Volunteer Appreciation: Terry Krikke, the Voice of Hope Alive!

Would you like in on a big secret? Here goes: Terry Krikke is the kind and helpful voice of Hope Alive!. Since 2018, Terry has answered the main Hope Alive! email address and phone number. Every morning, she gets up, pours herself a cup of coffee, and checks the info@ email account. Calls to the main Hope Alive! telephone number ring in the Krikke’s living room. About half of the time, Terry says, she is able to answer questions herself, due to her long history and deep knowledge of the organization. Other times, she forwards questions to others and ensures a prompt response back to the supporter. Answering inquiries has been a nice way for Terry to stay in touch with some of their old friends from the Peoria, IL area. She also does other administrative tasks behind the scenes. We’re so grateful to her!

Terry and her husband, Hope Alive! Board President Roger Krikke, have sponsored at least 18 Ugandan students since the birth of the organization in 2002. Terry is a deeply engaged sponsor, writing to her students regularly and exchanging family photos and prayer requests. She said, “I have never been to Uganda, and therefore, I have never met any of them face to face. But I meet them via letters, and I pray I will meet them in heaven!”

In 2013, Roger traveled to Uganda with a group from Bethany Church in Peoria, and Hope Alive! founder Catharine Coon arranged a lunch in Kampala with several of the Krikke’s sponsored students. In characteristically modest Terry fashion, instead of sending a photo of herself, she sent us this photo of Roger and their students. Aren’t they a fine-looking group?

We are so fortunate to have both Roger and Terry as board members, volunteers, and especially as student sponsors. We know that someday when they meet Jesus, Terry’s prayer will be fulfilled, and like a true Proverbs 31 woman, “her [many] children will rise up and call her blessed.”