The Fruit of the Spirit in a Place of Waiting
In many places, “waiting” is an inconvenience. A delayed flight. A paused career move. A line at the store.
In Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, waiting is a way of life.
Tag: bible
How Faith Communities Can Support Refugees Without Creating Dependency
When a crisis touches our hearts, our natural instinct is to help. For churches and faith communities, this desire often leads to food drives, clothing collections, or donations to emergency relief efforts — all valuable responses in times of urgent need.
But what happens when that need isn’t short-term?
What happens when a refugee camp isn’t a stopgap, but a home for decades?
5 Lessons We’ve Learned After 5 Years in Nyarugusu
When we first started Equipping Hope International in 2018, we didn’t begin with a long strategic plan or big donor campaign. We began with a friendship, a shared burden, and a simple desire to do something that mattered. Five years later, our work in the Nyarugusu refugee camp has grown into a small but deeply rooted effort to equip refugees with skills, opportunity, and spiritual hope.
Serving in Nyarugusu, one of the largest and longest-standing refugee camps in Africa, has taught us more than we ever expected. And as a Christian nonprofit working in Tanzania, we’ve had to unlearn some assumptions, deepen our commitments, and trust God to multiply however much we bring.
Whether you’ve been walking with us since the beginning or are just now learning about our mission, we want to share five of the most important lessons we’ve learned since launching educational and vocational programs in a refugee camp setting.
How You Can Pray for the Work in Nyarugusu Right Now
At Equipping Hope International, we often say: we are not just building programs — we are building people.
We believe that transformation comes through more than skills training or language lessons. It comes through the power of the Gospel, through the presence of Christ, and through the faithful prayers of His people.
If you’re wondering how to support the work we’re doing in the Nyarugusu refugee camp in western Tanzania, start here: pray.
Sustaining Hope: Reflections on Three Years of Impact in Nyarugusu
Since Equipping Hope International launched its first training programs in the Nyarugusu refugee camp nearly four years ago, our mission has remained consistent: equip displaced people with skills and opportunities to rebuild their lives with dignity. Three years in, we are humbled by how much has been accomplished and more convinced than ever that sustained investment in education and vocational training changes lives.
This blog post is the first of a two-part update based on our 2022 field report, highlighting the outcomes of our English and tailoring programs to date. In this post, we focus on the Teaching Hope English initiative and its long-term impact in a camp where barriers to education are steep and opportunities are rare.
The Power of Presence: Why Small Ministries like Equipping Hope International Matter More Than Ever
In a world of big problems, it’s easy to assume that big organizations hold the keys to change. Massive budgets, global reach, corporate partnerships. These things dominate conversations about international aid and development.
But at Equipping Hope International, we believe in something smaller. Slower. And perhaps even more powerful.
We believe in the power of presence.
Why We Teach to Fish: A Reflection from the Cofounder
In the earliest days of Equipping Hope International, before we had formed a board, launched a program, or drafted a mission statement, I kept returning to a simple but powerful idea, the kind of idea that’s easy to say but hard to live: teach a man to fish.
The Theology of Work in Displacement: Why Skills Matter Spiritually in Nyarugusu
In refugee camps like Nyarugusu, the conversation around skills is often framed in terms of survival. Learning to sew means income. Learning English means opportunity. Agricultural training means food security.
All of these are true. But at Equipping Hope International, we believe there’s more to it.
We believe work has spiritual meaning.
Why Our Christian Identity Matters as an International Nonprofit
At Equipping Hope International, we don’t hide the fact that we are a Christian organization. It’s not a label we add on top of our programs. In fact, it’s the foundation underneath everything we do.
From the structure of our English and tailoring classes to the tone of our leadership and our long-term goals in Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, our commitment to Jesus Christ shapes both the why and the how of our mission.
Here’s what that means, and why we believe it matters more than ever.
“Fishers of Men… and Tailors and Farmers”: The Vision Behind Equipping Hope
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus says to His disciples, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” It’s a call to transformation, to a life spent not just surviving, but leading others into hope. At Equipping Hope International, that call shapes everything we do. But in a refugee camp where survival itself is uncertain, becoming a “fisher of men” takes on a deeper, more tangible meaning.
Yes, we want to help people encounter the love of Christ.
But we also want them to learn how to fish — and sew, and farm, and teach.
In other words: we aim to equip not just spiritual growth, but practical, daily resilience. This is our vision.