Two years ago, Mountain Brook-native John Hudson's home was destroyed in a fire; he was laid off of his dream job; this, all while he and his wife, Samantha, were welcoming a new baby girl.
“We were sweetly broken,” says the 38-year-old architect. Those turn of events caused a major shift in his thinking, Hudson says. He realized what was more important than the house and the job – doing the work of the Lord.
“We wanted to serve the gospel above serving material things,” he says. “The gospel is more important than an American dream.”
Today, Hudson is doing just that. He started his own non-profit architecture firm, 100 Fold Studio, and goes into the mission fields around the world building houses, schools, orphanages, hospitals, even soccer fields, carrying the message of Christ along with his blueprints.
“How do you get an orphan off the streets,” Hudson asks, “a building.”
Hudson’s firm was recently approached about doing some work for Youth With A Mission, an international Christian volunteer movement operating in more than 150 countries and with a staff of nearly 16,000. The ministry had been housed on a former air force base in Montana and needed someone to come and make it feel more like a campus.
While doing work with the group, Hudson expressed his dream of giving architects-in-training the chance to intern on the mission field so that they can earn their needed experience and also help the needy. The folks at YWAM were excited and a partnership between the two was born.
YWAM invited Hudson, his family and firm to move to Montana and house their organization on the campus while they partner to do mission work. This month the Birminghamians are headed to Montana, a dream come true for Hudson, he says. He and his wife long dreamed to be missionaries.
Hudson hopes to create a global network of licensed architects and interns sending them all over the world in places like Haiti, Taiwan, and India. Currently, he is working with students at Auburn University with hopes of others. “It’s so exciting,” he says. “It feels like life that is truly life.”
“There are very few, licensed architects who work in the mission field,” he says. “We created a business model where you can do mission and get your license at the same time.”
100 Fold Studio is currently raising funds to help with operating costs. For more information about how you can donate, go to www.100foldstudio.org.
(Photo: John Hudson with his family.)