving the poor and needy.”

Jordan said the organization’s mission has been a primary consideration in the expense reduction process. “We are a serving organization. We place as a first order of priority the poor that we serve. Not a single beneficiary of HOPE worldwide will fail to receive their much needed services due to the economy despite more than half a million dollars in budget cuts to date.” HOPE worldwide is grateful for continued support from many churches and their members in these challenging economic times to make these ongoing services possible.