Micro Grant success stories, a look at Cell Groups
and the ministry in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
Micro Grant Success Stories
Kenia Castro - Kenia is the mother of two children and has been coming to House of Hope for 2yrs. She began working prostitution at the age of 17 and continued for 3 years. She has currently been out for over 2 years and has now received a micro grant to help her start a small business. She plans on selling women’s undergarments to support her and her children.
Martha Martinez - Martha has been coming to House of Hope for 3 years and has been given a micro grant to help with her small business. Martha also started in prostitution at the age of 17 and continued for 10 years. She currently supports herself by selling dishes and clothing and with the micro grant she can now buy a much needed cart to carry all her merchandise.
Carmen Escobal - After working in the brothels for 16 years, Carmen left and has been out prostitution for 6 years! She has been a Tuesday morning participant at House of Hope for 3 years and has now been given the opportunity to start her own small business with a micro grant. She plans on selling snacks.
Want to hear more Micro Grant success stories? A one time gift of $75 is all it takes to make an impact in the lives of women like Kenia, Martha, and Carmen. Visit our giving page today to start changing lives!
Cell Groups
On a breezy afternoon in the shade of the trees, women who participate in the Tuesday morning program at House of Hope, gather to talk about their God. This group is one of 8 cell groups that meet every Friday rain or shine, in different parts of Managua. The importance of these groups is immeasurable as the benefits are more than spiritual.
Not only are they gathering to learn more about their Heavenly Father but they are all in one place with women just like them. April Havlin, the founding director of House of Hope, says that women leaving prostitution often feel out of place and unwelcome going to traditional church services because their dress and appearance is not that of other church goers. Cell groups provide a comfortable community of like women striving after God.
To qualify for school uniforms and scholarships for their children, the Tuesday morning women must attend a cell group. Vilma, the National Director of House of Hope, and the other cell group leaders, give a devotional that is relevant to the women’s lives. Some of the women who have been coming a long time now attend churches where they have become leaders.
Erika Madrigal has been attending a cell group for 4 yrs. She says that the cell groups have helped change her life as she has learned that drinking and parties are not where life is found. She says that through the cell group program she has been given a spirit of strength and she can see herself changing everyday. Her family life has improved and she has learned how to be a kind person to her family and others.
Cell groups are a vital part of our program. If you would like support Cell Groups you can do so by making a general donation toward our staff transportation costs which are around $100 a month.
As Vilma says, “We are all daughters of the King. We need to speak words that help others. We need to be examples for others who don’t yet know God.”
San Pedro Sula, Honduras
Last week In our ministry in San Pedro Sula, Honduras, thirty women and their children came to our evangelistic event. Several of them came for the first time straight from their street corner or brothel. The women from House of Hope Nicaragua did a fabulous job of going into the highways and by-ways and compelling them to come. Juana, from Nicaragua, shared her testimony of God’s transformational power in her life. I preached on God lifting our shame. Afterward, eight came forward for prayer. One of them, Elizabeth, shared afterward with me that she had been in prostitution six months and she was desperate to get out. Another one of the first time women, Patricia, opened up to me that she was sold into prostitution at age 11. The stories are heart breaking but the hope on the faces of these women is amazing.
If anyone would like to sponsor one of our Nicaraguan women to travel to Honduras for a week to win the Honduran women to Christ, the cost is $160 per woman. That provides food and ground transportation for their entire trip. Who better to go into these dangerous places and share the love of Christ? - April Havlin
Please continue to pray for the women and children at House of Hope. Our wonderful staff need prayer also as they take on more responsibility. With your assistance, lives are being transformed everyday. Thank you!
