ATLANTA – The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s rural poverty initiative is moving into its fifth year with a new name – Together for Hope.

Formerly called Partners in Hope, Together for Hope (TFH) is the Fellowship’s 20-year commitment to community development in 20 of the nation’s poorest counties. The ministry’s growth over the past five years created the need for a new and distinctive name, according to TFH national coordinator Tom Prevost. Together for Hope also better reflects the ministry’s objectives and methods.

"Hope remains the key. For is more proactive and challenging. Together is more inviting and less formal than partner," Prevost said.

The 20 poorest counties are located in five main regions – Appalachia; the Black Belt of Alabama, so named because of its rich, dark soil; Mississippi River Delta; the High Plains; and Rio Grande River Valley. The focal counties are located in Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Dakota and Texas.

The rural poverty initiative also has a new Web site, which can be accessed at www.thefellowship.info/globalmissions/TFH. The Web site holds additional information about TFH, as well as reports from the ministry’s various locations.

CBF is a fellowship of Baptist Christians and churches who share a passion for the Great Commission and a commitment to Baptist principles of faith and practice. The Fellowship’s mission is to serve Christians and churches as they discover and fulfill their God-given mission.