In 2015, Smithville First Christian Church (Smithville, Missouri) began a relationship with JustHope when their women’s circle agreed to support the nursing school education of a young woman in Chacraseca through a 20 Women of Hope partnership.
The following year, women joined their pastor, Rev. Dr. Lara Blackwood Pickrel, in an 8-week class on mission, mutuality, partnership, and Nicaraguan/Chacraseca history in preparation for a JustHope PartnerTrip. A group of nine women made that first journey in January 2017.
Since then, the SFCC partnership has pulled in the whole congregation to raise money for green stoves and other initiatives, and the women’s group continues to support their student in her education. Political realities and the global pandemic have prevented further trips, and they look forward to the day visits will become possible again.