Living Spring Church, Uganda: Quadplex Project
WHO: Living Spring Church, Fort Portal, Uganda
WHAT: Construction of a quadplex for the purpose of generating revenue through rental income.
WHEN: A construction period of 6-8 months, to be completed in 2021.
WHERE: On already-purchased property, strategically identified for this purpose in the heart of Fort Portal, Uganda.
WHY: The income will go toward two purposes— 1) Funding medical needs of orphans; and 2) investing in future revenue-generating projects to aid self-sufficiency.
HOW: The property has been purchased and titled. More than $80,000 has already been donated to the work. ABIDE Worldwide, a Washington state 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is looking to raise an additional $100,000 in the next six months to complete this project and propel Living Spring toward self-sufficiency as it cares for more than 600 widows and orphans and continues to plant churches in western Uganda.
BACKGROUND
Living Spring Church cares for more than 500 orphans in Fort Portal. The church places these orphans with hard-working widows, who cultivate an 11.5-acre piece of land near the church. They grow food for themselves and the orphans.
On the church property, a medical clinic provides care for the orphans, including regular treatment for malaria, parasites, and other common illnesses and injuries. For the past five years, the cost of this care has been covered by western donors.
This was never the long-term plan. From the beginning, the desire of both western donors and Living Spring leaders was the same: Develop an ongoing source of income so the church can care for these medical needs without outside dependency.
To this end:
Living Spring leaders surveyed the resources, opportunities, and gifts God has already given them.
They identified real estate as a pathway to increased self-sustainability. Located in a part of Uganda that has seen huge amounts of foreign investment in recent years, land and housing prices are on an upward trajectory.
A quadplex, considered upper-middle class living in Uganda, would net enough income to cover the medical costs of the church’s orphan population, effectively removing reliance on western support in this area.
While the rental income from the quadplex will be prioritized toward orphan medical care needs, a portion of the funds will also seed future revenue-generating projects to aid self-sufficiency.