Inivitation to a Hospitals of Hope Reception

Hospitals of Hope invites you to a going away and a welcoming reception for Leta Reppert and Tricia Erickson on Friday, June 3 from 12-2 p.m. at the Hospitals of Hope office in Wichita.

Leta is moving to Bolivia to be the Volunteer Coordinator and we would like to send her off with well wishes. We will also be welcoming our new Communication and Local Volunteer Coordinator Tricia Erickson.

Feel free to come and go as you please. Light refreshments will be provided.

We will also have our latest three unit self-contained hospital, which will be sent to Sudan, on site for you to walk through.


Reception information

* Date - Friday, June 3
* Time - 2-4 p.m.
* Location - Hospitals of Hope office - 3445 N. Santa Fe Wichita, KS 67219
* Come and go
* Light refreshments
* Say goodbye to Leta
* Meet Tricia, the new Communications and Local Volunteer Coordinator
* See our latest container hospital

For more information contact Hospitals of Hope at 316-262-0964 or at info@hospitalsofhope.org

New Addition to Hospitals of Hope

My name is Tricia Erickson and I am the newest addition to the Hospitals of Hope staff. As many of you know, Leta is leaving the Wichita office and moving to Bolivia to be the Volunteer Coordinator. While we are sad to see her go, we are excited for the opportunities she will have in Bolivia.

I thought I would take just a few moments to introduce myself and how I got to Hospitals of Hope. I am a Kansas native born and raised in Newton – just twenty minutes away from Hospitals of Hope.

I graduated from Southwest Baptist University in December 2010 with a bachelor’s degree in communications. In January I got married and moved back to Kansas. I never expected to move back to Kansas. In fact, it was the last thing I wanted to do. But God, with his humor, made it very clear I was supposed to be in Wichita. And as it turns out, he knew what he was doing because he gave me the incredible opportunity to work with Hospitals of Hope.

I am so excited to join the Hospitals of Hope staff. When I graduated, I desperately wanted to work for an organization I believed in and could share their passion for change. Hospitals of Hope is just that organization. I am thrilled to be able to use my skills to help Hospitals of Hope show Christ’s love by healing bodies and souls.

Making Plans

I’m a planner. I plan my meals, I plan the clothes I’ll wear, and, most of all, I plan my life.

The first two of those things generally turn out the way I plan.

One thing that I didn’t plan was moving back to Bolivia.

Last fall, I spent three months in Bolivia as the interim volunteer coordinator. It was heartbreaking to leave in November, knowing that I might never return. I said my goodbyes, packed my bags, and stocked up on Alpaca products.

A little over a week ago, I was asked to return, for longer this time. After taking some time to think, pray, and seek advice, I said yes.

The great thing, for me, about this job is that it lets me do a lot of what I do best – plan. I get to plan volunteer activities at the hospital, plan outreaches into the community, and plan just about every other aspect of every activity that the volunteers and I will be doing. I’ve already started to plan activities for when I arrive next month. I’m hoping we can do an English camp at a home for abused girls, invite the neighborhood kids to the hospital for a week of VBS, and help out at an orphanage for kids with HIV.

The not-so-great thing about this job is that, especially in Bolivia, things never turn out according to plan. The power goes out, the bus drivers go on strike, and the grocery store randomly runs out of things. (How am I supposed to make my carefully-planned Italian meal when the grocery store has no basil for a month?!?)

So I will also plan on some things that aren’t as subject to the whims of the power company, the labor unions, and whatever supply chain governs who gets basil and who doesn’t. I will plan to buy fresh pineapple off the street corner and joke with the street vendors. I will plan to pray with the volunteers and get to know their stories. I will plan to do all I can to let those around me know about the incredible love – and plans – that God has for us.

A lot of my plans probably won’t work. But His will. And they’re better than mine, anyway.