BEYOND THE WALLS
BTW - it’s about loving people!
Beyond The Walls is Hopewell’s big, bold annual capital campaign that is unlike any other. Rather than expending the majority of capital contributions for Hopewell’s campus, 90% of the donated dollars are sent out to missions and ministries selected by our congregants.
Since its inception in 2008, more than $3.2 million has been given away for mission work locally, nationally, and around the world. Ensuring that those dollars are their most impactful, BTW financial gifts are supplemented with significant hands-on service by Hopewellians.
Additionally, our service and giving will no longer be limited to the ministries listed below. In the event of some extraordinary need presented during the year, we will answer the call. As God invites us to respond to emergent needs (like flood relief or aid for those living in or fleeing from war-torn Ukraine), we will step up and step out in faith to provide generous support via Beyond the Walls.
Our BTW ministry partners include:
Local
The Well
The Well is an enterprise initiated by Hopewell UMC which uses the resources, gifts and skills of the congregation to meet the needs of its neighbors, specifically a physical presence in a local urban setting. The community-center-like site, located on West Lancaster Avenue in the Borough of Downingtown, offers a variety of services including support groups, after school activities and tutoring, and ELS instruction, developed and provided by Hopewellians. In addition to programming, The Well’s property includes two apartments which have been renovated to serve as transitional housing for under-resourced families.
To learn more about The Well, contact Keith Wilburn, Pastor of Community Outreach.
Hopewell Food Ministry
Hopewell’s Food Ministry includes Safe Harbor and City Gate Shelters, Community Thanksgiving and Christmas meals, and other venues for serving the food-insecure in our community as they emerge.
Coatesville Kids to College
Hopewell’s partnership with Coatesville Kids to College supports this faith based initiative’s aspiration to break the cycle of poverty in the Coatesville Community by providing academic, emotional and spiritual empowerment to children and youth from pre-k to college. BTW funding helps resource staff salaries for CKC’s full-day preschool and child-care programs, after-school programs, and summer enrichment programs. Hopewellians are frequently engaged at CKC, playing a role in helping the children and youth overcome multiple obstacles and reach their full God-given potential.
Hope Point
Good Samaritan Services
Sensing a specific call from God to minister to the homeless in and around our local community, Hopewell effected a BTW partnership with Good Samaritan Services. As Good Sam’s locations in Phoenixville, Coatesville, Ephrata and Lancaster City take a customized approach to helping men, women, and children overcome homelessness and hardships, this alliance matches the model Hopewell holds for financial and ministerial partnering. The provision of transitional housing was added to this BTW partnership in 2020.
Good Works
Hopewell’s Beyond The Walls ministry provides financial assistance to Good Works, a Christian nonprofit organization which exists to improve living conditions for low-income families in Chester County. Through the efforts of volunteers, substandard housing is renovated and repaired, while homeowners receive a glimpse of the power of God’s unconditional love. In addition to BTW funding, Hopewell regularly has two teams renovating and repairing Good Works homes in our community.
National
Disaster Relief, a National Response
Hopewell has a long established history of becoming involved in direct ministry to persons in need from natural disasters. BTW funding and hands-on recovery work provided to those who suffer from hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or other events, have brought hope and healing in Christ’s name to many. Included is Hopewell’s mission work in Puerto Rico, in response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
International
Haiti
Hopewell’s first mission trip to Haiti was in 2014. It quickly blossomed into a mighty ministry and a Beyond The Walls partnership. BTW donations in Haiti are used for life-sustaining items—food, clean water resources, clothing, medicines, etc., and for scholarships for children to attend school. Working with a Haitian pastor, Hopewell has been instrumental in creating a non-profit organization in the country, Puits de l'espoir (Well of Hope), which provides opportunities not only for worship, but also participation in English, sewing, and computer classes. Additionally, Hopewell supports a special ministry in Leveque, where there is a deaf community.
Hopewell Mission Trips to Haiti
Mission trips to Haiti are scheduled as frequently as travel for Hopewellian teams is feasible. The focus of these trips varies, with some missions for relationship building, some to provide medical services, and some for construction projects.
Check out the most recent newsletter here.
If you would like to donate toward our Haiti Child Scholarship ministry, please click here.
South Africa
Hopewell has been committed to mission in South Africa for more than a decade, and our involvement has grown to be multi-faceted and extensive. It includes support for a variety of ministries working to address the enormous problems created by poverty, racism, and the AIDS pandemic. Most notable is Hopewell’s close ties to Mosaic, whose mission is to enhance the living circumstances of AIDS orphans by providing their foster families with jobs, housing, skills training and social development - a self-sustainable model.
Hopewell Mission Trips to South Africa
Our most recent team traveled to South Africa in November 2022. If you would like to read about their trip, you can follow their blog.
Our next trip will be November 10-21, 2023. The team will be building a home with Mosaic SA in Paarl Valley, near Cape Town, South Africa, and serving with our mission partners, including a preschool and after-school program. Estimated cost is $2,400-2,700 (depends on size of group) and a $1,000 deposit is due to reserve your spot by August 20. Contact Cammy Brantzeg for more information or to reserve your spot.
Click here for more logistical details and here for more information on the experiences of the trip.