Two years after the death of its founder, a local missions group is starting to see his vision for the children of Uganda become reality.

Helping Hands Foreign Ministry founder Richard Kowalske died from malaria after returning from a trip to that African country, where he intended to set up a community for orphans and widows.

The community, Village of Eden, eventually will be a home for more than 2,000 children “that would otherwise have died on the street,” the ministry’s co-founder Brenda Kowalske said.

In a country that has limited access to medical care and clean drinking water, the village will be able to help a large number of people.

Many children die from simple diseases, Kowalske said. She said many families are happy just to have someone pray with them and let them know they are loved.

The hope is to teach the youth of Uganda about God and that they will take those teachings into the rest of the country and the world to spread the Gospel.

“We want them to grow up knowing you can deal honestly in truth and love, and God will take care of you,” Kowalske said.

The ministry recently purchased 133 acres of land in Uganda and began the initial phase of constructing the village.

Kowalske said it can sometimes be a difficult process to build in a foreign country. She said there have been a few hoops to jump through, which can be discouraging at times.

“The only way to explain what we’ve accomplished since March when we started building is God has opened the doors,” Kowalske said.

The first phase includes eight duplex cottages that will house 128 children, four classrooms, a library, a 500-seat church, two water wells, a security building, a barn and chicken house, a fish pond, agricultural supplies for planting 25 acres of corn, beans, coffee and sugar cane, fencing around the property and a few other amenities.  Kowalske said the estimated cost of the first phase is around $1.2 million. The ministry needs to raise another $650,000 to complete the first part of the project.

To help raise the needed funds, the ministry will hold its annual Legacy of Hope Gala on Aug. 25 at the Gwinnett Civic Center.

“We just plan to present the need and see what God will allow to happen that night. We’re very hopeful that God will preform a miracle and we’ll raise that money,” Executive Director Stan Bell said.

Bell said in the past more than 300 people have attended the gala events. He said because of the tremendous support last year — more than 320 people — they decided to change venues to allow more people to come. He praised the community for its support of the mission.

He said the ultimate goal of the evening isn’t just to raise money but to obey God’s command of making disciples.

Bell explained that making disciples of Christ takes on a lot of different forms. He said providing medical attention to a sick child or feeding the hungry can open doors and lead that person to follow Christ.

“Humans measure success by numbers and we measure success by being obedient to God’s calling and leaving the results up to him,” Bell said.  “... He’s brought everything that we needed at exactly the right time.”