Swine fever outbreak

Recently, an outbreak of swine fever has been rampaging through Chad. The fever primarily affects livestock, which is bad news for Kolpele's goat farm in N'Djamena. Please keep him (and the goats) in your thoughts and prayers this week...

The following report was issued last week: 

CHAD - The country's veterinary authorities have reported a new outbreak of African swine fever. The World Organization for Animal Health received an immediate notification on Friday, 22 October. According to the report, the outbreak was first detected on 4 October, and confirmed last week, 21 October. The report states that the outbreak occurred at a village in the Mayo Kebi region. A total of 883 swine were found affected. All affected animals reportedly died as a result of the outbreak. Ilegal movement of animals has been determined as the primary source of the ASF outbreak.

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (Gen 1:3)

Due to the generous support that has come in after my last post, Kolpele has been able to purchase a solar panel, inverter & battery for the orphanage! This setup has the capacity to power either a TV, lights, or a computer, while charging cell phones. No longer must the expensive, loud, noxious orphanage generator run to have these “luxuries”. The TV is used in the evenings to provide a gathering point for the orphanage and “children of the street” to keep them out of trouble once it gets dark. Lights are used for the remainder of the night (after the TV is turned off) for security; imagine being in the roughest neighborhoods in big-city America (say the 3rd ward in Houston) with no protection and no lights and you may catch a glimpse of the fear this can cause. As with clean water, it is a great illustration of the Bible.

"Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. " - John 3:20

 

Kolpele, with his entrepreneurial spirit, has also been able to start another small business by allowing the community to charge cell phones for a small payment. Money raised from this initiative is being used to support the orphanage.





While the addition of a solar panel is a major blessing, the single panel is insufficient to run the entire orphanage. As I alluded to earlier, only 1 major device can run at any given time due to the low capacity of the system. Kolpele is still raising money for a second panel/system that will allow full time lighting, fans, and will open the door to other possibilities.

Solar Power

It has been some time since I last sent an update about the Chadian orphanage. As many of you know, I have ended my travel to and from Chad. This means I have not had a chance to visit the compound or to speak with Kolpele face-to-face. Nevertheless, I have maintained contact with him and we have continued our efforts to build self sustaining enterprises & improve the local community. We have also been able to bring additional items over through some other employees who continue to travel back and forth.

Activity in the orphanage & in Kolpele’s other churches has been stable over the last several months. The goat farm is maintaining several goats & seamstresses are continuing to sew to raise money. Kolpele has also been raising cattle in the southern part of the country. Orphans keep streaming into the orphanage and most go to school full time. Several of these orphans are being employed by the goat farm to help teach them skills & to raise money for the ministry. Many people are coming to know God through Kolpele & his ministry.

Since my first visit to the orphanage, there have been many needs identified, and many needs met – either through your generous support, support of others visiting Chad, or through Kolpele’s hard work. We have seen large projects accomplished such as the addition of walls and roofs on the orphanage, clean drinking water wells, new church buildings, a large-scale goat farm, bunk beds & a hen house. We have also seen many direct needs met – widows given money to keep their families alive, children given clothing & toothbrushes, orphans able to have medical care, money provided to feed hundreds. These examples all highlight God’s faithfulness to Kolpele & his ministry. Thank you to everyone who has donated, prayed or shared these stories – none of this could be done without you.

I mention all these great examples only to say there are still major needs to be met. First, and foremost is electricity. Have you ever been without power? During Hurricane Ike we were without power for 15 days – 15 days without fans, cold drinks, a working refrigerator, TV, lights, or an electric oven. I felt like a caveman by the time the lines were fixed and I practically hugged the utility man. Now take that feeling and imagine your entire life without any of those luxuries. Chad does not have readily available access to electricity. Kolpele has a very small generator that he runs infrequently due to high cost, pollution, and noise – typically he runs this for A/V equipment for church or for lights from time to time.

One of our “dreams” is to eventually have electricity in the orphanage, full time. The list of reasons is enormous but to name a few; lights can be used after dark if a child is in need, cell phones can be charged (cell phones of locals may be charged for a small fee as another small micro-enterprise), and the TV can be used to show movies to the community. Eventually I foresee water pumps to help with plumbing.

A logical choice for this power is solar panels – no usage fees, readily available power source & no noise or pollution. We have recently been blessed with an opportunity to buy this equipment at a discounted rate – a Chadian gentleman must sell these at a discounted rate to send his kids to school. With that said, we still need additional funding to make this a reality. Please keep this in your thoughts & prayers so that these solar panels can be purchased. If you feel led to donate for this project, please visit the PGI website (below), my blog, or contact me directly.
One last thing to mention, Peace Gospel International (our non-profit partner) is hosting a dessert info session in November that describes the work we are doing in Chad, and in several other projects worldwide. Below is the information if you would like to attend:

Peace Gospel International: Coffee, Chai & Dessert Celebration

Thursday, November 11 at 7:00pm

Location: West University Baptist Church, West University, Texas

Again, thank you all for everything you do. We are all making an impact on an entire community!