helping start small businesses

Through donations for chicken coops, as well as funds raised through Eli's Chicken Club, we have launched program providing small businesses to 4 local families.

It has been our experience that when a family is given a chicken coop business, while they are certainly blessed in the short-term, they have been unable to maintain and sustain the business over the long-term.  It is nothing more than the typical challenges you face when working in areas of extreme poverty.  How can you tell a family not to eat the meat that is outside in their chicken coop, when they are going hungry?

Therefore, we are launching a program that is designed to teach the families how to improve their longterm livelihood.  We have also been blessed to have the help and advice from a local veterinarian who has offered his time and effort throughout the term of the project.

Each of the 4 families have been given chicken coops and will soon receive the chickens, feed, vitamins, cleaning supplies, and vaccinations for the chicks.  Each family will be carefully trained and guided through the process of raising the baby chickens to maturity, selling the chickens at a profit, and buying another round of baby chicks.  Our goal is to see them through 2 rounds of buying & selling, and assuring that they understand the process well enough to sustain the business.

You can follow regular updates on this program at the Schmidt Family website, as they will be overseeing this special opportunity.

Please join us in prayer...  that the small business program will be a success and the families will catch on to the longterm vision.  Also, that the program will open up more possibilities for deeper connections and daily life ministry opportunities!