Here are Hudson's chicks - he purchased 80 chicks who were 2 days old and need to feed them and keep them warm at least 21 days before they can sell them - the bigger they are the more they make.  But someone needs to refill the charcoal warmers you see hanging on the right of the pic every 2-3 hrs so they will not freeze, especially throughout the night.  Hudson was the one doing it the niught before so he was a bit tuckered out but still raring to go.  He ultimately would like to get an incubator to raise his own chicks from eggs, but this will take stable electricity - a rarity around here.  It would be the only hatchery in the whole province if he could do it.  He also is finishing his piggery which will bring in more income, along with his fish farm, which so impressed the Chinese fisheries program that they gave him feed to help!  He is hoping to grow soy and corn along with other crops like pineapple, sugar cane, and other things on his farm.  He hopes to have the farm going this rainy season better so that by next year he can have his grade 1-4 school built on his farm and start kids coming there by January of 2017.  Awesome!

Hudson's vision for his program is formulating into something very good.  Here is the pre-school building he is almost done with which he is buildling on his land in the Samfya town, with a kitchen to feed them, latrines, and an office/boarding apartment for the teacher.  He hopes to have up to 20 kids here, 1/2 of which will be orphans they will be sponsoring, the other 1/2 will be paying customers to help support the program along with a farm.  His farm is about 13 kilometers away where he will also be building his grade 1-4 school for orphans - a boarding school and feeding center.  Things are shaping up and he hopes to open the preschool this upcoming year.

Hi all!  Spent the last two days working with Hudson, seeing how Hudaga, his project for orphans is going.  Things have been going well for him with Africa Hope Mission's support.  Here he is between his two start pupils from his pre-school, Royd who is 10 and his sister Ida who is 8.  They are both in the same second grade class, Royd is number 1, Ida is number 2 based on tests they give them.  Royd is such a good English reader that he is now tudoring two other kids in his class!  They need much encouragement but both are brave talented kids!

Here, one of Carmen's new Water4 drilling teams is putting in a new well at the Kaishe Orphan Association.  They got the community to chip in, paying for this well with a fat sheep, and created a water committee to have the people using the well contribute 1 kwacha a month (about $2 a year) to a pot to have for repairs once the pump breaks down so the community has some ownership in it.  They are slowly learning the value of clean water. 

We had a great meeting with the community of Kaishe today.  Here I am with Charles in the middle with the hat who is overseeing the Kaishe Orphan Association surrounded by many of the headsmen and Church leaders of Kaishe.  We met to try to discover the problems in their community and come up with solutions that we can work together on solving.  They came up with an impressive plan and we start by trying to form boards to show unity.  One of the big problems is that this traditionally has been a fishing village where the men will take their family away from school and the community for months on end to go into the swamp to fish.  They are finally realizing most of the fish are gone and they will not be able to survive if they continue this.  They want to learn about farming methods now - a huge culture change.  This will take time though and lots of prayers

Hello all!
Drew and I are back in lovely Samfya, Zambia.  The main town is doing very well - they actually are paving many of the main roads in town - a definite sign of change!!!  SCCP is now called CHA - Care and Hope for All and mainly doing outreach to the surrounding communities and islands.  Bright Hope and Willow Creek are still a strong part of the effort.  The downtown market is growing, more things available locally, a new bakery in town and growth all around.  It has been beautiful out here, in the middle of their "winter" - 80 degree sunny days, 60 degree windy nights.  Mark and Carmen are doing very well, both their girls are away at a mission boarding school.  Today we went to Hudson's Church - a very small start up community that is slowly growing, now about 100 members, meeting in a nearby pre-school building but trying to fund raise for a new Church building.  Hudson is doing well. This week we will be out to his farm/pre-school to see how things are going with his Hudaga project, to encourage and maybe help the building process, but he says things are well.  We will also be exploring Kaishe and see what else can be done with this village about 100km from the main town.  I'm trying to absorb as much information as I can to see what God has in store for our new group, Africa Hope Mission.  Lesa omepale!  mike and drew

Hi all, been an exciting year - Africa Hope Mission has taken off - some of us Willow Creekers along with Carmen from Samfya have created our own non-profit - Africa Hope Mission - to raise support for Hope, Health, and Education in impovershed parts of Africa.  Our first kick-off party raised funds for Hudaga - a school and feeding center for orphans outside of Samfya which is being built by our friend Hudson.  We have raised over 3/4 of the total 3 year funds for his project and he has started building the farm and walls of the school already!  My son Drew and myself are heading back there today to help and see what else needs to be done.  We will be staying at Mark and Carmen's house in Samfya for 2 weeks having fun and working hard.  I will try to keep everyone posted as we go along - prayers welcomed!.  Blessings, Mike and Drew