State of the Onion

I must confess that when our kids were little and just learning how to read and write, one of my guilty pleasures was to imitate the funny ways they mispronounced words and even adopt them into my own vocabulary. It was beyond adorable to hear the many ways Ben mixed up his bs and ds. To this day I more often use the word “bisgusting” than the real version. Andy’th thweet little lithp brought me tho much joy, and when Jonah read the Western Union sign as “Western Onion” I was overwhelmed by cuteness. On any given day, I may or may not have corrected them. I enjoyed the innocence and figured they would learn the truth sooner or later in school. John pointed out on more than a few occasions that they were homeschooled and that I was their only teacher and that I should probably stop doing that. He was, of course, right. Remember, I started this off with a confession. Anyhow, since we have so many new subscribers to our blog, I feel this would be a good time to give you a status update—a sort of “State of the Onion” address, if you will. 

As I write this, HUGS for Tomorrow feeds 125 children two meals each day. In an effort to encourage independence from the American dollar, we not only bought the land where we are building the school, but we also acquired extra acreage to locally grow a percentage of the food we serve to the kids. Most of them are also enrolled in our school, which charges a modest tuition and offers classes from PreK to third grade. We’re adding at least one grade level each year and hope to be able to offer school to all ages by 2030. In order to maintain dignity and avoid unnecessary handouts, kids that have families pay what they can, receiving scholarships for the balance so we can compensate our eleven staff members and teachers. Our long term goals include a university and vocational training school, as well as businesses to employ our graduates. Many educated people end up leaving Malawi for a better quality of life, so training people for jobs is only part of the solution. We hope to also offer them places to apply their skills.

Another more immediate goal is to build and staff a clinic. Malawi is one of the poorest countries in the world, with only one doctor for every 40,000 people. They desperately need more medical clinics, staffed by educated professionals and stocked with first world supplies and equipment. Our family experienced a personal health crisis while we lived in Malawi, so this project is near and dear to our hearts. John had a lodged kidney stone that completely blocked his ureter, and there were no local facilities with the training or equipment to clear it. Thankfully there was an American doctor in town who performed a primitive but lifesaving procedure, in which he drove a tube into John’s side to drain his kidney so we could make it down to South Africa for proper treatment. Needless to say, if John had been a Malawian in the same situation, he surely would not have survived. We believe everyone has the right to good medical care and that we can make it more available in the villages of Africa. Again, trained doctors seldom remain in Malawi so we strive to create an environment that would encourage them to stay.

Hopefully this helps you to better understand some of what’s going on in the HUGS for Tomorrow ministry right now. You should know that the things I’ve discussed here are just scratching the surface of what we’re about. In the interest of revisiting my opening analogy, there are many more layers to this onion. Our primary objective through all of these plans is to teach the children about Jesus and encourage them towards a life that honors Him. We need money to realize our goals, so your donations are critical to our success. This year alone, we will need $125,000 to stay on track. But more importantly we need your prayers because, without God’s leading, we’re headed nowhere. We feed and educate 125, but there are countless others waiting to be rescued. Together, and with God’s help, we believe we can reach hundreds if not  thousands more over the coming years. 

God says He can do more than we can ask or imagine. I can imagine a day when the village will be so well developed that survival is not the primary focus. I can imagine a day when parents and children in the village can enjoy each other and participate in word play like I did with my kids. We want that for them, and we’re thankful that you do too. Your trust and support mean the world to us as we move forward. Thank you!