“Providing Hope to Impoverished Children; a Historical Look”

In the fall of 1999, Reverend John Yambasu of the United Methodist Church in Sierra Leone, Africa, traveled to the United States with a specific goal of cultivating support for children in his home country. At that time, Sierra Leone was in the midst of a ten year civil war that has been described as one of the most brutal known to man.

At about the same time, Rev. Tom Berlin, the senior pastor at Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, suggested that his congregation consider doing something collectively to honor and celebrate 2000 years of Christ in the world. With no knowledge of Floris’ plans, Rev. Yambasu landed at Floris UMC to make his appeal for help. Whether it was mere coincidence, or divine intervention, Rev. Yambasu’s appeal was so compelling, and the timing was so perfect, that Floris UMC decided to rally together that Christmas season to see how much they could raise to help some of the poorest children in the world who lost so much because of the war in Sierra Leone.

That Christmas season, Floris UMC collectively raised nearly 5 times the amount they expected to support the traumatized children of Sierra Leone. This success led Floris UMC to think above and beyond what they imagined they could do in this suffering country, and it spawned the idea for Child Rescue Centre.

ORIGINAL 40 CRC CHILDREN

Understanding the difficulty of sustaining a project of this size, Floris UMC now had to look beyond itself for support for the CRC. In 2003, Floris UMC decided to start a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization called Helping Children Worldwide (HCW). At the same time, a partnership of churches was established to support the work of the CRC.  With these new organizational structures in place, HCW was on its way to growing the CRC and looking at other humanitarian opportunities internationally and locally. 

Soon thereafter Mercy Hospital was established to address the significant healthcare needs of the poor in the Bo community in Sierra Leone.  It sits adjacent tothe Child Rescue Centre.

Locally, a program developed over five years that brought seven non-profits and other service providers together under one roof to form a non-profit center.  This integrated human services model has become  Connections for Hope.

HCW’s goal is to transform the lives of impoverished children and their communities through partnerships that implement solutions and provide programs of excellence. With the incredible level of support that has already saved so many young lives, HCW hopes to reach out and save more suffering children all over the world.