FORMER FAIRFIELD RESIDENT April Hancock has been in town since November raising funds for a new babies' home she is opening in Uganda. With Miss Hancock are her daughters, l-r, Rayah and Sarah. Former Fairfield resident and missionary Robin Hancock has been home from Uganda the past several months as she embarks on a new venture, opening her own facility to care for abandoned and orphaned babies.

As part of the effort, First Baptist Church of Fairfield is holding a reception for Miss Hancock at 6:30 p.m. Sunday in the Christian Life Center.

At the reception, the missionary will share her vision and needs for Zemba Children's Foundation, a non profit organization she founded and under which she is opening Acacia Tree Uganda.

"I am starting a new babies' home. I am doing something different now," the says.

Miss Hancock, 35, managed Hope House in rural Uganda for the past four years for New Hope Institute of Childcare and Family, an interdenominational Christian organization whose goal is to help the people of Uganda.

Her new venture is to work exclusively with orphans from infants through three years of age, taking in 10-12 at a time to care for them until they can be adopted.

"I'm hoping to be working in an area in which children are severely malnourished," she says. "I also hope to bring in sibling groups whenever possible."

The missionary is moving her operations from rural Uganda to the city of Entebba on the shores of Lake Victoria, and where there currently are no facilities working with orphaned babies.

A bonus in the move to an urban area is electricity, although it is unreliable at times—-in rural areas solar power is the norm for homes and buildings.

Miss Hancock first went to Africa on a mission trip to Zambia in 1991 during which she stayed 10 months and worked to establish three schools.

She has lived permanently in Uganda for almost five years and is adopting two girls that were in her care at New Hope—-Rayah Joy Kisakye, who is almost five, and Sarah Bella Nyakulu, 4. She currently is their legal guardian and will complete the adoption process when she returns to Uganda.

Rayah was abandoned at birth and Sarah's mother died. Sarah's father is still living and has had some contact with her, but Miss Hancock reports that he is elderly an in poor health.

She was accompanied by Rayah on a trip back to Fairfield three years ago, but Sarah is meeting some family members for the first time.

The 35-year-old embarked on a path of mission work when she was about 11 and visited her grandparents, the late Paul and Helen Cunningham, in Mexico where they worked as missionaries and participated with them in their work.

"It's always something in my heart I wanted to do," she says. "God definitely had a part in it."

She went to Zambia for 10 months after graduating Fairfield Christian Academy, then earned a bachelor of science degree in international business at Orel Roberts University in Tulsa, Okla.

Miss Hancock worked as a marketing assistant for ORU athletics and in marketing for another business, and made additional mission trips to Africa, Haiti and the Bahamas over the years.

In 2003 she formed her non profit organization to help fund her mission work and that of others, and in 2004 she made the move to Uganda.

She reports that she learned about managing an orphanage while working the past few years for New Hope, but also determined there are some things she would prefer to do differently. Last summer she started making plans to strike out on her own.

Starting a new orphanage will require about $40,000 for rent, baby formula, food and staff, and Miss Hancock has spent part of her time in Fairfield visiting at churches and with civic groups.

One reason for her extended stay in Fairfield is that she needed some "down time" before taking on the full responsibility of opening Acadia.

Miss Hancock's missionary work has become a family affair over the years—-her parents, Joe and April Hancock, have made several trips to Uganda and her mother spent two months there last year.

And, younger brother Kendall, 33, has taken up the cause. He is busy helping raise funds for the babies' home and also has embarked on his own mission work.

Kendall would like to work in northern Uganda, an area that has been engaged in civil war for 20 years, and has been helping to map water wells for villages.

Many people who live in the northern part of the country are confined to displaced persons camps because of violence—-they may work their fields during daylight, but return to the camps at night.

"My brother is helping me. He won't move there, but he will be going back and forth," Miss Hancock says.

Kendall lives in San Antonio and has been contacting churches and other organizations seeking support for Acacia, and they are in hopes that African Renewal Ministries will be able to sent a container of supplies for use in the home.

The 35-year-old points out that her mission work is not something she does for wealth, it is a calling she follows that is more spiritual.

"I've always loved babies and kids. The more I do it, the more I love it," she says.

Miss Hancock says it is rewarding to take in an abandoned child, nurse it to good health and then find a loving home for the child.

"I think what it is, is it's fullfilling. I think it's what God has called me to do," she declares.

The missionary plans to return to Uganda on Aug. 17 to open the new home.