2/26/2010

Dear friends,

It is with great sorrow that we write to you today.  For the last seven years, we have sought to faithfully serve the Lord through this ministry and through your support.  We are so grateful for your encouragement and financial commitment over the past several years.  Furthermore, God has blessed many people in India and in the US through our partnerships.  God has used New Hope Ministries as a vehicle to bring hope and healing to the lives of many and to give people like you tangible ways to be involved in their lives.

Unfortunately, we’ve come to the conclusion that we are unable to continue the ministry of New Hope.  We want to explain some of our struggles with you as our partners in ministry.  Over the last year, we have been wrestling with integrity issues with our leadership in India.  As we have observed the ministry in India each year over the last 7 years and have investigated the use of your funds, we do believe that they have been used as designated to help the people there.  However, because of integrity issues, we believe that we have no guarantee that future funds would be used according to our expectations nor can we be confident that Biblical principles would be followed.  Though we have worked closely with the leadership in India and have tried to shift responsibilities to remedy the situation, it is still apparent that the issues have not been resolved. 

Therefore, in good conscience, we cannot continue to endorse the work there.  This decision has come through much prayer and counsel from our advisory board and our pastor.  Please understand that this decision comes with much difficulty and grief, and we know that it will be difficult for you as well.  We know that you will have a number of questions regarding this decision and we’ve tried to organize our responses in a way that will make the most sense to you.  The attached page will address those questions.

In a last attempt to find a solution we withheld funds to India in 2010.  We will not be sending those funds on and feel like the best course of action is to return donations to sponsors and donors for any gifts given since the first of the year.  Those checks will be written and sent out in the next several weeks.  In addition, to those who give automatically online, we closed our account and no additional funds will be withdrawn from your checking account.

We know that this news is difficult, and we’re praying that God will help you work through the issues.  We are so grateful for you and thank you for all of your support and confidence in us as leaders.  It’s that confidence that requires that we be responsible and take these actions.

Sincerely,

Geoff and Linda Simpson
Co-directors, New Hope Ministries USA