Clay Dudley, my regional HOPE representative, approached me with the idea of the Never Ending Hope Challenge. I saw it as a great opportunity for me to better understand the idea of microloans and help build awareness for HOPE in my community. Like many others, I saw an opportunity with food. I live in a college town, and football Saturdays are huge! People come from all around to tailgate before and after games. The week before a morning game I announced that I would be making and delivering homemade sausage and biscuits. We took our initial loan of $10 and almost doubled our goal, raising $175. More importantly, we were able to share the story of HOPE with everyone for whom we provided breakfast.

I used my God-given sewing talent to turn $10 into $100. Peter Greer [president of HOPE International] came to my church and spoke about the Never Ending Hope Challenge. The day before had been my grandson’s second birthday party, and I had made a hooded towel and embroidered a crocodile bathing in a bathtub on it. Several people told me I should make more and sell them on eBay. On the drive home, my husband and I talked about the possibility of doing just that. So when Peter mentioned doing something to turn $10 into $100 my mind started thinking back to the day before and everyone’s comments about how wonderful the towels were and that I should make more and sell them. That is exactly what I did!

I have never sold anything that I have made. I am very crafty, but I give away most of the items I create. After receiving the Never Ending Hope Challenge and learning about the concept of microfinance, I spent a few days in prayer asking God to show me how to use my $10. I felt impressed to become an “entrepreneur.” I wanted to experience what HOPE International is training people to do in starting a business and what it would feel like to make something that someone would want to buy. We were entering the Christmas season, so the idea of making and selling chocolate-dipped, sprinkle-covered pretzel rods came to me. I asked God for His direction and blessing as I purchased the supplies and created them. They sold as “Pretzel Delights,” individually wraped with a ribbon. In 30 minutes they were all sold and I was able to donate the $100 to HOPE for a microloan.

Six pastors from our church challenged the church to donate toward Never Ending Hope. We received over $8,000! Thank you for allowing us to take part in this project. We hope this will bless many people!

Seven individuals in my family participated in the Never Ending Hope challenge. We talked about how each of us could invest $10 and multiply it to $100. No one seemed to have an idea that worked. Then we talked in terms of pooling resources and working together. That gave us a new dynamic. My daughters are excellent bakers, so the logical choice was to come up with baked goods to sell. We settled on the idea of making baked goods in time for our church’s Thanksgiving supper (the Sunday before Thanksgiving) and auctioning them to the folks at our church, who are accustomed to auctions for charity.

We publicized our effort the Sunday prior to the supper by showing the video I downloaded from HOPE’s website and by putting out a flyer of the baked goods we would offer. One of the girls made a cake like one of those to be auctioned to put on the dessert table at the dinner as a sample.

At the auction we came within $145 of our goal. Then one of our members was outbid on a chocolate cake by another member, so he special ordered one for $100. My daughter posted on her Facebook page that she was within $45 of the goal, and another church member — who had missed the dinner — saw it and came by with a $45 donation.

The life lessons and benefits from this exercise are greatly appreciated. My children modeled servant leadership. They exercised teamwork and saw what can happen when we put resources and efforts together for the work of the Kingdom. It helped my church see that mission is about helping people help themselves. We are stronger for the effort and thank you for the challenge.