Showcasing...Coming Around 360 Degrees!

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Doug Kauffman is not unfamiliar with loss, betrayal and pain, but his life was yet to feel the wrath of their sting when the seed for Hope 360 was planted twenty years ago on the campus of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Doug was business-minded and studying for a degree in marketing, but one of his professors told him he would one day be in ministry. Two decades later, in the midst of a personal pain, a dormant dream was awoken to birth Hope 360, a Saint Paul, Minnesota based non-profit ministry.

Doug started several businesses after college, and in 1999, Doug entered into the real estate business part-time and became full time in 2006. He had a beautiful life. He was earning as much as $220,000 some years, more than enough to support his wife and four boys. Meanwhile, the seed spent years developing roots, digging beneath the earth for sustenance. In 2009, it began its painful sprout upwards pushing through what was familiar and comfortable.

The storm of the 2008 recession had just struck the landscape of the world, and Kauffman Properties was hard hit. In the space of nine months, all his properties with the exception of the one he lived in with his family went into foreclosure. A couple of weeks after, Doug filed for bankruptcy. For a husband and father of four boys, the death of his income source was a blow, but thirteen days after he filed for bankruptcy, he found out his wife was having an affair and pregnant for the other guy. He received divorce papers seven days after, and divorce proceedings ensued resulting in half-time custody of his four boys. “That was the most difficult experience of my life,” he said. At the onset of the real estate market crash and prior to its collapse, Doug had started working at a sales job to make ends meet. The emotional trauma of foreclosures, bankruptcy, infidelity and divorce was heavy on him, and nine months after he got the job, he was fired.

“I got a wake-up call after I heard of my wife’s affair. I sat in my car for about 20 minutes wondering what life would look like as a single dad and a divorcee. However, I felt God impress on my that yes, it was over with my wife, but I needed to raise my boys and I needed to draw closer to Him.” Sitting in his car, heartbroken and distraught, Doug felt an overwhelming sense of peace. In that season, the dream that was lodged in his heart rose again, and he felt God asking him to hold on to it.

He spent the next few months working at odd jobs, but in March 25^th, 2010, a year and six months after his divorce, he took the first step, “I had no idea what my first step would be, I prayed and realized I was yet to commit the dream to God.I got on my knees and prayed,” he said.

In his moment of submission, the dream metamorphosed into a vision, and Hope 360 was born on a winter night. “Twenty minutes after I prayed, I had a full-fledged vision for the ministry. Hope 360 is designed to bring the hope of Christ to those going through devastating life events like divorce or bankruptcy by providing a variety of services   like counseling services to encouraging businesses to provide pro bono work.” An hour after the initial vision was drafted on Doug’s computer, an old college friend he had been expecting knocked on his door. “He was one of the few people I told about my dream the year before.” After Doug let him in, he said “ You know the ministry you have been talking about for the past one-year, I feel like I should sow into it.” He gave Doug $500 as start-up fund. “I was blown away. I took him to my computer and showed him the vision I had come up with less than two hours before he knocked on my door.” Doug said.

Doug spent the next seven to eight months meeting with 80 families and about 120 people to share his dream and fund raise. He visited automobile dealers, mechanics, movers, financial planners, and storage facilities. In those months, when fear or doubt crept in, God provided him with more confirmation of his vision, his love, direction and promises. “Once I got on my knees that night on March 25^th, 2010, people gave and people with needs also came. I have connected with 200 people with needs and raised $38,000,” Doug said.

In the past year, Hope 360 has provided individuals with discounted or free auto work, temporary storage units, and connections to agencies designed to help people experiencing a crisis situation. A businessman recently committed to donating a car to Hope 360 every month in 2012 to give to a family or person in need. (Click here for Vlog). The first family received a car last month. A couple also committed to donating a house or condo for families transitioning between loosing their homes and figuring out their next move (Click here for Vlog). His old boss who fired him from the sales job is currently a supporter and donor. These are the miracles of God’s support. The greatest joy for Doug is to see people who came to Hope 360 for help giving back to the organization. A 360 degrees turnaround from been in need to being an helper...a story Doug is familiar with.

Looking to the future, Hope 360’s vision is to create an international network of people called Hope 360 Story-Tellers who will use their life experiences and stories to minister to others. The goal is to train and equip people to tell their stories using video through an Hope 360  affiliated personal website (Doug’s Story in Vlog). “Many people have experiences that others can learn from, and we want to provide them with tools, materials, training and a platform to help them connect others to the help they have received. The vision is to create a chance for people to be missionaries in their own part of the world,” he said.

Another vision is to assist Hope 360 Story-Tellers in fundraising as they prepare to go into full-time ministry. Doug’s experiences and business background prepared him for what God had already prepared for him. “It was painful, but I would not change it for anything.  Before it all caved in on me, my heart and relationship with God was a dirt garden right before spring with mulch all over waiting to blossom. Now, I feel like I am blossoming and in a place of intimacy with God.”

January 2012 marks Hope 360’s first full year, and Doug's life is different from what it was four years ago. He leads Hope 360 full-time as a vessel bringing joy to hopeless places.
He is a living example that we can triumph over pain. Doug’s advice to anyone struggling through a hard time is “Do not waste your trial. Don’t let it be something that happens and breaks you. Use it for something good.”

Hope 360 in the News