Lineo's Story: The Gift of Rescue



Right now, more than 27 million women and children are slaves—victims of forced labor or sex trafficking. 

Often fooled into this lifestyle by their captors, they endure the unthinkable, with no hope for freedom in sight. However, with your support, things can change. You can help rescue and restore so many of these precious lives.  

At thirteen, Lineo ran away from home. Looking for a better life, she traveled with a friend to Bloemfontein, a nearby city in South Africa. That’s where they met Lucky—a “kind’ man who bought them clothes and provided a place for them to live. But soon, he demanded repayment. 

For the next four years, Lineo lived through a nightmare of drug addiction and forced prostitution. Recently, a street ministry team rescued Lineo and brought her to a safe house in Lesotho, Africa, where her nightmare came to an end. 

This rescue home, supported by Hand of Hope is now providing her with vital counseling, rehabilitation, and the unconditional love she so desperately needs. Lineo is also learning the Word of God, along with life skills such as cooking, sewing and computer literacy. 

Lineo is safe…but today there are still millions of others in need of rescuing. And you can help us reach more of them.

Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.

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Lives Turned Upside Down in Illinois

Kacie Campbell, Staff Writer 

Jay Dyer was working on a tugboat when the storms began to approach. He immediately called to check on his wife Cindy and their two children. No answer. 

It would be hours before he heard anything. 

On a country road just outside of Brookport, Illinois, Cindy, Hunter and Danielle were watching a movie in the family’s new trailer when the sky began to turn dark. 

There were no warnings. No sirens. It wasn’t until the windows began to blow out that they knew the tornado was on top of them. Cindy threw her 11-year-old son to the ground as the trailer began to flip. 

No more than a minute later they found themselves climbing and lifting their way out of decimated trailer, which was now across the street. Seventeen-year-old Danielle was laying in the middle of the road, with her back covered in tiny holes from the tree limbs and debris. 

Cindy had saved her son, lifted them out of the trailer and picked up her daughter from the road. It’s amazing what a person can accomplish in the face of disaster. You see, Cindy had broken her back in three places and one of her legs in two. 

When we met Jay, a few days after the storm, he was picking through the remnants of debris.

“I don’t understand why my family was spared, when others weren’t as lucky.” All he knows is he’s grateful. Grateful they are alive and grateful for all the help they’ve received. 

Service International, who we’re partnering with to bring relief in Brookport, spent hours cleaning up debris, cutting trees and tirelessly searching for any piece of metal they could find. With limited insurance, Jay plans to sell the metal to replace his family’s belongings. 

Jay’s family is just one of so many stories that we heard in Brookport, and we’re honored to be a part of helping them pick up the pieces in this devastating time. Please continue to pray with us for those in Brookport who were affected by the tornadoes, and for Service International as they continue to bring relief to this community. 

Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.

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Fah's Story: The Gift of Feeding Programs

At this moment, more than 900 million people worldwide are going hungry. In fact, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes every day—that’s one child every five seconds. 

These statistics are tragic. But with your help, we can make a real difference. Hand of Hope currently provides more than 71,000 meals a day…helping to fight hunger one child at a time. 

Last year, five-year-old Fah lost her parents in an earthquake that devastated portions of Burma. Suddenly orphaned, she was sent to live with her grandma in a small village in Thailand. But times were tough there as well. 

With Fah’s arrival, her grandma now had seven children to feed, which meant some would have to simply do without. But with the support of Joyce Meyer Ministries’ friends and partners, Hand of Hope provides a feeding program in Fah’s village. Here, Fah and many others like her come to eat, play, receive an education, and learn all about Jesus Christ. 

When little Fah first came, she was still traumatized—she kept to herself and wouldn’t interact with the others. Today, she is a healthy, energetic, six-year-old girl who loves to learn…and who loves to run and play with the other children. For just pennies a day, we can transform a life. 

With your help, we can reach more and more precious children just like Fah. 

Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.

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Hunger In America

Anne Williams - Staff Writer for Joyce Meyer Ministries

Imagine you’re a young person in a classroom at school…who hasn’t eaten since yesterday’s lunch period. A low growl is coming from your stomach. Can the other kids hear it? You’re not sure. You’re just trying to ignore that hungry feeling so you can shift your focus, ignore the pangs, and participate in class and learn. 

Such is the daily life of undernourished students in America.

In the same country where many children are struggling with childhood obesity, one out of five students are going to class hungry. And their numbers are increasing.

Today, nearly 10 million kids get free or reduced price lunch during the school week. Another 10.6 million are eligible for these programs, but aren’t enrolled.

For a lot of kids, hunger begins at an early age...

Watch the testimony of a single dad in St. Louis, Missouri, and how 

one of our feeding programs is making a difference in his family.

Alexis Gavina is a pre-k teacher in West Texas. There are twenty students in her classroom, and five of them depend on school lunch assistance. “Every one of our twelve classrooms typically have five or six children in need,” she says. “That adds up to a lot of hungry four-year-olds.”

