Peace Gospel Blog

As East Africa faces its worst drought in 60 years, high food prices and failed crops have left millions of people at risk. Our new water tower and well pump, once completed, will make a life-saving difference for 8,000+ locals in the community surrounding the orphanage campus.


Thanks to the generosity of donors like yourself, our native team in Chad has been able to construct a 10,000-liter water tower on the orphanage campus in N'Djamena. The tower will be supplied with water from the source well we drilled in 2010, however, we are still in need of a generator and pump to keep the tower filled. This will be critical in the months ahead, as the UN is projecting severe famine and water shortages in the region as a result the drought.

This tower will supply water to the entire surrounding community and will be especially important in the next few months. Chad, along with much of Eastern Africa) are currently in a major drought. In what should have been an abundant rainy season, there has been little to no rain in the area. The drought is expected to produce a famine in the region in coming months. Please pray for rain for all of eastern Africa.


Goat Farm Update. Our Chad project is empowered by several micro-enterprise projects which generate additional funding for our programs. Our goat farm enterprise was recently relocated outside of N'Djamena, and has been much more successful than it was in the city. Our program director Kolpele remarked, "You wouldn't believe it if you saw it; the goats are fat and reproducing!" A mother goat gave birth to 2 kids a few weeks ago and the congregation celebrated the birth. Currently we employ 2 shepherds to tend to the flock.

Computer Lab Update. Our new computer lab for the orphans is almost complete. We only lack funds for a few remaining computer monitors. The three graduating orphans sent to college in Cameroon have returned to N'Djamena for vacation and are teaching the orphans how to use the computers. Once the college students go back to school, we hope that the children will know enough computing basics to teach others and to grow proficient. For the first time, these kids will have the aid of technology to give them a stronger opportunity to compete on an international level.

Seamstress Training Program Update. Our seamstress training program has produced several competent seamstresses. These women, many of them widows, are making clothing and generating income for their families. One of our staff members' wife was also trained in the program and were provided with one of the sewing machines. Now she earns an income sufficient for their whole family. Previously the family was sustained through our monthly operating budget. This is yet another example of our empowerment model in action and stretching precious resources.

Program Vehicle Update. The Land Rover that was donated last year has continued to transform the work of our Chadian team and, according to Kolpele, "It's a major blessing, like manna from heaven." No longer does our team concern themselves with how to transport resources like charcoal, food or animals. Also as a result of the vehicle our work has grown to include 5 other church plants serving as outreach locations in rural areas outside of N'Djamena. The vehicle has been a tremendous blessing, radically enhancing the efficiency of our operations in the country.

Take Action:
[ donate toward the current need for a generator and water pump ]
[ sponsor an orphan at our Chad orphanage for only $24/mo ]
[ sponsor a goat at the Chad goat farm for only $20 ]

We're pleased to bring you another story of empowerment coming from our work in the Philippines. Funds were recently provided for the purchase of a long-awaited light truck which will greatly aid the efficiency of our orphanage and children's outreach programs on the island of Cebu. It will also prove strategic in providing transport of goods produced by the graduates of our new widow's craft business school launched this summer.

Widows on the island are especially at risk in an area already plagued by extreme poverty. However, through this new program we're offering hope for some of the most vulnerable of the population. At present have 5 widows enrolled in the current session and another 52 awaiting sponsorships now for upcoming sessions.

For just $90, we can train and equip a widow to start her own craft business. This includes all supplies and tools required to begin a profitable business. The school instructor has generously volunteered his time as a charitable contribution to the program. We are focusing on woven products such as placemats, baskets and brooms, as these are products that are in demand locally. Part of the training includes teaching the women how to manage profits in such a way that they're able to buy more supplies and continue their production. Our team has already secured a buyer in the market, and believes there are multiple buyers if needed.


Part of the program's design is for our native team to assist in distribution of sales to the market buyers. Thus the widows do not need to take on the responsibility of finding and maintaining buyer relationships as they start their business. This will provide for a steady and simplified sales process for the women. Many of them have young children to care for and cannot take the time to manage the sales process, which involves travel into the city.

Because we are assisting in connecting the widows directly to buyers as if they were the factory, they enjoy "fair trade" or "direct trade" types of profits. Usually women in this trade would work for a wage, but in our case we are setting them up as independent business owners. Thus their income potential is much greater than that of a wage earner. The first graduates are already earning $150/month in net profits. This is a very strong income for this part of the world, and is proving monumental in its ability to pull the women out of the poverty they find themselves in.

After the well was completed, it was tested and found to produce up to 5,000 liters of clean water per hour. To the engineers' surprise, the well was rated with an extremely high recovery rate of 1,200 liters per minute (which means the well has a very small chance of running dry). The well comes as a welcome and joyous relief for the village of Buggade, residents of which previously had to trek 3 miles to fetch water from contaminated sources.

Water-borne diseases such as dysentery, cholera and bilharzia have been very common in the village. Thus the addition of an easily accessible clean water well for the local community will prove life-saving and transformative to the way the village functions on a daily basis. The well will provide clean drinking water for 12,000 residents daily.

In addition to the exciting development of the water well, we've also seen God provide abundantly for the completion of our permanent school building on the campus. The building's classroom space will accommodate up to 100 students and includes an additional dormitory for our growing orphanage. As part of the project we've also expanded the bathrooms to handle the anticipated arrival of several new students.

The villagers are also very pleased with this development as there are very few permanent school facilities in this region of Uganda. All of the locals are feeling a strong sense of enthusiasm for our work during this season of visible improvements that will benefit the entire community.

Our campus is also home to a temporary church meeting hall which accommodates a vibrant congregation of local Christ-followers. The group is very involved in volunteer work on the campus, demonstrating that our project has a committed team which feels a strong sense of ownership in the mission.

An on-site piggery enterprise is operated by volunteers from the congregation. The piggery is another example of how Peace Gospel is striving to equip all of our native teams with a sense of ownership in their work, pursuing our goal of matching our projects with enterprise models that empower and equip native-led missions. The piggery is also undergoing improvements, and although it's a newer project just 18 months old, has already started to realize promising profits. Our team is very encouraged with all of the recent developments and is feeling very empowered to make a long-lasting difference in the community.

Our native team finds candidates for the program and spends time counseling parents (or relatives of orphans, as the case may be) on the benefits of enrolling their children into the program. Many are hesitant because they have come to enjoy the benefits of having an extra set of hands in gathering the recyclables. However, thanks to our team's persistent efforts and the generosity of our scholarship donors, we currently have 32 children enrolled.

The program achieves the following:

WHAT'S NEXT? In April of this year an opportunity came up for us to purchase the facility we were previously renting. Funds were provided and the land and small building were successfully purchased. Now plans are under way to expand the center, which currently consists of a very small one-room building for the computer lab, one restroom and an outdoor kitchen. The new facility will include an indoor kitchen, more space for the computer lab to grow, and a multi-purpose hall for classroom and dining space. The goal for the construction of the space is just $19,000.