Hope for tomorrow: It starts with love today

Help for today … Hope for tomorrow.

Perhaps you’ve read that so many times in various World Help blogs, emails, and mailings that it’s almost lost its power. Now, it’s just a slogan or catchphrase you skim over.

But for Mrs. Zin, those six words are her saving grace.

Mrs. Zin is one of thousands of people who found hope for a better future — all because someone like you chose to love her first.

Here are three examples of how responding today can help save a life for eternity:

Refugees on the run

The Zin family fled their home when ISIS attacked. They ran for their lives as bombs peppered the ground, exploding everything in sight. Mrs. Zin’s son was almost kidnapped, her daughter almost raped. Thankfully, they escaped that horror in one piece.

Fleeing to a refugee camp on the Syrian border was this Muslim family’s last hope. They set up a new life in a desert wasteland, and Mrs. Zin began visiting the free clinic made possible by World Help donors.

And that’s where her life changed.

The staff … the doctors … everyone at the clinic showed her compassion. They loved on her while she received treatment. Before long, Mrs. Zin’s heart softened. She didn’t just let them heal her body. She let them heal her soul by introducing her to Jesus.

And with a passion for her new-found faith, Mrs. Zin led her entire family to Christ, as well!

A child close to death

Claudine’s mother knew her baby girl was dying. She could feel it every time she held her bony body in her arms.

At 18 months old, Claudine weighed a meager 15 pounds — the average weight of a 6-month-old. Her thin neck barely seemed strong enough to support her head. Her cheeks were sunken, and her collarbone protruded from her shoulders.

Living in a remote village in Haiti, Claudine’s mother was out of options. She took her daughter to a local witch doctor, but his herbs and rituals did nothing. Claudine’s health continued to deteriorate.

She needed a miracle.

That’s when Claudine’s mother met the medical staff from the Haiti Rescue Center, a clinic made possible through the generosity of people like you. She told them about her sick baby, and they urged her to bring the child in.

At the center, Claudine received the nutrition and medical care her body was starving for. And during her daughter’s month-long treatment, Claudine’s mother received something, too — the Good News of Jesus Christ!

Both Claudine and her mother left the center with something precious: A healthy body for Claudine. And a new life in Christ for her mother.

Set free from sexual slavery

Naak and Suda are two sisters with big dreams. They traveled to Thailand in hopes of finding work to support their family back home in Laos. But after searching for jobs without any luck, they began working in the bars … first as waitresses, then eventually as sex workers.

Every week they endured physical abuse. They sold their bodies night after night — like so many other girls in Thailand’s red-light districts — so I’ve changed their names for privacy.

Suda was the first to hear about the Freedom Home in Pattaya, a place for girls to receive an education, counseling, and learn about Jesus. She begged the staff at the Freedom Home to help her little sister escape the sex industry. She wanted her to have the chance at a better life.

Naak came to the Freedom Home and was introduced to the love of Jesus. She began praying that the rest of her family would accept Christ, and the Lord answered that prayer.

Today, 13 members of Naak’s family are believers, including Suda. Both sisters left Thailand and started a house church in Laos. The Gospel is now spreading throughout their community!

What is the common thread throughout these stories?

Love.

What put these people on the path to a better future?

Love.

The doctors, medical staff, teachers, and counselors all showed love first. No one waved a Bible in the air. No one demanded a year’s worth of perfect church attendance before offering help.

Mrs. Zin received treatment before someone shared the Gospel with her. Baby Claudine received nutrition and medical care while someone introduced her mother to Christ. And Naak received an education and a safe place to live before experiencing the love of Jesus.

Having their physical needs met was the door that led to a relationship with Christ.

Scott Griffin, a long-time World Help donor and president of the dental supply company Practicon understands this well. His company donates a portion of the proceeds from every sale of their SmileGoods toothbrushes to provide clean-water wells in countries like Guatemala, India, and Peru.

Scott believes in helping people physically first … in hopes of it leading to something much deeper.

“It’s having a bigger impact than just providing clean water,” he said. “The ultimate goal is that [the community] would realize it was from people who love Jesus and who want to share that love through providing a well. Hopefully it will lead to spiritual growth, as well.”

That’s the idea behind “Help for today … Hope for tomorrow.”

When you provide for someone’s physical needs, you make a connection. You show him or her that you care. You demonstrate the love of Christ.

Today, another refugee needs medical attention. A child who is starving to death needs food. And a young woman trapped in physical abuse and shame needs rescuing.

Will you make that connection and provide for someone’s physical needs today? When you do, you open the door for spiritual hope.

Right now, the needs of the world are greater than ever before. The coronavirus pandemic has closed businesses not only in the U.S., but also around the world.

The poor are becoming poorer. It’s now even harder for refugees and hungry families to put food on the table each day. And if girls in Thailand were sacrificing themselves to the sex industry before this just so they could survive, you can imagine how desperate they are now.

But you can help. Your gift to the coronavirus emergency fund will provide physical help like food, clean water, medical care, and hygiene kits plus help introduce people to Jesus Christ.

And thanks to a matching gift from World Help board members, your donation will DOUBLE. Every $8 you give will help save TWO people’s lives.

When those people receive the critical help you provided, they also experience the love of Christ. Already, dozens of people in the Middle East alone have accepted Christ after receiving the gift of a mask and other aid. And our Christian brothers and sisters worldwide are asking for more Bibles because so many people are seeking God during this crisis.

When you give, you’ll provide essentials like food, clean water, medicine, and more to someone around the world. But you won’t just meet physical needs for today. You’ll offer hope for tomorrow.

If you’re looking for a way to help introduce someone to the love of Christ … here’s your chance.

Every $8 helps two people