hope epidemic

Our mission of Hope Epidemic is to equip and empower the local church in strategic locations around the world. Through these relationships and research we have found that there are five areas where we can help the local church become more relevant and make an impact in their community.

  • Water

    • About 1 billion people (1 in 7) in the world lack access to clean water. Dirty water kills more people each day than war, natural disasters, aids or hunger. In December of 2009 as a church we decided that we were going to do something about this. The Hope Epidemic was born and, through spare change and some larger gifts, we were able to raise $350,000 to eradicate this issue in places where we have strategic relationships around the world.

      PLACES WE STARTED CLEAN WATER PROJECTS in 2010:
      Brazil, Haiti, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Togo

  • Education

    • Over 130 million children between the ages of 7 and 18 have never attended school. A majority of those children are girls who are denied the access to education. Nearly 1 billion people in the world cannot read or sign their own name. In 2011 Seacoast decided that we were going to focus on this issue by building schools in strategic places around the world. We also sent over a dozen teams to teach basic education and health education. We also did pastoral training in Kenya.

      PLACES WE have built schools in 2011:
      Guatemala, Kenya and Sri Lanka

  • Medical

    • 1 Billion people lack access to health care systems. 1 in 7 children in the developing world lack access to basic health services. 2.2 million children die every year simply because they don’t receive proper immunizations. About 15 million children have been orphaned due to HIV/Aids. 7.5 million children under the age of 5 die from malnutrition and preventable diseases every year.

      2012 medical focus:
      Uganda – Uganda has one of the worst healthcare performances in the world. The life expectancy there is about 49 years of age and the infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the world. Over 50% of Ugandans do not have access to healthcare. As a church, we have decided to partner with Palmetto Medical Initiative to build a health care facility in Masindi, Uganda. An inpatient and outpatient clinic has already been built and is up and running, saving lives daily. The next step in this project is to build an operating room and a labor and delivery room. This facility is state of the art and does an excellent job in holistically caring for the people of this region. The care is so great that the poor and rich alike are using the facility. We will be raising money to help complete this project as well as offering four opportunities to be a part of a medical team to the area.

      medical trips in 2012:
      Cambodia, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Togo, Uganda and Vietnam

  • Micro-Enterprise

    • Without a sustainable income, breaking the cycle of poverty is nearly impossible. Thus, micro-enterprise development can be a powerful catalyst to transforming the lives of the poor. There are many different kinds of microfinance: from micro-loans for new businesses, to helping finance agriculture, microenterprise can help provide an individual or even a community with consistent income. In the last year we have worked to develop coffee fields in Haiti and have given a micro-loan to support a sewing company in Sri Lanka. We will continue to work with our partners as we learn more about how Seacoast can make a difference in this exciting area.

      Micro-enterprise will be the 2013 mission focus

  • Spiritual Growth

    • We believe that the local church is the light of the world. Because of this belief we primarily partner with the church around the world. While each of our trips help in the spiritual development of those we work with we believe that the local church is best equipped to do this because they understand the local context, culture and language much better than us. Every other global initiative has implications on this one. Every initiative is well thought out and planned in order that people we interact with will come to know Jesus and get plugged in to a local church. No matter what the initiative, many teams have a children’s ministry component to them. This often includes vacation bible school. We also do pastoral training and development whenever there is an opportunity.

      countries impacted:
      Brazil, Cambodia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Togo, Uganda and Vietnam

 

how to get involved

give

Giving at Seacoast Church is non-designated as it is essential that we meet our operating budget. Anything given above our operating budget will go directly into the HOPE fund for the month of December.

To make Hope Epidemic possible in 2012, we are asking you to give above and beyond your regular tithe.

If you have questions, specifically related to giving to Hope Epidemic, please contact Brian Stephenson at or (843) 881.2100 x 1106.

Give now »

go

In 2012, we will be sending multiple teams overseas on short-term medical mission trips. We will be traveling to places like, Cambodia, India, Kenya, Nicaragua, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Togo, Uganda and Vietnam throughout the year.

If you are interested in going on a medical mission trip or supporting a short-term mission trip, please visit the short-term mission page.

Local Mission Initiative

The Dream Center Clinic (DCC) is a faith based, free medical clinic. Its purpose is to provide routine, outpatient health and wellness services to the medically underserved residents of the North Charleston and Hanahan areas of South Carolina. The primary focus is on uninsured families, whose income is below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). The DCC relies on Medical and Non-medical Volunteers to provide their services at the clinic during hours that are convenient to our patients.

To volunteer at the Dream Center Clinic, go to www.dreamcenterclinic.org and fill out an application.