Meet the Winners of the 2019 International Mission Trips Essay Contest
To enter the contest, organizations around the world submitted a 500-word essay in the hopes of winning one of two $5,000 prizes or one $500 prize. They were asked to answer the question: If your organization were to win, how would this impact your global outreach efforts?
The winners of the 2019 contest are Destiny Rescue, Mission Housing Ministries, each winning a $5,000 prize and Hope Project International, winner of a $500 prize.
Destiny Rescue was established in 2011 with a mission to rescue, restore, protect, and empower children saved from exploitation and trafficking across seven different countries. The organization has saved 4,600 victims to date.
Destiny Rescue will use the prize money to implement a three-phase healthcare plan to help address medical issues caused by these circumstances. They will accomplish this by providing:
- Initial healthcare screenings to newly rescued girls
- Ongoing medical care and treatment to beneficiaries to ensure their health and well-being
- Advanced medical and dental care
Mission Housing Ministries (MHM) was founded 25 years ago by four families who served together on a mission trip to Guatemala. Hosting short-term mission teams, equipping local leaders with life skills, and investing emotionally and spiritually in the people they serve has enabled MHM to steadily increase their impact there.
MHM plans to use the prize money to provide a one-year, full-time staff position in Guatemala to oversee and grow their animal program. The program is an ongoing initiative in which animals such as chickens, pigs, sheep and cows are provided to widows and families in need as a means to create a sustainable flow of income and food. The new staff member will work with over 320 families in the program to promote proper care and nutrition for the animals, immunize the animals against disease, and provide Christian discipleship to the families.
Hope Project International was founded in 2013 out of a dream and a question, “What would we do with our lives if we had unlimited resources?” DO MORE, was the answer and Hope Project International was started. Founders Than and Megan Graffam created an organization that had the sole purpose of helping children and families around the world in the areas of nutrition, education, shelter, and spiritual development.
Hope Project has been on a steady path of growth and expansion since its beginning, always seeking to do more. When asked how the prize money would be spent, the simple answer was to ‘do more!’
