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by Mike Hoffman

A few years ago, Pastor Daniel Nsubuga of Uganda, Africa, visited the Milton area and fellowshipped with the Milton SDB congregation. Many of you hosted him for a meal, and no doubt heard inspirational stories of his ministry in Uganda. Quite unfortunately, Daniel passed away from complications of Covid in June of 2021.

What he left behind was far more than a legacy of leadership in the Uganda Seventh Day Baptist Conference, for he also left behind a wife, Victoria, and eleven children. Three of the children are biological and eight others are orphans who were taken in by both Daniel and Victoria. These children range in age from 5-17. Victoria, who is only 42 years old, is now left to raise these children alone with very little means of supporting herself or her family.

For many years I have served on the board of directors of a non-profit organization, Children’s World Impact (CWI), whose mission is based on the Bible verse, James 1:27:  “Pure and undefiled religion before God the Father is this:  to care for orphans and widows in their adversity and to keep oneself unstained by the world.” When I learned of Victoria’s plight, the wheels started turning, and to make a long story short, there is now a multi-faceted project in development that will help provide Victoria with a regular income as well as support other widows, children, and community members in the area of Uganda where she lives.

The project is a poultry production facility that will raise chicks to maturity for both egg production and poultry meat. Victoria will be the director of this project and oversee every aspect of its operation, with help from a leadership team of 5 other carefully chosen community members. Land has already been purchased for the project, and we look forward to the next phase, which will include connecting electricity, digging a well, and building three chicken houses, each of which will hold 500 chickens.

While the vast majority of funding for this $65,000 project is coming from CWI, the organization is working cooperatively with the SDB Missionary Society, which has been instrumental in the planning. Pastor Garfield Miller, the Director of Mobilization & Projects for the Missionary Society, recently made a trip to Uganda in September to check in with Victoria and the other team members and to solidify next steps.

Eventually this project has the potential for tremendous profit, and while it’s short term goals are to provide employment for Victoria and other community members as well as provide nutritious food for the surrounding area, the long term goal, once it becomes self-sustaining, is that this project will be able to transform the community. To contribute financially to this endeavor, you can visit www.cwi.org. May God’s name be glorified through this project!