Hello friends,

Let’s take a trip.

It’s January of 2017. Tia and I show up in Bulembu, Eswatini with no idea what we are doing.

Fast forward.

It’s January of 2026. Copy & paste.

Same story, with a few things in between:

Three boys born in three different countries.
A fourth boy born in heaven
A business opened and a business closed for Nate
7 moves

I wasn’t joking. We really don’t know what we’re doing sometimes.

And yet, I find it incredibly comforting that God does. We play the part of simply showing up.

When we started our ministry someone told me,

“It takes a decade to make a difference in Africa.”

We are officially in our 10th year now! Someone find that guy!

From 2017 to 2026:
16 homes built in Eswatini.
2 community bathrooms constructed serving hundreds of people.
2 community waterlines installed serving over 1,000 Swazis.
5 farmers launched from zero to full operation.
5 additional farmers supported, bringing the total to 10 families sustained through chicken farming…

Written in memory of our fourth son, Judah Tucker Burlingame,
born already in heaven on the afternoon of October 20th.

“Hevel, hevel, all is hevel, a vapor, a breath, meaningless, a chasing after the wind.”
The Teacher looked upon everything done under the sun:
the labor of the hands, the brilliance of the mind,
the wisdom of the wise and the folly of the fool.
Time swallows them all.

Yesterday I read this summary of Ecclesiastes:
“Go climb a mountain, and see if it cares.”

Today I read the story of William Shanks and thought,
“Go move a mountain, and see if it even matters.”

In the 1800s, William Shanks spent twenty years calculating the digits of π by hand.
Before he started, 500 digits were already established.
He died believing he had reached 707 places,
a lifetime of patience and precision for those couple hundred decimals.
Decades later, machines revealed his work was wrong after the 527th digit.
Two decades of devotion, undone in an instant…

What is home?

Over the years, I’ve called more than thirty-three different front doors “home.” Since Tia and I got married, we’ve lived in nine homes, soon to be ten. Yet, believe it or not, the longest we’ve ever stayed anywhere has been right here on McIntosh Drive in Prescott, Arizona—the home we built together in 2022…

My first childhood home burned down more than twenty years ago. Still, every time I’m back in Washington State, I drive by where it once stood. It isn’t even there anymore. So what am I looking for? Am I hoping to be taken back there, or trying to carry something from it forward with me?

I look for the tree that once held a tire swing. I glance far behind the lot, wondering if the pond is still tucked away back there. I remember the outbuilding with big windows that became my mom’s little hair salon—and the day I ran through it, butt naked, shouting, “Everybody, look at me! I’m NAKED!”

My mom has another memory of that same salon, its big windows framing several clients in their chairs, looking out toward the back porch—where there I was once again, butt naked, peeing off the edge like it was my stage…

We’re excited to share that we’re adding our 6th chicken farmer to the Abide Well feeding program in Eswatini. This new partner is a single mother of four who recently grieved the loss of her own mother, a woman who was deeply rooted in the community. Her story is not uncommon. Many of our farmers have faced hardship, loss, and sacrifice. And yet, they continue to show up with resilience, purpose, and faith.

Through their work, we’ve now served over 14,000 chicken-based meals to children across three schools and the Bulembu orphanage. These aren’t just numbers. These are real meals served by real people, feeding real children. 

For us, this is more than food. It’s a ministry of dignity and restoration. We want to see families thrive. We want our farmers to flourish. And above all, we want their work to glorify Jesus.

When we support a farmer, we’re not just delivering poultry, we’re planting hope. And as each farmer provides for their family and community, they become part of something far bigger than a meal.

Our newest chicken farmer - Nomsa Zikalala - Is not just a a cog in the machine to get us to 25,000 meals served this year, she is part of our mission.

Thank you for being a part of this mission with us as well.

Two families are going to sleep soundly tonight. For the first season of their lives, they are experiencing what it is like to live in a home that isn’t made from sticks and mud. This home, which they can truly call their own, with durable walls made of concrete, marks the start of a new chapter filled with hope and security. Tonight, they won’t worry about the safety of their loved ones or fear that a sudden storm could cause their walls to crumble. Their children can sleep peacefully, knowing they are protected by a strong, stable structure. This new home doesn’t just offer shelter—it provides dignity, peace of mind, and the promise of a better future. It’s a tangible reminder that with support and community effort, these families are moving towards stability. Tonight, they sleep, not with fear, but with gratitude.

