CBF field personnel work to help local businesses become sustainable in Uganda.

By Jade Acker

“We are working on becoming more locally sustainable,” is an easy statement to make. It’s best to keep it vague. In 2016 we had the idea of starting to generate funds locally. The saying, “if you plant it in Uganda, it grows” was a motivating factor. We had a Shark Tank type event where we selected local businesses to invest in to generate local funding. Our team envisioned local businesses becoming an immediate success through the small investments, generating enough funding to be locally sustainable in a mere five years.

It’s 2023 and we’ve tried having a farm, having a security company, doing clean filtered water sales, a cooking business, a sewing business and most recently a thrift store. We’ve lowered our expectations as many of these businesses have not thrived. If we can get 51% of our funding from local sources this will be a MAJOR success. We are not near that yet. We are at 10%…but we are continuing to “plant it in Uganda.” And raising 10% of funds from Uganda is working on becoming more locally sustainable.

Sustainability is a great word, but we are trying to make it more than just a statement. This requires hard work. Along the way we have learned and adjusted. We have had some success and some failures, but we have continued to empower refugees. Most recently we divided our Sustaining Hope ministries into two different categories. The first was focused on employment of refugees, where they could work in a safe environment, learn a skill, learn about Jesus and in the next two to three years, break even. The goal is not to be profitable but to be sustainable and require little to no outside funding. This is part of our Business as Ministry (BAM) in sustainability.

The second category of Sustaining Hope was focused on becoming profitable. To partner with local businesses or have 100% of a business to make a profit and to employ refugees in a safe environment where they could learn a skill and about Jesus. While it was a subtle difference to either break even or make a profit, it was a good change to make. If we partner with a business or have 100% of the business, we call that Business as Ministry. 

Over the past few years, we have learned a lot about BAM. There is a whole Christian community that focuses on this. We are just starting to scratch the surface on becoming locally sustainable. But we now see that this is not going to be a short journey. We continue to remember the One who truly sustains us and our ministries in Uganda. It is God. He has called us to work, serve, sacrifice and invest in others. We are privileged to be here in Uganda serving Him. We are privileged to be on this journey and are thankful to CBF who continues to provide for our presence to be in Uganda. And we are thankful for those who give to CBF to help us find new avenues of sustainability as we work to become more sustainable.