VIDEO
This video debuted at Plant With Purpose’s 2018 Planting Hope Gala. One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from our partners whenever I’ve gotten to visit our programs is what hope actually looks like. I used to think of it as a fluffy word– emotionally rich, but ambiguous. Our partners in rural villages grounded that in reality. Hope keeps you moving forward when things are dark. When you feel stuck.
Music // LIGHTS AND MOTION
Video Footage // CHERRY HILLS COMMUNITY CHURCH
Video Footage // DREW RENAUD
Video Footage // SHAUN BOYTE
Video Footage // ECCLESIA COMMUNITY CHURCH
Video Footage // SCOTT HANCOCK
WORDS
I remember you.
Do you remember me?
I was there in your darkest hour.
I was there when you were scared the worst was going to happen.
I was there when you felt stuck– doing the same thing over and over without seeing much results.
I was there when nobody else believed things could be different.
I am hope.
Do you remember me?
I show you things that don’t yet exist.
I help you bring them to life.
Why else would a farmer put her plow in the ground in the spring if she cannot imagine the harvest ahead?
Why else would you leave the familiar in search of something better?
I am hope.
Do you remember me?
Go to the forest that grows where once there was nothing.
Drink from the stream that once ran dry.
If you cannot envision these trees before they are planted then they will never be planted.
I make it possible to see life where there is nothing, so you can plant.
I am not just a good feeling.
I am real.
I am what your faith looks like stretched out towards the future.
I am hope.
I am the reason the children of refugees will never know the horrors their parents had to endure.
I am the reason the farmer who has toiled through drought and famine will one day feast with his family.
I am the reason the mother who has taken many risks for the sake of her children will see them grow strong.
I am the reason you can keep going. The reason you will keep going.
Choose me.
Remember me.
Share me.
I am hope.
BLOG POST
Hope looks like Pablo in the Dominican Republic making the decision to stop drinking, and to instead use the money to invest in his farm and in his family.
Hope looks like Felicite in Burundi taking the first steps towards joining a savings group in Nyakazu, even though she had been denied access to credit before.
Hope looks like Guy and our Haitian staff working with challenging infrastructure, insecure roads, and skepticism towards organizations in order to bring change to remote villages on the island.
These decisions seem small. They often go unrecognized in the moment. But they are acts of hope that put change into motion.