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.
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.
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.
Earlier this year, we shared about a new initiative born from a challenging season — our Protecting Hope Mask Project. As COVID-19 swept across the world and into the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, we knew our mission had to adapt. That shift led us to repurpose our tailoring program, hiring graduates to sew protective face masks for their fellow camp residents.
Months later, we can say this project did more than meet a need. It ignited hope. It created jobs. It protected families. And through it, we saw again that God is always at work, even when the world feels uncertain.
When we set out our goals for 2020, a global pandemic wasn’t on the list. Like so many others around the world, we’ve had to adjust, pivot, and pray our way through every change COVID-19 has brought. In the Nyarugusu refugee camp, where our work is located, the effects of COVID may be particularly difficult to navigate. The camp is densely populated. Healthcare resources are limited.
But amid all the challenges, one thing has remained unchanged: our commitment to equipping hope. And through that commitment, a new opportunity emerged — one that combined our existing programs, responded to the global pandemic in a proactive manner, and empowered our graduates to serve their community in a tangible way.
We call it Protecting Hope.
When we launched Equipping Hope International in late 2018, we stepped out in faith, trusting God to provide where we could not. We didn’t have a detailed blueprint, a full staff, or a robust donor base. What we had was a clear calling — to equip refugees in Tanzania with tools for dignity, self-sufficiency, and spiritual growth — and a deep conviction that God’s Word was enough to lead us.
Now, as we begin Year Two, we’re still building. We’re still learning. And we are still being led by Scripture — not just as an inspiration, but as our blueprint.
In this post, we want to share some of the verses that are shaping how we move forward, what they mean to us as a team, and how we see them playing out in the lives of the people we serve in the Nyarugusu refugee camp.
In 2018, Equipping Hope International was born out of a simple conversation between two friends. One had spent two decades of his life in a refugee camp. The other was a volunteer trying to help one family adjust to a new country. Together, we asked what could be done for the thousands who remain displaced and overlooked. One year later, we’re still asking that question, and now we’re building answers, too.
In the heart of western Tanzania, within the borders of the Nyarugusu Refugee Camp, thousands of individuals live a life marked by resilience, resourcefulness, and quiet perseverance. Many have spent years—and some, decades—within the camp’s limits after fleeing war, unrest, and violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
And while basic needs like food and shelter are met by humanitarian agencies, there is a quiet but urgent need that too often goes unnoticed: the need for language.
At Equipping Hope International, we believe that education is one of the most powerful tools for restoring dignity. And in a refugee setting, few educational programs are as life-changing as the ability to speak English.
In humanitarian work, it’s tempting to measure success by short-term wins: how many meals were served, how many shoes were handed out, how many tents were raised. These are critical acts of mercy, and they meet very real needs. But when crisis stretches into decades, as it has for refugees in the Nyarugusu camp of western Tanzania, short-term relief cannot carry the full weight of human dignity.
At Equipping Hope International, a Christian nonprofit working in Tanzania, we believe in more than relief. We believe in restoration. We believe in transformation that comes not only from food and shelter but from education, opportunity, and the hope of the Gospel. That’s why our core philosophy is simple, but powerful:
We don’t just feed people. We equip them.
