International

Last year I started my thoughts here with the theme of complexities and disruptions – 2024 has certainly not been any different. Despite that, my conclusion from last year stands: we embrace the complexities to restore hope, build capacity and promote community!

One of my highlights of 2024 and a beautiful example of our vision in action was my first ever visit to Mosul, Iraq. I had the opportunity to meet people who have survived some of the greatest horrors in recent history but are now rebuilding their city with joy, hope and a lot of beauty. Our team’s contribution to this really lifted my spirit and fuelled me throughout the year to continue the work before us.

Our world is increasingly becoming a place of polarisation. When I look at the international development sector, the connected politics paint a dark and discouraging picture. We used to talk about localisation of aid and empowering the national partners, but now nationalism and “us first” policies in many western nations leave these partners cut off from resources.

As Operation Mercy, we know that it is not at desks in western countries where the transformation happens, it is on the ground, in the community, with the people. More than ever before, we who live and work long-term with our partners are the voice that needs to be heard in a world of too-simple and too-quick answers. The perseverance and long-term partnership Operation Mercy offers, and the professional learning and insights we gain from that, can speak back into a polarised world.

Governments and major donors are cutting funding for the enormous needs around the world. Even with only a small portion of our funding being from government institutions — we have experienced one of the hardest years in our history in funding our projects. Despite often operating hand-to-mouth, we have still been able to continue to save lives, empower the marginalised and build community for the hopeless.

If you read this as someone who has contributed financially in 2024, let me say a huge ‘Thank you’ at this point. We could not do our work without you — the small monthly donations, the larger grants from private philanthropic foundations, those who raise funds on our behalf, and those who advocate for our work – thank you for standing with us.

When we meet as a faith-based development community we are astonished by what is happening around us. We want to seek peace and focus on strategies that build an holistic wellbeing of communities. At the same time we watch the ever-shrinking space for civil society not only in developing nations but also in our home countries. As people of hope we are called to step into this space, to face the storm and speak peace and hope into it. We are called more than ever before to be on the ground, interacting directly with those in need, and building bridges between cultures and nations and the stakeholders supporting us.

I believe we are at a point in time where we, as people of faith, are called more then ever to love our neighbours globally and locally. We are called to provide food for the hungry, and to fight injustices. Where we can no longer depend and wait on society as a whole to become more human, and to build a good and just community, it is on us to set examples and keep going in our work. Our giving and our prayers come together to restore hope, build capacity, and promote communities in which we see the value of every human being, and love for all our neighbours.

Thank you for continuing to partner with us in these endeavours into 2025.

Yours,
Andrea Vogt,
International Director, February 2025