MARYVILLE/SAINT LOUIS – Community members are invited to support a local nonprofit that provides education, healthcare and housing to children in Zambia. African Vision of Hope, based in Maryville, will host their 25th anniversary gala on Sept. 25, 2025, in St. Louis with special guests Dennis and Laura Quaid. Judi Bertels, who started African Vision of Hope with her husband 26 years ago, shared that the gala aims to raise $200,000 to build more classrooms while finding 40 new monthly donors to support Zambian students’ higher education. “We’re about four things: a Christ-centered education, rescuing children, allowing them to grow up healthy and safe, and also just giving them some critical life skills,” Bertels said. “What I love about working with these children and adults is, they don’t have any expectations. Everything they get is a gift, and every gift they get, they multiply.” Two decades ago, Bertels volunteered to house a group of Zambian boys who were visiting her church. She quickly realized that she needed to do more to support these children, who were victims of human trafficking. Her family started sending AIDS medication to one of the boy’s mothers, and they raised another child into adulthood. In Zambia, a little over half of the population is under 18 years of age. Bertels decided to start African Vision of Hope to support these kids. “It’s a country of children,” Bertels explained. “A lot of adults’ lives are gone from disease, AIDS. Life expectancy there is not good. I think for us, seeing the heartache of a child living on the street, living in a trash dump, being sold into marriage, being abused by whoever will take them in just so they can get a meal — it let us know that we have to do something about that.” It’s important to Bertels not to provide solutions, but rather to have “a listening ear.” African Vision of Hope aims to support kids and give them healthy, safe childhoods and an education. They currently have nine school campuses and several homes for kids. They employ over 200 adults as teachers and house parents. They are currently supporting 118 students in their higher education journeys around the world. The Greater St. Louis community can support these efforts at the upcoming gala on Sept. 25. There will be a silent auction, and Dennis and Laura Quaid have donated their time as speakers. Bertels looks forward to the event as a way to shine a light on the work they’re doing and find more donors and sponsors who want to support their efforts. Over the past 25 years, African Vision of Hope has done a lot, but Bertels noted there is always more work to be done. She shared a story of her first visit to Zambia, which encouraged her to double her efforts. Looking ahead, she hopes to continue to support the kids who she has come to know and love. “I walked into a building, and I’m talking a ten by ten block building with no windows. About 18 of our boys were sleeping in there on the floor. And I remember thinking to myself, this is not acceptable. Not on my watch,” Bertels said. “It was eye-opening, and it pushed me forward more.” For more information about African Vision of Hope, including how to purchase tickets to the gala, visit their official Facebook page.
