Maude’s Story
Maude is a 32-year-old Central Asian woman who came to our big city with her two small children to join her husband. After arriving, she learned her husband had taken another wife. Their relationship became volatile, leading to a deep strain between them.
In a modern-day version of Rachel and Leah, Maude’s husband had shown strong preferential treatment for his new, younger wife. Their family relationships were plagued by deceit, conflict, and some practices of witchcraft. However, in a conversation with her husband, Maude determined that he seemed to want to try to make the relationship work.
Maude decided to remain with her family, although she has struggled with pain and depression because of her situation. Our staff met Maude in person when they took her to a clothing ministry to find needed items for herself and her children. In addition, volunteers through a local church donated a stroller and more clothing for the family.
Both the director and house mom have remained in close contact with Maude, offering encouragement, support, and counsel. Recently, she learned that she was pregnant again and greatly feared her husband’s reaction to the news. Unfortunately, she lost her baby in the early stages of pregnancy.
Pray for Maude and her husband’s relationship. Above all, pray that Maude will find truth and freedom as Jesus’ love is shown to her.
Alliance Women is committed to prayer and financial support for the Hope House maternity home ministry in Eastern Europe. We have set a goal to raise $20,000 for this life-giving ministry to migrant women.
To participate, please visit www.alliancewomen.org/give.
Download the Hope House project profile.
Hope House: Hope’s Story
Hope is a 34-year-old Central Asian woman. When our director met her, Hope was in her 35th week of pregnancy and was determined not to keep her baby. The father was unwilling to have anything to do with her during the pregnancy, and he did not want to accept the child. Hope said she planned to leave the baby at the birthing hospital after delivery. She feared not only that her baby would never be accepted but also that with a newborn on her hands, she would be unable to continue supporting her family. Hope also worried that if her mother found out about her pregnancy, she might mistreat her other two children who were being cared for by her mother back in their homeland.
On October 16, 2020, Hope gave birth to a baby boy. The child was born early at 36 weeks. Though the labor was difficult, her shame and fear dissipated, and Hope changed her decision regarding giving up her child. During Hope’s postpartum recovery, our staff remained in contact with her, taking baby items and supplies as needed. Hope was grateful for the help and support she received.
Our house mom continued to develop a relationship with Hope throughout 2021, bringing her groceries, counseling her, encouraging her, and providing advice. In April 2021, Hope made the decision to get trained as a manicurist so that she could support herself. Our house mom invited her to stay at Hope House during her two, 10-day training sessions. During that time, staff and volunteers helped care for the baby, paving the way to intentionally pursue deeper faith conversations. Hope commented that she had never experienced love like she received from our staff; she now considers our house mom to be like a mother to her.
We praise God that He is working in the life of this migrant mom, Hope. She has been afraid of the rejection and shame she might face if her family found out about her unplanned pregnancy. She asked the maternity home staff to pray for her situation, and God gave her the courage to tell her mom, who responded with great understanding. Pray that migrant moms like Hope would respond in faith and trust God with their whole life. Pray for our staff to have ongoing opportunities to share with other moms in crisis.
Alliance Women is committed to prayer and financial support for the Hope House maternity home ministry in Eastern Europe. We have set a goal to raise $20,000 for this life-giving ministry to migrant women.
To participate, please visit www.alliancewomen.org/give.
Download Hope’s Story
Hope House: Annie’s Story
Annie, age 22, comes from a rough family background. Raised on the streets by alcoholic parents, she became a Christian when she was miraculously healed of a brain tumor. Annie moved to our metropolitan city to try to find work so that she could support her mom financially.
Annie was introduced to a young man who was the only son of a reputable family from her homeland. They got married, but only two weeks into the marriage, he started drinking and became physically violent. He refused to reform, deciding instead to return to their homeland.
Shortly after his departure, Annie discovered she was pregnant. Due to her previous brain tumor, Annie was not strong physically. She had a hard pregnancy. In early February 2022, after a difficult delivery, she gave birth to a baby boy, David.
Annie is not sure how she will be able to keep working to support herself. Fearing shame, Annie often suffers from panic attacks, yet she has been unwilling to reach out to other believers from her same ethic background.
Our staff has provided help with practical and medical needs as well as spiritual and emotional support. Pray that Annie’s family will find freedom from addiction and that they will experience healing in Jesus’ name.
Alliance Women is committed to prayer and financial support for the Hope House maternity home ministry in Eastern Europe. We have set a goal to raise $20,000 for this life-giving ministry to migrant women.
To participate, please visit www.alliancewomen.org/give.
Hope House Thursday
On Thursdays, pray for the maternity home in an Eastern European city.
Our Eastern European city is home to thousands of migrant workers from Central Asia who come to the city looking for a better life. Unfortunately, this journey can instead result in crisis. Young migrant women often lack the support system, language skills, and material resources to adapt well to their new surroundings. Stories of abuse, rape, trafficking, and abandonment by husbands are common.
The COVID-19 pandemic has added to the isolation and challenges a migrant woman must navigate. When a woman like this finds herself pregnant and alone in a big city, she often makes rash decisions that have serious consequences both for her own life and for the life of the little one she is carrying. Many choose abortion while others may abandon their babies. These young moms come to us with many layers of brokenness and need, the deepest of which is their need for a loving, healing Savior.
The maternity home, Hope House, which opened in November of 2019, offers these women an opportunity to experience a radical transformation in their lives through the hope found in Jesus. Our vision is to provide expectant migrant mothers in crisis situations with the physical, emotional, and spiritual support they need to embrace motherhood and nurture thriving children.
Hope House provides a temporary residence and emotional, practical, and spiritual assistance for pregnant Central Asian women and/or young moms with newborns. Our goal is to support 3-5 women a month through mentoring relationships, Christian counseling, prayer, teaching, parenting, life-skill and job-skill training, and access to medical and legal assistance. A team of believers who speak their heart languages is being trained to invest deeply in relationships with these women in crisis.
Hope House has been operating for two years out of a small apartment and has continued to function through COVID lockdowns and quarantines. In that time, 12 residents lived at the home, and many nonresident women in crisis were served by our staff. We praise God that through the close and trusting relationships built with each resident, the gospel was shared consistently. Women who previously had very little access to the good news were able to hear clearly of Jesus’ love for them, and several responded in faith. These women, many of whom have encountered shame and rejection in their own families and in the foreign land to which they’ve migrated, can now hear Jesus invite them into His family with open arms, declaring, “There is still room! You belong here in God’s family.”
We are currently doing fundraising, investing in our team of volunteers, developing our client program, and building partnerships with individuals and groups who can support us prayerfully and financially. All of this is being done in close partnership with a woman named “Maddie,” the Central Asian director of Hope House whose own journey from brokenness to wholeness in Christ has led her to want to share Him with others.
It has become clear that a larger facility is vital to adequately meet the needs of our maternity home ministry. Additionally, a new vision has been birthed to use Hope House as a prototype and training center that can be replicated in other locations, equipping local churches to reach migrant workers in their communities. This will have an impact throughout the whole country as the ministry multiplies.
Alliance Women is committed to prayer and financial support for the Hope House maternity home ministry in Eastern Europe. We have set a goal to raise $20,000 for this life-giving ministry to migrant women.
To participate, please visit www.alliancewomen.org/give.