Vision:
Hope Remembered exists to use community development as a way to train and equip indigenous believers to make disciples. The goal is to see the Gospel spread and communities transformed among the unreached people groups of Guinea Bissau. Our ultimate desire is that Christ be magnified in the ministry and that hearts and lives be changed.
The Problem:
Guinea Bissau has been called a forgotten country: it has an unreached population of 876,000.
Out of the 1.7 million inhabitants of Guinea Bissau only 1.8% are evangelical Christians.
Ethnic religions and Islam dominate the country. Out of the 35 people groups located in Guinea Bissau 20 are still considered unreached.
With one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, many Guinean children are left orphaned because families lack the physical means to care for the motherless child or because of the traditional belief that a child whose mother dies during child birth is cursed.
There is little to no access to education outside of the city. Because of these limited options for village children, many parents choose Koranic schools. This seems like a better option than no school, but often times these children suffer severe abuse by the Marabout (religious teachers) at these schools.
Our Story:
We traveled to this tiny country because we loved one little girl. But God does funny things. His plan was there all along. Our adoption story landed us in Guinea Bissau not just for this one precious daughter, though that would have been enough. He took us to Guinea Bissau to change our hearts. To open our eyes. To reveal His plan. And he used the heart of a six year old boy to get us there.
Here’s how a six-year-old’s birthday wish turned into a life’s work.
The Plan:
There is no doubt that the greatest need of the people of Guinea Bissau is a relationship with Jesus Christ and freedom from the bondage of the enemy. If slavery to traditional beliefs is not broken by the grace of the Gospel families will continue to suffer.
Our prayer is that as the Gospel is sown while working alongside local villagers people would come to know Christ and that from these people indigenous leaders would emerge and be trained to take the gospel to their own people groups.
Areas of Community Development:
Only around 50% of the children in Guinea Bissau are enrolled in any form of schooling. Most of those who are enrolled do not go past the sixth grade. Although there is a great desire to be educated, the reality is that there is just no access to schools. Hope Remembered partners with other missionaries to see schools constructed and teachers trained in some of the hardest to reach villages in Guinea Bissau. The schools also serve as a platform to share the Gospel and plant churches.
People do not have access to basic health services in both rural and urban areas. Cost and distance are barriers to health care. Facilities that exist tend to be without maintenance or budget and are inadequately supplied. Hope Remembered partners with and supports other like-minded missions that are providing medical care to the least reached areas of Guinea Bissau.
We partner with established missions in Guinea Bissau to help provide a clean drinking water source in areas where there is currently no access. In addition to drinking water these wells are used as a water source for drip irrigation so that families will be able to produce healthy food throughout the 7-month dry season.
End Vision:
We desire to see Jesus receiving the worship that He deserves among the unreached people groups of Guinea Bissau. As people respond to the gospel with repentance they will gather and form simple reproducible churches that will meet in homes and wherever people would normally congregate. Our desire is to see these simple churches reproduce among the people groups and that entire communities would be transformed as a result.
Three Ways to Get Involved:
Pray for Hope Remembered and the three main people groups we are working with: Fula, Balanta, and Papel. Here’s how you can pray specifically.
Stay in Touch: Sign up for our newsletter so you can stay up to date of how God is moving in Guinea Bissau and West Africa.
Support a Project: We believe there are four aspects of community transformation: sustainable agriculture, healthcare, education, and clean drinking water. Each of these serves to further the Gospel in the unreached areas of Guinea Bissau. You can get the Gospel to those who have never heard by giving financially to any of these four projects.