HOPE MAIL INITIATIVE

Can you tell us a little bit about yourselves? We are a team of four British-Korean Christian friends who met through university and church in London.

As the HOPE MAIL Team, each of us has a different role: Christina, our founder, is in charge of production; MJ is Instagram Content Manager and writes our messages; Hej, treasurer and admin; and Bo, Communications officer. Although we are at different stages in life, some of us working and some studying, we are all united in Christ Jesus.

What is the HOPE MAIL Initiative? The HOPE MAIL Initiative is a UK-based Christian organisation. Our mission is to equip people to send Christ’s hope to and encourage their loved ones by sharing the Word and love of God with them! Anyone can send a HOPE MAIL, a package containing verse cards, postcards, stickers and handwritten messages of encouragement, to anyone in the world, for free!

Prayer is also a big part of our mission, and we meet weekly to pray for the Initiative and its recipients.

What was your inspiration for the HOPE MAIL Initiative? How did it come about? Our founder, Christina, was reflecting on how we can love our neighbours even during these sociallydistanced circumstances. She runs a small business, selling Christian stickers and cards, and so realised that this God-given talent could be used to equip people to better love, encourage and send much needed hope to their neighbours – even from a distance! Thus The HOPE MAIL Initiative was born! Then, there was a clear need for prayer and so a prayer group was formed several weeks later, which grew into our current Team.

HOPE MAIL Inititiative founder, Chris Kil How do you pick which verses to use? We choose verses that are based on the hope of God, that is Jesus Christ, through prayer, reflecting on the Bible and sermons.

How important is design/art to your work? What part does it play in communicating the message? A very big part! We feel that art can be used as a vessel to glorify God and we hope that the intentional simplicity of our designs does not distract from, but magnifies and draws attention to, his Word.

What are your aims and aspirations for HOPE MAIL? We are very excited for the future of the HOPE MAIL Initiative. Our aim is to continue the work we are doing now, equipping people to share hope, with Jesus being the centre, and drawing them to God. Our aspiration is to grow and encourage people worldwide, perhaps even expanding to have headquarters in other countries! Having said that, we have utter faith that God will take us where we need to be, when we need to be there, and provide the means and strength to do his work. Whatever his plans are, we will always be grateful for, and content in, his perfect will.

How can people get involved or support your work? Please pray with us – we share our weekly prayer points on our Instagram: @thehopemailinitiative

Supporting our Instagram will help raise awareness of the Initiative so that more people can send hope to and encourage their loved ones. You can also help fund the Initiative via PayPal or ko-fi, or by buying HOPE MAIL products. To find out more, please visit our Instagram @ thehopemailinitiative or ko-fi.com/thehopemailinitiative.

Lastly, the best way – send a HOPE MAIL. The online form can be found on our Instagram bio, or accessed at tinyurl.com/y4d4qv5h. Send someone you love a reminder of God’s hope today! •