Our Mission
Restoring Hope and Dignity One Family at a Time
What is Family Sponsorship?
Make a Difference Now
Africa Family Rescue exists to bring health hope and the gospel to poorest of the poor in the most needy parts of Africa. Our primary way to reaching and serving these at-risk families is through Family Sponsorship.
We currently have the privilege of serving in Uganda. Local churches and case workers identify and confirm those who are in desperate need of help and provide us the unique opportunity to step in and change their lives by both improving living conditions and developing a relationship.
One of the benefits of Africa Family Rescue being a small ministry is that you are able to develop and foster authentic one-on-one relationships with your sponsored family. You will be able to write letters, send gifts, and receive updates with pictures or short videos. If you want to take it a step further, you can join us on our annual mission trip and meet your family in person, a truly powerful moment.
In our nearly two decades of service, we’ve been honored to be ambassadors for nearly 1000 families, but our mission is not complete until every widow and orphan has been rescued from the absolutely unacceptable circumstances they live in. No child should be starving and no mother should have to watch her children suffer when the future is so easily altered through an intimate partnership like yours! We hope to have you join us.
SPONSORSHIP FAQS
The first year, we expect the families to focus on food, health, clothing, household items like pans and jerry cans for water. The family is trained twice a month by the caseworker and the AFR staff. They work on their budget and the 80/20 principle which is living on 80%, giving 10% and saving 10%. At the same time, we have also asked them to participate in a savings program like SAACO which is a cooperative group allowing them to pool their resources together in groups. This creates a high priority in planning for their business whether they are physically capable or not. It helps create income in the long term.
The second year, we expect families to be healthier, attend church and community events. They are growing in dignity and are recognized as a respected voice in the village. They focus on planting, purchasing livestock, shelter repairs, long term budgeting and they start investing in their self-sustaining business plan.
The third and final year, we expect families to look after the newcomers. They have enough experience to know how to help lead others in budgeting and self-care. They work in associations to create a dynamic team environment of support. The families are beginning to sustain themselves and care for their children through their income generation. Once they are in the AFR family, they will always be an AFR family. Graduation is an honored time and a lot of respect and dignity has replaced the broken family that used to exist. We celebrate their independence!
In some situations, we have handicapped or very ill families that are unable to move quickly through the program. We individually evaluate their independence capability as we close in on the third year and see what we can do to maximize their capabilities. If we feel that they need a little more time, we will ask you if you are willing to continue the sponsorship. In these circumstances, we can adjust and accommodate the additional
time needed with your help. We do recognize that, in some situations, the best that can be expected is investment in animal husbandry and the savings cooperative which yields more profit long term. If a family has a home, we often recommend the building of a separate rental unit which is helpful passive income monthly.
We do have families that are completely homeless and while the sponsorship covers shelter improvement it does not cover new home construction. Our organization does have some incredibly generous people who are able to afford to build a home for a family. The cost is approximately $6,000 depending on the type of home we build. Women can now own land and it is a permanent residence which is incredibly helpful for
stability for the family in the long term.
When we do not have a donor for a family in this situation, some families will rent a small building and stay in it. This is necessary for housing, but it is’t always the best-case scenario long term because rent is high and income generation needs to then cover rent and family needs. We ask that if you have any opportunity to provide long term housing for a family in Uganda, please let us help you facilitate this crucial piece of stability for them. Our organization has built over 400 homes in Africa and we are so blessed to see the women and children leading healthy and happy lives.
YES! Families can use ALL the help you can offer in addition to sponsorship. It is not mandatory, but we encourage you to consider little extra gifts like livestock or financial gifts during Christmas, and annual trips to Uganda. When hospitalizations or emergencies take place, these extra gifts help so they don’t fall behind in their progress. If you feel called to do something unique for your family, please let me know how we can help you make that dream a reality. Some unique individual gifts that have been provided are electricity, prosthetic limb, clothing, sewing or popcorn machines, and much more.
Letters and meeting with your family are all encouraged. Letters should focus on your interest in their lives and who is in your family, what your work is like, pictures, and your relationship with God. Please do not mention income or financial numbers in the letters.
Our organization checks the letters before they are sent to make sure they will not be misunderstood by someone living in a third world country. Small things that have been mentioned before that needed to be changed were tax burdens, expectations of conversions to Christianity, pictures of large homes and cars, etc. We will let you know in the kindest way possible if there is something that may need to be worded for the benefit of the family. You can expect letters to come two times a year; sometime in the spring and sometime in the fall.
Yes. Every week our staff meets to discuss family issues that have arisen. Africa Family Rescue is transparent with the information we hear from the field. We are alerted if there is a hospitalization, a family change of location, land purchases or if the caseworker has discovered a child that has been relocated to a grandparent’s home for a holiday visit or for attending a preferred school. In rare cases, a widow may choose to not agree to participate in business development or in some cases become married, at which point we prefer to graduate them from the program early for the protection of your
generous donations.
We will alert you to any life-threatening circumstances as well as unwillingness to align with program guidelines. There are so many families waiting that you can continue being part of the sponsorship program with a new family.
The cost of the sponsorship is $83 a month. $3 is the Paypal fee, $7 is used to pay for Ugandan staff medical needs, and $1 the international wire transfer. A portion of the money that goes to Africa covers the support staff, transportation, office costs in Uganda, banking fees and caseworker costs. Other than that, ALL your family sponsorship donations reach Africa and the support of your family. Our administrative costs in the United States are raised through other fundraising.
The money goes directly into the account of your family. Therefore, if one month is missed from a donor, the family will not receive their funding. It is crucial for the families to complete their sponsorship program in its entirety. If you are interested in helping cover emergency funds for families, please let us know.
Please let me know if you have any questions! We look forward to partnering with you and making a difference one family at a time!
Family Transformation
Sponsoring a family is a three year monthly financial commitment. Our 3 year recovery process for sponsored families has proven to be incredibly fruitful.
Selected families are so poor that many do not have food up to 3-4 days at a time, have almost no clothing, no mosquito nets, no cooking pots, no bedding, and most of the family has health care issues including malaria or AIDS. With this in mind, during year one, we use the sponsorship to focus on food, clothing, household items, and health. The family is trained twice a month by an AFR case worker to budget their new assistance based on the 80/20 principle which guides the family to live on 80% of their sponsorship, give 10% away, and save 10%. As a family sponsor you are like the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:34-35 who picks up one dying man from the ground, takes him to the doctor and walks with him until he is sure that he is on his feet again.
During the second year of sponsorship, the family is encouraged by their AFR case worker to put the children in school, make any urgent shelter repairs, purchase livestock, and begin planting their crops. Most of our families have been so poor that they have sold themselves as slaves, working for neighbors digging and farming. During the second year we partner with experts on rural farming and livestock breeding to allow the families to have the most success possible.
During the third year of sponsorship the focus becomes establishment of micro business for self-sufficiency. Throughout the entire 3 year process, families are told that the sponsorship will end in 36 months, and that their goal is to replace the monthly sponsorship money with their own business profits. During this last 12 months a family works diligently on utilizing savings to move into self employment. Some of the micro business ventures are bike taxis, agricultural sales, construction, barber, livestock sales, weaving, etc. One widow in Rwanda started with 2 bee hives, and by the end of her sponsorship she had 88 bee hives, earning herself the title “Queen Bee” in her community!
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.