World Hope International Canada
Names New Executive Director

The Board of Directors of World Hope International Canada is pleased to announce the appointment of Rev. Dr. Clint Curle as the new Executive Director of the organization.

Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, World Hope International Canada is a faith-based relief and development organization which seeks to bring hope and healing to a hurting world. Since its inception in 2000, World Hope International Canada has been partnering with individuals and organizations from around the world to promote justice, encourage self-sufficiency, and inspire hope through programs such as economic development, leadership and skills training, child sponsorship, and community health education. At present, World Hope International Canada's primary international projects are a street children rescue ministry in the Ukraine, micro-enterprise and safe water initiatives in Sierra Leone, and counseling for abused women and AIDS orphans in Swaziland. In addition, the organization actively promotes an international conscience in Canada through public education initiatives sponsored in large part by the Canadian International Development Agency.

Mr. Curle, an ordained Wesleyan minister with eight years of pastoral experience, also holds a law degree as well as masters degrees in theology and law. He earned a PhD in political science in 2005. He is currently the senior pastor of Highland Park Wesleyan Church in Ottawa, Ontario, and also teaches part-time in the law department of Carleton University. Mr. Curle was one of the founding directors of World Hope International Canada in 2000, and has acted as secretary of the board until the present.

Clint said that he is ready to hit the ground running. "Since its beginning, I've always felt that World Hope is a wonderful organization, in that it provides a practical way for the average person to respond with Christ's love to the problems they see on the evening news. I am very excited about taking on a larger role in the management of this organization."

Clint's mandate is to build on the good work that has been accomplished over the last seven years. "My top priorities in the near future are our three primary international operations: the Ukraine, Swaziland and Sierre Leone.”

"Our World Hope partners in the Ukraine have done an outstanding job in addressing the problem of street children in Odessa. One of the really interesting things they have done is to set up ‘Shepherd's Home’ for at-risk teenage girls, which provides a safe and supportive place to live and an opportunity to complete their education. At present, Shepherd's Home operating expenses are not fully covered, and we need to connect concerned people in Canada with this need."

"In Swaziland, the frightening reality is that over a third of the adults in that nation are HIV-positive. World Hope International Canada has agreed to partner with other faith-based organizations in an HIV-prevention program in schools in conjunction, and we need to raise the profile of this program in Canada."

"And Sierre Leone is still recovering from the civil war which virtually destroyed the country's infrastructure. Many villages do not have a source of clean drinking water. Just a few thousand dollars can put a well in a village, and make a tremendous difference for these people's lives."

Mr. Curle will assume the duties of Executive Director in January, 2008.

Visit the World Hope International Canada website.