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Finding Hope Goes International
Finding Hope Family Support Groups
Written By
Finding Hope Team
Finding Hope Goes International
In May of 2025, Amy LaRue, Director of Family Support Groups, opened her inbox to a message from a family in Australia. They shared that they had recently learned about Finding Hope and wanted to know more — what it was, what the ministry stood for, and whether something like this could even exist in their community.
Amy’s very first question to them was: “How did you find us all the way in Australia?”
Up until this point, in-person Finding Hope meetings were restricted to the United States. While Amy wanted to go international, she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to make it happen.
Australia Discovers Finding Hope
Trevor and Cheryl, in their search for support in the recovery world, were encouraged to listen to Ben Fuller’s music. While watching different concerts and performances on YouTube, one video led to another, and eventually, they stumbled across a video from Night of Hope.
In March of 2025, just a couple of months prior, Finding Hope celebrated its 10-year anniversary with a special event called Night of Hope. In the midst of Ben Fuller’s performance, a video compilation of testimonies from people affected by addiction played on the large screen behind the stage.
As the video played, Trevor and Cheryl realized they were watching families who were in the same position as theirs. Finally, they had found other people who loved someone struggling with addiction.
When they looked into Finding Hope, they learned that it was a faith-based support group specifically catering to the loved ones of addicts and alcoholics. They read that meetings provided attendees with education, inspiration, community, and hope. Instantly, they wondered why something like this wasn’t offered through their church.
Finding Hope Takes Root in Australia
After learning more about Finding Hope, Trevor and Cheryl reached out to Amy directly to ask questions and understand what it would take to bring a group to Australia. At that point, they were simply exploring whether this was something that could realistically work in their church.
Amy responded and began walking them through how Finding Hope groups operate. It didn’t take long for Trevor, Cheryl, and their pastor to fully jump on board. Support for families impacted by addiction was limited in their area, and Finding Hope could fill a gap they had long recognized.
Their church has three campuses, and their pastor shared a desire to eventually offer Finding Hope at all three locations. From the beginning, the goal was to create consistent support across their church community.
To make that happen, Trevor and Cheryl completed Finding Hope training and stayed in regular communication with Amy. They joined existing Finding Hope Zoom meetings in the United States to better understand the structure and flow of the groups. It was an easy way for them to see how meetings function in real time.
At the same time, they began identifying others within their church who were interested in helping launch the ministry. They decided, given how new it was, that it would be best to launch Finding Hope at just one campus to start. This approach will allow their team to learn, adjust, and build a strong foundation before expanding to the other two campuses.
The first Finding Hope group in Australia is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, February 10th, with a second daytime meeting to follow on Wednesday, February 18th.
This launch marks Finding Hope’s first international, in-person support group and represents a significant step forward in expanding support to families impacted by addiction beyond the United States.
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