PRESS RELEASE

September 28, 2006

LOCAL PASTOR RETURNS FROM AFRICA READY TO MAKE A DIFFERNCE

How does a church called Hope offer hope a continent away?

Raleigh, NC -- Senior Pastor Mike Lee of Hope Community Church in Raleigh went to the Central African Republic (CAR) to discover how his church could better "love their neighbors as themselves"— even neighbors as far away as Central Africa. Painfully aware of the utter devastation, poverty and AIDS pandemic running rampant in the CAR, Lee wanted to know how his church in the Triangle could live up to its name and bring hope to a despondent country more than a continent away. 

Lee and Hope's music director, Karl Moraski, spent eight days in the CAR, visiting several African villages outside the capital city of Bangui. Traveling with Jim Hocking, general director of Integrated Community Development International (ICDI), Lee and Moraski were overwhelmed by the squalid living conditions faced by those in the villages on a daily basis. They quickly discovered that survival is the goal of each day. “Food is extremely scarce as is sanitized water, the poverty level is below anything seen in the US, a sanitation system for waste is basically non-existent, dirt roads between villages are barely passable, the threat of civil war is constant, and the AIDS pandemic is claiming the lives of men and women so quickly that thousands of children are left orphans yearly,” explains Lee.

So how does Hope Community Church intend to help? "What I discovered,” adds Lee, “is that going to the CAR for a week or two won’t improve their quality of life long term. However, we can literally make a world of difference by sharing just a little from our own ‘riches.’ For example, $4 a month would provide the AIDS medication needed to increase the life expectancy of one person 10-15 years. This increased life span for adults would greatly reduce the number of children left orphaned each year by the disease."                                                                                                                                          

During the Sunday morning services of October 22, Lee plans to unveil to his church how they can partner with ICDI, a non-denominational, non-governmental and non-profit based organization helping to bring invaluable assistance to the CAR, as well as some surrounding countries. The special guest for the morning services will be the ICDI director, Jim Hocking.

"What I know is this," states Lee, "Loving others as ourselves knows no geographic boundaries. God told us to love people, no matter who they are or where they live, and that's what we need to be about the business of doing. That's the kind of church we are called to be in this community and abroad."

To partner with Hope Community Church and the ICDI in this effort, contact info@gethope.net or 532.0620. For more info about Hope, visit their website at www.gethope.net.  Hope Community Church is located at 821 Buck Jones Road in southwest Raleigh.

For more info about ICDI, visit their website at www.icdinternational.org.

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Direct press inquiries to

Debbie Dodson

Hope Community Church

919.532.0620 x109

debbied@gethope.net

www.gethope.net