Missions of Hope is a ministry that provides hope to people around the world regardless of their ethnic, religious, cultural, social, or other backgrounds. The objective is to provide help to people in need in ways that will be long-lasting. The locations are sometimes in the USA, but have also been in Mexico, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. Most of these missions take place in "Third World" or "Developing Nations" where the people with the most needs receive the least amount of help. Fred's intent is to go to places where others will not normally go because of living conditions due to poverty, civil-war, or other factors.
These missions are privately funded from by the founder, Fred Breedlove, and through donations from friends, family, churches, etc. Fred often times partners with other organizations and churches who share common values and interests. The missions are intended to provide immediate help to the most poor during disasters (hurricane, tsunami, flood, civil-war) and to those enduring extreme hardships such as poverty. Help is provided in many ways, both tactically (immediate) and strategically. Tactical help might include the provision of food rations and/or medical supplies following a flood disaster, physically helping to build a house destroyed by a tsunami, or by donating tools, bicycles, or equipment that enable people to return to work after a disaster. Strategic help might include providing training in a number of areas such as project management, project funding proposal writing, leadership training, or First Aid/CPR training.
The projects undertaken during a mission are intended to be financially self-sustaining, and not dependent upon additional funding by Missions of Hope. These projects also include training which will enable the people being helped to help themselves and their communities, and not to rely solely on help from others.
First Aid/CPR training is a good example of how Missions of Hope provides help that is a blessing to the people immediately, but also way into the future. Following these training sessions, students usually receive First Aid kits of various types and they are encouraged to use them and their new skills to help their communities. A simple first aid kit consisting of antibiotic cream/ointment and band-aids can easily make the difference between someone losing an arm or leg due to infection after sustaining a small cut. Fred has personnally met a young girl of about 12 years of age in a remote jungle village in Sri Lanka, who had lost a leg due to an infection that occurred because no first aid was available. A little first aid knowledge, bandages, and antibiotic creme (such as Neosporin) could have prevented the infection which eventually took the young girl's leg.