The reality of mission drift

Peter Greer, president and CEO of Hope International, shares his personal journey and interest in what it takes to stay on mission.
During a meeting with a foundation in Houston, they praised Hope International’s work but asked him to downplay faith and Jesus in order to partner.
The funding offered would have significantly changed the organisation’s trajectory, but accepting it would have slowly pulled Hope International off mission.
Looking back, Peter sees that moment as a gift because it revealed how easy and prevalent mission drift really is.
When studying organisations that stayed mission-true for over 50 years, it was difficult to find examples that had scaled, professionalised, and remained faithful.
What was easy to find were examples of mission drift, even in unlikely places, including church outreach efforts like the Franciscan initiative that eventually became modern pawn shops.