WE VALUE
EDUCATION
We believe everyone should have an equal opportunity to education.
CHRIST
We value an environment where students can learn about Christ and His love for them.
CHANGING A COMMUNITY
We believe giving students the tools they need to have a successful career helps their entire community.
HOW WE BEGAN
After hearing the full story of the refugees still living in Rwanda due to the 100 bloody days of genocide in 1994, we learned of information that hit close to home—the area of the D.R. Congo where persecution is the most rampant is a predominantly Christian area. We couldn’t sit idly by, realizing that these 80,000 refugees, spread throughout five camps, were facing hopeless conditions.
So we worked closely alongside ADRA Rwanda to implement the Impact Hope program.
While ADRA Rwanda and World Vision provide schooling in these camps, it only went through 9th grade. To continue education so they could leave the camps and find jobs, refugee children would have to walk significant distances to the nearest high school. Along this dangerous route they were vulnerable to victimization and abuse. Young girls have been beaten or raped.
Impact Hope formed to enable sponsorship for these students, sending them to boarding school. There they can enjoy better living conditions, quality education, and an opportunity to learn more about God and His loving plan for them. They can graduate with career eligibility and move their families out of the refugee camps for good!
Co-founders Hans and Mindy Thygeson
$600 a year sends a young person to boarding academy for an entire school year. This is our continuing fundraising mission. Aside from facilitating sponsorship to these refugee students, we spend time onsite at these camps, getting to know the kids we hope to sponsor and finding additional ways to meet their needs. It is a powerful experience to see such strength and determination in these refugees, despite their challenging, poverty-stricken environment. God is definitely at work here!
MEET THE TEAM
