Hope Rise Website Launched

We launched our Website today! Go check it out when you get a chance! www.hoperise.org

Also, tonight is our first fundraising event: The Hope Rise Birthday Bash! If you can come out and are in the Nashville area, we would love to see you! We will be telling a bit about Hope Rise International and the refugees that we support. Also, we will be selling scarves that the refugees have been making! It will be a great night! It starts at 7p.m. at Wallace Chapel at 15354 Old Hickory Blvd., Nashville, TN 37211! Come celebrate with us!

Check out our new Logo for Hope Rise!!

Planting the first Seeds

Saturday was a day to mark in the books for Hope Rise International! We launched the new farming project! The day was sunny and beautiful- a perfect day to spend outside.

The farming project is a vision that I have had since August. You see, about 80% of the Bhutanese-Nepali refugees were farmers in Nepal. They had worked land all their lives, seen growth, been outside and fed their families. Many of them since being in America, have spent days inside apartments with nothing to do, nowhere to go and no way to get anywhere. But this day, they were outside where they feel alive and their faces showed it! With smiles spread across their faces and dressed in their typical saris, dresses and nice pants, they got down in the dirt to plant onions, potatoes and beets. They could not have been more pleased.

We have worked on pulling together the necessary elements to get them started to plant and grow vegetables, fruits and herbs. Epworth United Methodist Church found out about the refugees and the congregation has been a vital part in getting the farming started. One man from the church donated three acres of land in College Grove, Tennessee, for them to begin to plant and harvest. He bought the seeds and got them started on Saturday. Other members of the church have been helping with equipment, seed calendars and many other things to ensure we get this started and set it up for success.

We are hoping to feed most of the families in the refugee community with the things that are grown and we also want to start selling the crops at Farmer’s Markets around Nashville. Now we need to find some trucks to load up and drive to the markets! This will give the farmers an income! This is particularly a great opportunity because many of the farmers are elderly people and women who do not speak English. It has been a challenge for them to get a job in America. Now they are getting to do what they have always known, be outside instead of cooped up in an apartment all day and sell product for an income.

Hope was planted in their hearts today as we planted the seeds for the harvest to come in a few months!

The Journey Continues

So, Hope Rise is exactly one month old today. It was August 21st, I walked into the Secretary of State's office to be officially incorporated in Tennessee. Getting through security for the building was probably the most difficult part. After taking a scan of my face and my driver's license, I went up the elevator to a room filled with cubicles. A lady at the desk took my charter and a $100 check. They went back to a secret room and after about 10 minutes, I received a letter congratulating me on Hope Rise International status of incorporation with an official seal from the Secretary of State. Even though it didn't seem to be that great of a thing, to me it was surreal! It made Hope Rise official to me.

The next Monday, I got online and filled out a form for the Tax ID number with the federal government. As soon as I filled out the online form and submitted it, I received an official tax ID number. It was becoming all so real. Here I was this 27 year old, and I was the official president and founder for an organization.

Now, the real paperwork has begun. I'm working now on filling out the 1023. This is about at 15 page application for the 501(c)3 status, this is the status you must have with the government to be a non-profit entity. It is truly a daunting task. It asks for a full budget, a historical outline of the organization's start and a lot of other questions about the reason for this organization to be formed. I'll let you know how the status continues. Tomorrow I'm going to post the new logo for the Hope Rise.

Thanks!

Of Humbling Beginnings

I'm starting this blog at a time when my life is basically starting over. My name is Lauren for those of you who don't know me. I graduated from college December of 2005 and immediately in January of 2006 started working at the church I had attended all of my life. I have been working there for the last 3 1/2 years as the Director of Public Relations and then as the Missions Director. My plan was to go to law school this fall and pursue a career doing International Law, working as an advocate for human rights. But, God had another plan.

The doors literally slammed shut! How humbling. It is pretty awakening when we think we are doing what is right, just to find out we are pursuing our own dreams instead of God's plan for us. We should be careful what we ask God. When I asked Him to take my life and I would do whatever He asked of me, I probably didn't realize I was laying down my own agenda. Most of the time we figure we love Him so our agenda will just match His. So, on to what He was really asking me to do with my life. In October, a group of refugees, mainly from Nepal (originally from Bhutan) and some Africans from the Congo and Burundi, showed up at the church. As the Missions Director, I had spent a great deal of time with them and my heart was captured. So, when I sought after God in the midst of my confusion about my big law school plans, He showed me what He had in store.

I was walking through the apartment complex where most of them live, the sun was shining through the clouds and on my face. The dust was kicking up on my flip flops, waves of curry were stinging in my nose, kids were running barefoot on the concrete pushing tires as a toy and every face looking at me was dark skinned with dark eyes. God spoke softly, you asked me to give you the nations, here they are! Oh, it all made sense. For years I had known God had called me to the nations as a missionary and humanitarian. Those nations are people and here they all were. Two blocks from where I worked everyday. Like I said before, be aware of what you are asking of God, He may just give it to you!

So, in August, I quit working at the church to start a non-profit organization called Hope Rise International. It is an organization that helps assimilate refugees into American society through education, job training and service! Yikes!! It actually sounds like I know what I am doing, but please do not be fooled.

This blog will be about what I am doing, what I am learning and how a young girl felt a call on her life and is trying to discover what to do with it. I'll try to share the journey with you!