There are many organisations around the world working with the poor and ‘doing missions’.
So why would someone interested in making a difference in this space choose a small organisation based in New Zealand? Why would an organisation or church looking to engage in mission or poverty alleviation work go through an intermediary, rather than simply getting on a plane and going, or sending money to the person on the ground?
These are very good questions!
The simple answer is that we are a little bit different and we make investing in missions and poverty alleviation a more financially effective and less risky process. We focus on partnership because we believe that everyone has something to bring to the table, and we are best to focus where we can offer most value. For this reason, we don’t try and impose our vision on our partners in the field, but instead gravitate towards those that are already doing something extraordinary to reach their communities.
It is also for this reason that we encourage churches, organisations and individuals who want to see communities lifted out of poverty and given hope to work with us. We are very good at what we do, which is finding and developing partnerships with the very best people.
There are three key reasons for this:
Cross-cultural mission is very easy to get wrong. Every people group (and likely every tribe within a people group) has cultural nuances that take time and effort to understand. Failing to fully grasp these issues can cause offence or embarrassment at best, and can completely undermine a partnership (and any future partnerships) at worst.
Knowing how to interact with other cultures is an area of expertise for us because we have a team that has built strong relationships with our partners over many years and has learned what works and what doesn’t in different cultural and economic contexts.
Finding the right partners and building relationships with them is costly and difficult, but absolutely essential to avoid – sadly – being ripped off. We’ve been doing this a long time and have learned to tell the difference between someone genuinely doing great work and someone that sees an opportunity to make personal gain.
What’s more, our team is mostly made up of entrepreneurial people that have learned to recognise this in others around the world. This means we can find people who can actually deliver on their vision and have the potential to grow sustainable projects and movements.
Part of Bright Hope World’s way of operating is slow engagement. We don’t rush into a relationship with a partner, but rather take our time to get to know them, their family, church and support networks. This ‘due diligence’ ensures that when we do determine a relationship is appropriate for entering into partnership, we can be sure of the integrity and credibility of the people and their vision.
While this inevitably takes years, once we commit, we commit for the life of the partnership. We understand that development is a long process, and so we stay the course with our partners. We don’t set a time limit on engagement, but see working with our partners as a relational journey together.
Bright Hope World is set up exclusively to resource and develop partnerships. We have a team of experts that have extensive experience in working with partners in the field, optimising outcomes and addressing the inevitable issues that arise in any relationship. To reproduce this kind of infrastructure locally would be expensive and ultimately less effective.
Because of the number of partnerships we have, we can service the partnerships very efficiently. This, matched with our value of operating under a low overhead structure, means that we take a maximum of 10% administration from any funds given to us, and we often take nothing. This results in the highest possible level of funding reaching the field, where it is most needed.
The combined effect of our experience, our approach and our ethos is that Bright Hope World offers considerable value to donors and churches by:
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Our vision of seeing the poorest of the poor become spiritually and physically self-sustaining.
Our mission is to develop and resource partnerships with indigenous people who have a vision to transform their communities.
Our values are:
- We focus on the poorest of the poor
- We invest in strategic partnerships
- We are field-driven
- We emphasise sustainability
- We are committed to a low overhead structure
At least 90% (and often 100%) of the funds we receive go to our partners in the field.