100 Days of HopeSample

Beyond Success

One of my heroes is Jose Rincon. When my wife and I first had the opportunity to meet Jose, he was a young man in the Dominican Republic who was out of a job. Barely surviving, he had mortgaged his home, but he didn’t have enough to start over. So he took a $400 loan from HOPE International’s partner Esperanza International, and he started manufacturing wheelbarrows.

Jose is a remarkable entrepreneur. Today he makes up to 100 wheelbarrows a month. He is also the only person in the DR who has a one-year warranty on his wheelbarrows. But Jose didn’t stop at success.

Becoming a Christian after hearing about Jesus from his loan officer, Jose felt called to extend the gift of grace he received. Beyond success, he wanted to live a life of significance. So he decided to not only be rich materially but to be “rich in good deeds.”

Because of Jose’s provision, all of his children have gone to school and eat three meals a day. He now provides for hungry individuals in his community and supports his local church. Seeing Jose go from survival to success to significance inspires me to radically follow Christ.

Prayer: Father, thank you that you have “blessed [us] to be a blessing.” Help us to be generous and to respond to your extravagant gift of grace.