Holly and I are working in the fields of peacebuilding and psychosocial care. Both are fields that often yield slow results. In a country with urgent and pressing needs, I am constantly presented with opportunities to help in very practical ways. For my sanity, I try to contribute to small but tangible requests of an individual or family. This is a short story of Pastor Nicholas and his family. He is helping to start a church plant in Lira and has taken the voluntary position of "Church Coordinator". He is putting four children through school and makes a small income by preaching and translating. We sat together for a short time and decided that we should try to restart a small bakery business run by his wife. We looked at all the costs for baking supplies and reconstruction of his brick oven. One of our friends from the U.S. has generously sponsored this project. He has already established small contracts to sell his bread and cakes to shops nearby. Eventhough this bakery won't put his children through school, it is a significant contribution that will hopefully grow in the next serveral years. When we visited Pastor Nicholas his children sang worship songs and prayed for us.
7 comments:
I really need your address. Please email it to me! I have a very important package for you guys and I'm a loser, I can't find your address.
I'm glad you two are well... God bless.
Hi Ben & Holly,
We can smell that bread baking from here and it smells delicious!
Beth & John
Hi pumpkin!
Expect more gummy worms in however many weeks it takes for a package to make its way from Indiana to Uganda :). Packages are the least I can do to support your work from the relative comfort of my tiny, un-air-conditioned apartment.
I'm praying for you both
-Jessie
Hi Guys,
This is a really encouraging email. We're into income generation programs here and it really does change lives. The impact will be huge, not only on the family, but on the neighbours and friends who see what can be done. It might not put the guys kids through school, but it will start a process of changing of ideas, attitudes and lives that will have lasting effects - trust me.
That dragon just lost one battle !
Much Love,
Nigel
Hi holly and ben, this is sarah and aaron... just wanted to say that we hope you are doing well with your work. stay safe, we love you.
Is he able to get his cooking supplies in bulk? A lot of Oxfam microloans go toward buying in bulk, which drastically reduces expenses. Unfortunately, I guess they have to buy a large quantity to buy in bulk the first time, but after the first purchase, they have a higher profit margin, and can afford to buy in bulk in the future while earning lots more. If he´s buying cooking at retail prices, could he possibly arrange to buy in bulk? What would be the initial costs?
Jessie, we just got the package and are enjoying the gummy worms, etc. I am halfway through McClaren's new book. You're right about my opinions. Thanks!
John & Beth--thanks for being part of this!
Nigel, so glad for the encouragement and your post, because I'd been wanting to get to your blog for awhile and now I can link to it!
Sarah and Aaron--wow, how are you two? Thanks for keeping us with us, we love it!
Trevor, good questions that I don't know the answers to. I'll ask Ben to look into this since he's been mostly interacting with our pastor friend. I don't think Oxfam is doing that here, but maybe somebody is.
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