Church Engagement

Hope Starts Here

Ignite conversations. Demonstrate a commitment to biblical justice. And grow your church's heart for discipleship, generosity, and global mission.

Take the First Step  

Hope Starts Here is a Compassion Experience for the whole family hosted in your church. It gives you the opportunity to invite your community to witness the realities of life for children living in extreme poverty, and to see the local church’s incredible response.

Through a series of interactive, family-friendly experiences, Hope Starts Here will transport your community to Uganda to meet a child named Blessing and hear her family’s story of struggle, sacrifice and generosity. And to see the hope that Jesus brings in even the most difficult of circumstances.

Hope Starts Here is free for your church to host and for your community to attend. It takes under 30 minutes to walk through the experience, and it’s our prayer that all those who visit the experience will:

  • Be challenged by stories of a family’s struggle, sacrifice and generosity.
  • See how the local church is igniting hope in the life of children living in extreme poverty.
  • Witness first-hand the life-transforming impact of child sponsorship.
  • Be moved to respond as they see that, for a child in desperate need, hope can start with them.

Who is it for?

Hope Starts Here exists to help churches right here in the U.S. ignite conversations, demonstrate a commitment to biblical justice, and grow their community’s heart for discipleship, generosity, and global mission.

It is an invaluable resource for church leaders who:

  • Are passionate about educating their community on poverty and its wide-reaching implications.
  • Want to partner their church with the work of local churches on the frontline mission field.
  • Seek ways to demonstrate their commitment to biblical justice.
  • Want to inspire their community to adopt lifestyles of discipleship, giving and generosity.

Hope Starts Here has been designed specifically for churches whose average attendance is around 300-500 people. If your church is smaller, or larger, we may have other experiences more suitable for you. Email us at [email protected] to find out more.

What to Expect

Hope Starts Here is a weekend-long experience that is free for your church to host and for your community to attend. All you’ll need to provide is around 1,000 square feet of indoor space and a handful of volunteers.

Compassion will support you at every stage - this will include:

  • Pre-Event Support: Your Compassion Experience Specialist will guide you through the whole process. We’ll set up an initial call to discuss the date of your event and all logistics. They’ll be on hand to offer practical advice and support throughout.
  • Onsite Support: When it comes to the event itself, a Compassion representative will be onsite at your church throughout. They’ll help set up the Hope Starts Here Experience, manage the event, support your volunteers, and safely pack everything away afterwards.
  • Event Volunteers: You’ll need to recruit a small team of volunteers to support the event by helping set-up and tear down the experience, and assisting visitors. Compassion can help supplement volunteers with local sponsors and donors from our own network. We’ll provide you with a sign-up link for volunteers and full training before the experience starts.
  • Event Promotion: Once you have a date to host the event, we’ll help you build a communications schedule. We’ll also provide a host of promotional materials for you to use – including emails, slides for your services, bulletin inserts, and social media content. We’ll also run a Compassion-funded social media campaign to reach your community about your upcoming event!

Next Steps

  • Complete the form to notify us of your interest.
  • Consider being the point person to bring Hope Starts Here to your church.
  • Collaborate with decision-makers at your church to add Hope Starts Here to your church calendar - allow at least 6-8 weeks before your preferred event date.
  • We will connect with you to reserve Hope Starts Here for your church.