Christmas 2022: A Thrill of Hope

This was the phrase on the front of a Christmas card I sent to our staff this year.  It’s a well-known line from the classic carol O Holy Night, and I’d like to say I was drawn to the word hope. But it was the phrase weary world that caught my attention.  
 
The world does seem weary, with the unjust war in Ukraine, inflation, rising interest rates, economic uncertainty, and a pandemic that won’t seem to end. And with other challenges such as local and global poverty, racism, climate change, and violence, it’s easy to be completely overcome with weariness.



But given all that, perhaps, just maybe, hope is, in fact, the most important word here.  
 
The carol O Holy Night asserts that the birth of a baby in relative obscurity in a small village some two thousand years ago is the very thrill of hope. 
 
One dictionary definition of hope reads as follows: A desire of some good, accompanied with at least a slight expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable. 
 
Without hope, without the possibility of something better, there’s just weariness.  And for those trapped in systemic global poverty, weariness is inevitable.
 
Yet, the clients we serve in places like Haiti, Nicaragua or Ghana demonstrate the power of hope. Given the opportunity of a small loan and some training, they started to believe that the future could be better – hope! And this hope powered a transformation for them and their family as they built a sustainable livelihood.

And this hope powered a transformation for them and their family as they built a sustainable livelihood.

I intentionally chose that Christmas card for staff to thank them for being agents of hope, carrying forward the torch of hope born in a manger in Bethlehem.

Likewise, I extend warm thanks to those who have supported our work this past year – you truly are agents of hope. And a weary world rejoices.

Merry Christmas!

Dan Murray, CEO