One of the most powerful ways to get involved with ZOE is by becoming a Hope Companion to a working group of orphans and vulnerable children. Rather than helping just one child, you can partner with a group of 60-100 children, walking with them during their three-year journey to empowerment. Many churches, groups and families come together to make this happen, with a group in the US partnering with a group in a ZOE program country. When you become a Hope Companion, you are invited on a Trip of Hope to visit with the children in their home communities.
“What I actually experienced [on my trip] far outweighed any expectations. To see the friendly, smiling faces, to hear their testimonies, to see their bankbooks, my heart welled with pride for what these children had accomplished with my financial support. I cried with pride for them.” – Hope Companion and Trip of Hope Team Member
ZOE has been blessed by an individual wanting to enroll more children into ZOE’s empowerment program so that they will never need charity again. For a limited time, ZOE is able to facilitate matching funding for anyone able to fund half the cost of a three-year Hope Companion partnership with 60 to 100 children. Although ZOE must receive commitments by June 15, the first year of funding is not due until January 15 of 2017. (However, groups start the work on empowerment in 2016 and sending in funding earlier helps offset costs more directly.)
Here is how it works: if a church, Sunday school class, individual or any other group can commit to funding a half of a partnership in Kenya, Rwanda, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, or India at $3,750 per year for three years, then ZOE will provide the matching funds either through the ZOE match or a shared partnership. This opportunity is also available for Guatemala partnerships but the cost would be $8,250 per year for three years due to greater in-country costs. ZOE is also eager to facilitate funding partnerships between youth groups or children’s ministries from various churches so that they might have the opportunity to connect with ZOE working groups and each other.
ZOE can guarantee single working group partnerships. However, if you would like to explore funding multiple groups, we would love to hear from you and will do our best to find appropriate funding partners.
For more information please contact: Gaston Warner at gaston@zoehelps.org; 919-414-4167 or Randy Wiersma at randy@zoehelps.org. You can also sign up online at zoehelps.org/half.