The Shongwe family has been trying to build their strong home for over 10 years. Mandla Shongwe is one of our lead builders at Abide Well. The first time I met Mandla was 2017. From the day we met, he expressed to me his excitement over finishing his home one day. In 2025, that dream finally became a reality. In June, Mandla and his family moved into their new strong home.

I have a post it note above my desk that says 

“REMINDER: DON’T FORGET ANYTHING”. 

I put it there a couple years ago. It is surrounded by other, more actionable post it notes that actually contain helpful information. 

This might shock you, but I still forget things. That note is to0 broad and too big to be a helpful post it note. But it makes me laugh, so I keep it.

What would serve as a helpful checklist when it comes to our faith? An attempt might look something like this:

Attend church

Volunteer

Read devotional

Tithe

Etc.

Do these things make our joy full though? It can be frustrating if the answer is “no” because what then? If doing isn’t the answer? A productive, Western-oriented mindset prefers the concrete make-it-happen checklist. Jesus almost seems to affirm this “joy formula” (do this thing and then have joy) in John 15…

Our name, Abide Well, is established in two worlds.

In scripture, Jesus speaks of the vine and the branches—of abiding in Him to bear good fruit. In Swazi culture, everyday partings carry the words “stay well” and “go well.” Together, they form a phrase that holds both spiritual and cultural meaning. To abide well is to remain rooted in Him through all of life’s coming and goings.

This language originates in John 15, where Jesus is speaking to His disciples just before His death and resurrection…

Welcome back. We took a little breath there so I could collect my thoughts and to give your inbox a break. We’ll continue the series soon but first we wanted to make an announcement.

We have a new logo and identity! There is so much work that went into this and we couldn’t be happier. We believe it reflects our vision and mission in a more complete way. What this means visually is we’ll have a new logo, as well as new colors and fonts. Plus a bunch of stuff no-one else cares about except us. We’re going to explain the decisions made in future emails and social media.

But what we really love is how our new logo, and mission and vision statements, reflect our heart. In April, I’ve written about identity. For Tia and I, our identity is torn between two places. It has been since 2017. Abide Well’s new vision and mission is simply a reflection of our heart for both places. This isn’t a new vision as much as it is a “reveal” - putting down in writing what we’ve already known…

We are Her.

And We are Her Accusers.

I mentioned yesterday that Jesus touched dirt twice in scripture. One thing I didn’t mention, when was that second time? It’s my favorite Jesus story in the Bible*.

John 8:1-11* …The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him,

“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” 

This they said to test him, that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground. But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Who do you identify with in this story? I think a lot of people tend to lean heavily one direction or another. For me, it is context dependent. Sometimes I relate to the woman and other times I’m positive that I was picking up stones off the ground…

My oldest son Jack has a business and he has recruited his brothers to help. They think they invented mud. They mix water and dirt, and they make mud balls. They call them mud cakes. They think they are great. They think they could sell these mud cakes for several dollars each from the side of the road. For my three sons, this is a business that cannot fail.

Their grandma and grandpa said they would buy several mud cakes, if only they lived closer to us. So now the boys believe they have a market for their mud. We have an established mud ball factory behind our home. They also employ friends to make mud cakes. We don’t pay them anything. The payment is in the process (getting to play in mud). 

So somehow Jack has a business with $0 in sales, $0 in expenses, but a profit that can’t be matched. Community. He’s taking after his mother, who started “cookie chats” a couple years ago (we have parents and children over to our house for cookies and community every week). 

He is also taking after his father, running a business with $0 that eventually fails. No wait! Lets use a different example. He’s like his father, because he’s running a non-profit organization, working hard, and getting his hands dirty! There, a much better comparison…

Last night I sent an email asking you to join me in a journey looking at what it means to Abide Well. If you missed that last email click here to read it. With some sage advice from a friend, I decided, let’s just get this done quick. After my three boys get a bedtime story each night, I’ll write up and shoot you an abide email too! I’m only partially joking, I’ve been working up the courage to send these articles for months, some were written in 2024. But really, you’ll get an email every evening this weekend. Don’t unsub just yet.

I’ll keep the emails shorter, I promise! Griffy (my youngest) falls asleep each night two sentences into my story, just promise me you’ll make it longer than that. (You already have, good job)

1 John 2:6
“Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked…”

Each night, I tell my children a bedtime story. Every single night, at the end of my story, they ask the same question: “DAD! Is this going to be a trilogy?” I always say yes! “It is a trilogy! It will continue, tomorrow night!” The next evening, I start with, “Okay, now, we can only continue the trilogy if you remember last night’s story!” I ask them this because I almost never remember what it was. They haven’t caught on—please don’t tell them. If one of them can remember, then we continue the trilogy; sometimes, a trilogy becomes a quadrilogy, a pentalogy, or even a decalogy. They don’t know those words (Does anyone?—I looked them up), so they usually just ask if we could “please do a 6-part trilogy, Dad!”

