User:Virakkhmer/Asia's Hope

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Overview

Asia's Hope is a Christian non-profit organization registered in both the U.S. and Canada. Asia's Hope works with indigenous staff in Cambodia and Thailand to provide comprehensive care for orphaned children at high risk of sexual and economic exploitation. Asia's Hope operates 18 "family style" orphan homes. Most of the homes house 20-30 children, and are staffed by full-time, live-in directors who serve as permanent mothers and fathers to the children.

History

Asia's Hope was founded in the U.S. state of Ohio in 2001 by David Atkins and John McCollum. Atkins, a pastor in Wooster, Ohio, had visited Cambodia on many occasions, and had been leading annual ministry trips from his church since 1995. McCollum, who owned a graphic design firm in Columbus, Ohio, met Atkins through a mutual friend and asked to join Atkins on a trip to Cambodia in February, 2000.

While in Cambodia, Atkins and McCollum decided to extend their commitment beyond annual trips, and began looking for opportunities to invest in long-term projects. Upon returning to the U.S., they decided to name the organization Asia's Hope and began pursuit of non-profit status in the U.S. This status was granted by the Internal Revenue Service in 2001.

Dave Atkins became the organization's first North American employee in 2003 when he resigned his position as pastor at the Wooster Grace Brethren Church and accepted the position of Asia's Hope Executive Director. John McCollum continued his role as co-founder and board member until Atkins' resignation in February 2009. McCollum effectively shut down his company in October 2009, and works as Asia's Hope's full time Executive Director today.

Asia's Hope has grown rapidly over the last few years. In 2005, the organization had only two orphan homes -- one in Phnom Penh, Cambodia and one in Doi Saket, Thailand. Due to the adoption of a new funding model, Asia's Hope grew to 18 orphan homes -- 11 in Cambodia and 7 in Northern Thailand -- by late 2010.

Funding Model

Asia's Hope receives unrestricted donations from a wide range of institutions and individuals and hosts various fundraisers throughout the year to pay for capital projects, but its primary funding comes from its church sponsorship model which matches an individual church congregation in the U.S. or Canada with an individual orphan home in Asia.

The organization facilitates the relationship between the orphan home and the congregation by organizing visits to the home and promoting email and video communications between the sponsoring church and the staff and kids at the home. The organization also funds visits from the Thai and Cambodian national directors to their sponsoring church.

Distinctives

Asia's Hope is intentionally multi-denominational, working with a wide variety of Christian churches in North America and in Asia. Asia's Hope is also indigenous, with nearly 100 native full-time employees in Asia. All of the key decision-makers and managers in Asia are indigenous workers. Asia's Hope is also grassroots, relying heavily on volunteer board members and attenders of its sponsoring churches.

References

News article on Dave Atkins Bio of John McCollum

External links

Official Site Cambodian Director's blog Facebook page