Sr. Andrea Koverman,  Nancy Hemminger and Darlene Smith are special education teachers as well as good friends. Their mission will include visiting Jordan where they will be meeting Fr. Khalil Ja’ar, Iraqi refugee families including some of the children, who are enrolled in the refugee camp in Marka. In Bethlehem, they will visit Hogar Nino Dios, a home for abandoned and disabled children and  the Aida Refugee camp. They will share information about a program called TLC (Trauma Loss in Children) and offer suggestions for emotional behavioral accommodations and modifications. Also water filters, donated by the Sisters of Charity, will be brought to the refugee camps. One filter provides clean water for 5 families for 10 years and all that is needed is a bucket.

Sr. Andrea, Nancy and Darlene

 Meet Sr. Andrea Koverman

Sister Andrea is a newly vowed member of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati who can be found gardening, hiking, or rollerblading whenever time and weather permit. She was born in southern Texas, but raised outside of Dayton, OH. As a parishioner of St. Francis of Assisi in Centerville, she attended Incarnation School through 8th grade and then Archbishop Alter High School in Kettering. After graduating from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in Special Education, she taught public school students of the Gullah community on the sea islands of coastal South Carolina. While teaching, she earned Master’s degrees in curriculum/instruction and educational leadership.

Upon entering formation with her community, she relocated to the El Paso area and taught in a Catholic school serving mostly Hispanic children and children of military servicemen and women. She witnessed the devastation of lethal poverty and the brokenness of our immigration system while assisting the sisters at their center for mothers of severely disabled children in Anapra, a colonia of Juarez, Mexico. Her call to be of service to those most in need and to spread the Good News of hope and love to the places that most need it, deepened further as she traveled to Haiti to distribute water filters to the remote upper plateau region, and then to Palestine and Israel with the HOPE Pilgrims in 2012.

Sr. Andrea feels incredibly blessed to be able to accompany the pilgrims again this year, to walk the path of Jesus by literally stepping in the places He stood, and by trying to follow His way of loving across boarders and cultural divides to cultivate healing and peaceful coexistence.

Meet Darlene Smith

Darlene  was born in Cleveland, Ohio as the first of four daughters.  Her parents were of German, Italian and Polish origin.  She was raised in the Catholic faith.  She had many traditions growing up and have passed them on to her own children.  Darlene met the man of her dreams  Mike Smith  over 40 years ago and has been married for 36 years.  They have 2 sons and 2 grandchildren – who, of course, she adores!  She has been in education for 27 years educating students with diverse learning needs.  Presently, she has entered her first year as a principal at St. Mary Catholic School in Hillsboro, Ohio. She is  enjoying the joys and challenges each day brings.

This will be Darlene’s  first trip to the Holy Land.  She is so looking forward to seeing anything and everything!  She believes that God has placed her on this journey and  that He will be leading her on a unique path that will open her eyes to the land that Jesus walked.  She is  looking forward to seeing the Church of the Nativity and  The Church of the Holy Sepulcher which contains the tomb of Jesus.

Aside from  the Holy sites, she would love to see the Dead Sea.

Darlene feels so blessed to be part of this Hope project/adventure!

Meet Nancy Hemminger

Nancy Hemminger was born in Elyria, Ohio. She and her husband Dave  have been blessed with three children,  seven grandchildren, and  are looking very forward to the birth of their first great grandchild in February.

Nancy’s husband  Dave  will be traveling to the Holy Land with her. This will be her ninth pilgrimage to the Holy Land and her husband’s  fourth.

Nancy believes that without the help of our beloved friend and advocate for education Fr. Faysal Hijazen, the HOPE program would not be possible. He called HOPE “God’s Project”  this HOPE Twinning pilgrimage is being dedicated to him. He passed away on August 4, 2016, but before he died…he was interviewed by a French Reporter and he gave us the following guidance:

“The Latin Patriarchate schools are present within the society through the church. Muslims are also welcomed in the schools and attend Muslim religion classes throughout their schooling. Their presence in the school is a chance for the Latin Patriarchate for teaching values such as openness to others, respect, and deepen the Christian values: love of neighbor, forgiveness. A Muslim who graduates from our schools will never become a fundamentalist.”

Nancy is the founder of HOPE. She is a  firm believer that peace begins in the classroom. She knows that God always sends the persons who are most needed for HOPE and our Mission for 2016 is no different. She asks for prayers for HOPE and all of the pilgrims on this journey.