At the end of this email, I’d like to invite you to continue this series about what it means toAbide in Christ. But first, let’s reflect on Easter.

On Sunday, one of our pastors, Andrew Wilkinson, gave a message at our church—Restoration Church—and challenged us to “investigate Jesus” instead of simply thinking of faith as “fire insurance” (simply avoiding hell). It was a great message.

For much of my life, my thinking was: If Jesus was real and I believed He rose from the dead, then I’d go to heaven. But if His resurrection wasn’t real, then who cares? We’d all end up in the same place. This is a philosophical argument  associated with Blaise Pascal: It is a safer bet to believe in God because if God exists, the believer gains eternal happiness in heaven, while if God does not exist, the believer loses nothing significant…

Do you know what Abide Well actually does?

I mean, “rural community development” is technically accurate, but that’s a broad term. What do we really do?

Every time I try to explain what we do, I end up wanting to explain how and why we do it. I want to dive into James 1:27, the story of the Good Samaritan, the widow’s offering, Jeremiah, the woman at the well… those stories shape everything we do. I love storytelling — from Scripture, from my childhood, from our life — and my hope is always that these stories help you connect a little more with the heart behind this work. You’ll see that thread in a lot of our email and social media updates.

But for today, I’m sticking to the what. Because I think it’s a question a lot of people genuinely have.

In the simplest terms, Abide Well runs two core programs:

a Feeding Program and a Building Program…

Schools are now back in session and, we are thrilled to announce that the first batch of chickens has already arrived from all our farmers.

We are excited to announce that we have just delivered 800 meals! That’s right, we have now served 800 meals this year and there will be thousands more served in the next month. The number of meals pick up significantly in February, March and April.

We also have exciting news, The number of Abide Well chicken farmers has just gone up! We have two new farmers and here is what they would like to share.

Sbongile Mavimbela:

“Before becoming a chicken farmer I ran a small preschool business…Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, I lost a large number of kids and my business stopped bringing me an income.

I could not pay rent for the preschool anymore, I was worried about my son’s school fees and if I would be able to feed my family in the months ahead.

Just when I thought all hope was lost Abide Well showed up and offered me the opportunity to become one of their chicken farmers.

No words can express the joy and relief I feel every time I think about the future. Now I can cover my son's school fees and put food on the table for the rest of my family.

Thank you so much Abide Well for always supporting me and my family…”

As a child, my family lived on Leland Lake in Washington State. On our rural vacant lot we lived a bit on the wild side. At times living in a motor home, a barn, a mobile home, or even a tent as my dad worked on building our home. We spent most of our time outdoors on the lake.

Every summer, my Uncle David, who is hard of hearing would visit, and with his arrival came my dad's favorite joke to tell. One night around the table we all knew it was coming and collectively rolled our eyes. My dad would turn and ask our family in a hushed voice, “How do you sell a chicken to a deaf guy?” He would then turn to David and shout as loudly as possible in his ear, “WANNA BUY A CHICKEN?!” David didn’t laugh. He also didn’t want to buy a chicken.

I have no idea why, but that punchline became a family hallmark. The setup question no longer mattered. From then on, in any situation and completely out of context, us kids would just yell straight into a sibling’s ear “WANNA BUY A CHICKEN?!” It became a nonsensical family tradition.

Eventually it expanded from our household. We had no chicken farm, yet we were asking everyone within earshot if they’d like to buy a chicken. I know it isn’t funny, but for us, it was. We would ask complete strangers in grocery stores or yell it to cars passing by on the highway. As for me, I began to yell it across Lake Leland. I noticed how far my little nine-year-old voice could carry across the lake, asking if anyone out there wanted to buy a chicken, even though we had no chickens to sell! Come on, that’s a great prank, like ding-dong-ditching, right? Or maybe just entertainment for a nine-year-old…

The impact of the Feeding Program extends far beyond providing meals; it has fostered a renewed enthusiasm for education among the children. Many of these students come from impoverished backgrounds, and the prospect of a nutritious meal has become a motivating factor in their desire to attend school. The school principal has reported a remarkable increase in both attendance and pass rates, further underscoring the program's positive influence on the students' academic journey…