Interviews of the farm market and mini mart staff

Two projects of the Village of Hope are the Farm Market and the Mini Mart. The goals of these two projects are to provide work for people, and to help support the children at the Village. Both together employ 6 people, not counting the others who are hired to do odd jobs. At the Farm Market they sell vegetables, fruit, eggs, and chickens. They also do what is called an outreach where they go and drive to the small roadside markets and sell their produce. The Mini Mart sells miscellaneous household items and food. I also bake cookies and sell them there.

My Father is the Mentor for Economic Development. He is in charge of keeping the Market and Mart open and increasing the volume of business. He is always thinking of new ways to make it more attractive, different things they should sell, and new ways of getting them. He helps with the staff and hiring. He has organized steering committees to oversee the businesses. As a result, he has brought order and timeliness that has enabled things to run more smoothly. He has a very capable staff, all of which are very kind and helpful. I interviewed some of them to get their perspective on the projects. Let me introduce the people to you:


Dad delivering potatoes

Sharon is the restaurant manager, but since it is not open yet and still under construction, she is in charge of the Mini Mart. She supervises the Mini Mart, makes decisions as to what should be there, and watches over the construction of the takeaway restaurant. She has had much experience in the restaurant business since she used to be a restaurant manager at Maple Hurst. I asked her what she thought God had done for her since she had been working at the Village of Hope. She said that He has given her wisdom all the time and allows her to interact with all types of people from all walks of life: atheists, Christians, poor and rich. She says her purpose for working here is to bless people. She blesses everyone who comes in with a cheerful attitude and good products, and she blesses the Village of Hope by providing extra money to help the children at the Village of Hope.


Sharon

Mr. Chingenge is the manager of the Farm Market. His purpose is to serve customers and to make it a welcoming environment. He is always busy, and works very hard. He says he really does it to serve the children, not to make money for himself. When I asked him how God had blessed him in his work, he told me that it was through God’s provision of this job. This is the first job he has had. A Christian environment, good pay, and a way to serve are some of the things for which he is grateful.


Mr. Chingenge and Dad

Sylvia is a sales clerk for the Mini Mart. She greets customers and gives them a warm welcome. Her purpose, as she told me, is to make people happy and to keep them coming. She has had many different experiences in life. The main types of jobs she has had must have been very interesting. She used to be a housemother for abused children, and worked many different places. Then she came to the Village of Hope. As she said, the Lord has blessed her from the time she was born, up until this present day.


Sylvia

Gift is also a sales clerk. He keeps track of the sales and keeps the environment clean. He also goes with Dad to do the outreach. Before he came, he had just completed high school. He feels the hand of God on his life in many ways. Many people want a steady, well paying job like he has, but he is the one who got it. The Lord is the one who gave it to him, he says. When I asked Dad how Gift contributes to his job, Dad said that he always does his job cheerfully, serves the Lord gladly, dresses nicely, and is always singing.


Gift

Alex works as one of the guards. He makes sure no one steals, and gives a warm welcome to the customers. Previously, he had a similar job keeping the books at a store. I asked one of his co-workers what is one thing that Alex contributes to his job. He replied that he is always doing his job professionally and especially gives a good reception to the customers.


Alex

Dustin, a young man visiting for 13 or 14 weeks from America has gotten the chicken business started. The work ethic over here is not the best ever, and he has had a struggle getting started, but he has had many opportunities to invest in people’s lives. Sometimes he takes a group of boys from the Village of Hope to help him. Besides raising chickens, his purpose in being here, is to help aspire people for a higher goal and to help them get a vision for their life.

The chicken business has involved building from scratch chicken coops out of old housing for staff. He has had to deal with getting materials such as drinkers, waters, feed, vaccine, vitamins, egg trays, and many other things. He has also had to figure out a selling system, how to purchase the best chickens, and how to expand the chicken houses.

Before he came here, his hobby had always been birds. When he met Mr. Schwartz, they immediately hit it off and discussed how they could get a chicken business going. Dustin was glad of the opportunity because it gave him a reason to go to Africa. After two years of communication, he came in the end of June.

It has been a blessing for my father to work with these people and to use the gifts that God has given him that he used in the computer industry. Even though there are daily struggles and issues he know that God works all things together for his glory. He also recognizes that the focus is not the farm market or the mini mart, but the children of the Village of Hope.


Dustin and a chicken