If you’re a seasoned teacher like Gavina, it’s not hard to spot a hungry kid.

“Some of them will try to sneak home snacks that we provide at school,” she says. “When a child is hungry, you will notice that their weight fluctuates and they need to go to the bathroom a lot more often. They’re usually sleepy and it’s hard for them to pay attention.”

Hunger affects school performance in a big way. Not only is a student’s ability to concentrate in class compromised, undernourished kids are more vulnerable to illness—and they are less likely to graduate high school, making it even more difficult to climb their way out of poverty.*

“When Jesus saw a need, He filled it. And He calls us to do the same,” says Gavina. “There are a lot of problems in this world, but we can help solve them if we all pitch in and do our part.” We are honored to be a part of helping feed hungry students in St. Louis, Missouri and are thankful for all who support our ministry to do so.

Discover how you be part of sharing meals with hungry children in the U.S. as well as around the world. This is an opportunity for you to also pour God's love on families who need His love just as much as they do a helping hand.

Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.

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Prayers and Relief for the Philippines

Initial reports called it the worst typhoon ever recorded in history. But not only was Typhoon Haiyan powerful, it was also extremely large. At one point the storm completely covered the entire nation of the Philippines. 

This storm, which is known as Yolanda in the Philippines, battered the coastline, damaging thousands of homes and businesses and claiming the lives of an estimated 10,000 people. 

As soon as the storm hit, David L. Meyer, CEO of Hand of Hope tweeted: “Please pray for the Philippines. Typhoon Haiyan is causing lots of damage. We @HandofHope are looking for ways to help right now.” 

With a heart to provide assistance as soon as possible, we are partnering with Convoy of Hope, a relief organization out of Springfield, Missouri. With team members already on the ground in the Philippines, they were able to begin providing relief immediately after the skies cleared. 

Currently, assessment teams are busy at work looking for what needs to be done. According to Hal Donaldson, Convoy of Hope founder and CEO, more than 600,000 meals, hygiene kits, tents and shoes are pre-staged on two islands for ground distribution. There are four containers currently in transit and five additional containers of supplies ready for shipment, which contain meals, hygiene kits, canned meat and vegetable and fruit pouches. They also have 100 water filtration units on their way to the area. Additional volunteers are also being sent to help provide relief. 

Many of the hardest hit areas are difficult to reach, so please pray with us for access to those areas and that the assistance arrives where it’s needed the most. 

Thank you so much to the friends and partners of Joyce Meyer Ministries for helping us provide immediate relief after storms like this. Please continue to pray for those in the Philippines, as well as the relief teams, in the coming weeks and months ahead. 

Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.

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An Angel Named Charlie



Laura Matheny - Medical Outreach Coordinator

The little boy’s mother, Elicia, brought him into the Hand of Hope clinic in Elastik, Haiti, wrapped in blankets. She had walked for four hours in the cold, early-morning darkness, carrying Charlie in her arms. He was eight months old and had the brightest eyes and most beautiful smile. Only when the blankets fell away were we able to see that he was born without arms or legs. 

Elicia brought Charlie to us not because he was ill, but because she had been forced into it. The villagers in her town threatened to get rid of the baby if she didn’t. Babies like Charlie are viewed as cursed by a culture steeped in voodoo and witchcraft. In a desperate move to save Charlie’s life, Elicia made the heart-wrenching decision to bring him to us. 

Charlie seemed blissfully unaware of his circumstances. He smiled and cooed at our nurses and doctors. His mother had kept him well fed and he was on target for all of his growth milestones.  

Our resources were limited in what we could do to place Charlie in a safe environment. Eventually, with the help of our friends at Love a Child, we located an orphanage in Port-au-Prince specifically designed to take in handicapped children and locate American families interested in adopting special needs kids. Exactly one week after we first saw him, Charlie was in the safe care of the orphanage.  

Today, Charlie is in the United States being fitted for prosthetic limbs. His new mother, Vanessa, is the founder of Angel Mission (the organization that arranged Charlie’s travel out of Haiti). She and her husband are purchasing land in Haiti to build an orphanage for children like Charlie. This will be his new home. Elicia is pleased with how things have turned out for Charlie. And when he’s back in Haiti with his new family, Elicia will be able to visit him. A happy ending for the Hand of Hope Joyce Meyer Medical/Dental Outreach Team!  

On the day Charlie arrived at the clinic, our team saw more than 450 patients. Charlie’s story is just one of many we heard that day. The same value the Lord places on you and me, He places on millions of lost, forgotten, hurting people spread out over continents and cultures around the world. Helping them is not just our job. It is our passion and our service to the Lord.

Find out more about how you can provide medical/dental care to people all around the world.

Hand of Hope is the missions arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries. Our goal is simply to help as many hurting people as we possibly can, to alleviate human suffering and to help Christians grow in their faith.

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