“On a typical Mission Trip, participants feel a sense of accomplishment…afterward, they talk about what they DID and who they HELPED. On a Help One Now Pilgrimage, participants feel a sense of tension and unrest…afterward, they talk about what they LEARNED and what they HOPE to accomplish moving forward. They become advocates. The end of the trip becomes a starting line.”

– Lamar Stockton, Help One Now International Director

The Help One Now ethos is to remain invisible on the ground, and to focus efforts on resourcing high-capacity local leaders.

Help One Now empowers local leaders through friendship and partnership. We partner with leaders who are already working effectively in their respective communities. These leaders are friends and allies in the fight against extreme poverty. They are our greatest resource, and without them, sustainable change is impossible.

For this reason, we don’t typically do “mission trips,” as they can distract from the work of locals to influence change in their own communities.

Instead, we will lead a limited number of Learning Journeys for committed, long-term supporters of Help One Now. On these Journeys, emphasis will be placed on connecting with the community, building lasting relationships with the local leaders, and brainstorming how you can unlock your human capital to partner together and support their work moving forward.

Goals

On a Learning Journey, we hope that you will:

• meet and fall in love with our local leaders and the children they serve

• learn from our local leaders by hearing their stories and engaging in their communities. Doing this helps us, the visitors, understand the unique issues in different cultures and environments

• see the impact of Help One Now programs firsthand and gain a new understanding of how complex working in these communities can be

• Understand how it is possible for short-term missions and volunteer trips to unintentionally do more harm than good; but through deeper partnership, we can have an empowering effect on locals who are uniquely capable of bringing transformation to their own communities

• become advocates of the children, families, and communities that you experience when you return home! You are the Help One Now Family; we need you to run with these stories and partner with us to make a lasting impact.