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Pauls Valley Compassion Church Pastor Andy Davidson visited children in care at the House of Mordecai Children’s Home in Zambia, Africa, earlier this summer. The children went on a field trip to choose and purchase new shoes through donations from local partners. Courtesy Photo
Twelve Zambian orphans have a place to call home, thanks to local contributors.
Finding Grace, a non-profit organization led by Pauls Valley Compassion Church Pastor Andy Davidson, completed construction of an orphanage in Zambia, Africa, earlier this year. The project was made possible by Compassion Church, as well as local and international partners. The facility, House of Mordecai Children’s Home, accepted its first residents over the summer.
The 6,500-square-foot orphanage contains classrooms, boys’ and girls’ dorms, a kitchen, dining hall and office. It serves children ages 0-18 who have lost one or both of their parents. The orphanage currently serves 12 children but has the capacity to support up to 50 children.
Davidson said his vision for the orphanage began several years ago. He moved his family to Zambia in 2004 and served as the director of People to People, a child sponsorship program. He also built churches in rural areas and led ministry and construction teams throughout the country of Zambia.
During his time in the sub-Saharan country, he witnessed how Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) left children vulnerable. Of the 17 million people living in Zambia, over 1.2 million of them have been orphaned due to HIV and AIDS.
“There’s a lot of children who have lost one or both parents,” Davidson said. “Those children go live with aunts and uncles but oftentimes those families can’t afford to care for extra children.”
Davidson wanted to help. In 2014, he and his wife, Robyn, founded Finding Grace with the mission of assisting vulnerable and orphaned children in Zambia.
Finding Grace raised approximately $90,000 with the help of Compassion Church, community donations and partners across the globe.
Now that the orphanage is complete and accepting children, Davidson said his goal is that “children can grow spiritually, educationally and physically to where they can be productive members of society.”
“We partner with the Zambian government and social welfare to go into local villages and complete home assessments to see what kind of conditions these children are living in,” Davidson said. “We have had positive feedback from these villages and the families are happy to see that kids are able to be somewhere they can get proper care and education.”
Families of the orphaned children are permitted to visit the orphanage once a month to see the children and share a meal with them.
House of Mordecai Children’s Home provides shelter, education, clothing and food to the children it serves.
Pauls Valley and surrounding community members can sponsor a House of Mordecai child, see pictures or make monetary donations by visiting findinggracezambia.org.
Finding Grace is also planning a “Love. Serve. Go to Zambia” mission trip for June 2022.
The trip will include four days of outreach to House of Mordecai, two days of ministry in Chikankata farming region, one day visiting a local village church and two days exploring Victoria Falls.
Anyone interested joining the mission trip can contact Davidson by email at Andy@compassionchurch.cc. Those who would like to support the mission trip financially can mail a check to Finding Grace at 910 N. Willow St., Pauls Valley, OK 73075 or give via Venmo @compassionpv with a note “Zambia.”