No matter your present circumstances, having a safe space to wrestle through the hardships in our lives and still be able to envision a future and to dream is a gift to be treasured. Being able to know and accept our stories and see hope for a new future is beautiful! 

Current Realities

For some people living through endless hardships and struggling to fill the basic needs of life, that gift of seeing a hopeful future often feels so out of reach. This is especially true for impoverished communities where the focus is simply on survival. Many are unable to spend their days thinking about or talking through the future because their present circumstances are so overwhelming and their future so uncertain. And with hopelessness comes long days and nights of despair or grief.

Meet Noella

One of our students recently shared her experience wrestling through these feelings of little hope. Noella’s life was full of hardships, abandonment, abuse, difficult choices, and becoming the sole provider of her home very early on. She could have continued to believe that her life would look this way forever with no hope of anything new. But God brought her to Hope Africa Collective.

Now, Noella has journeyed through our 3-week Life Development course where she was taught about trust and forgiveness. They took time to look at the past, present, and future of her life. Then she completed our Faith Discovery class where she met Jesus. She experienced true transformation and feeling seen by Him. She realized He knows everything about her and still saw her as valuable, precious, beautiful, and capable. For the first time, looking through His eyes, she was able to see a future different from the present.

“I See Myself”

When we asked Noella where she sees herself in 2 to 5 years from now, she says, “In 2 to 5 years time, I see myself running my business. I see myself being able to provide for my family. I see myself being happy. Yeah. I see myself being a really faithful and spiritual woman. I have more faith in God now more than ever.”

Like Noella, may we all see ourselves and the possibility of life in the present and future through the lens of Jesus. Nothing more, and nothing less.