Designed to serve: Lakeside architecture firm has unique mission

Partnership is a word that comes up often in a conversation with John Hudson.

Whether it’s a children’s restoration campus in Thailand or a high school for orphans in Zambia, Hudson knows the nonprofit architecture firm he and his wife Samantha founded in 2010 — 100 Fold Studio — is just one component in the big picture of providing charitable care on a global scale.

Based at the Youth With A Mission campus in Lakeside, 100 Fold is a rare venture. It’s one of a very few Christian-based nonprofit architecture firms working worldwide to provide affordable and innovative design services to those in need.

The nonprofit firm is based on the Bible verse Mark 4:20: “Hear the Word, embrace it and bear fruit — thirty, sixty and a hundredfold.”

100 Fold provides pro bono architectural services, enabled by financial donations from churches, businesses, families and “a network of hundreds,” Hudson said.

Donors also cover the cost of international travel that’s necessary to design facilities in the far corners of the world, from Nepal to Zimbabwe. Those donors range from children offering up a pocketful of change to philanthropists looking for mission projects to support.

“We’re a trusted resource that connects them (donors) to a project,” Hudson said.

“We’re committed to demonstrating the love of Jesus by designing safe, efficient and inspiring structures for all, regardless of religion, ethnicity or tradition,” Hudson said, explaining 100 Fold’s mission. “We help ministries expand their impact. It’s all about partnerships.”

As nonprofit organizations grow, they require structures that facilitate their various missions.

“100 Fold guides these visionaries through complex design decisions so they can focus on their outreach,” Hudson said.

It’s collaboration at its finest. During a recent project in Israel, Christian architects worked with Israeli city officials and a construction engineer who was an Arab Muslim.

“Relationships are built through these work environments,” Hudson said. “We want them to see the love of Christ demonstrated.”

The studio enables architecture school graduates to serve in missions while earning hours toward their professional license. Architects must complete a three-year internship under a licensed architect, similar to a medical residency, Hudson said.

Each intern typically has two projects going at the same time; one localized project, such as building designs for any expansion or renovation at the YWAM campus or other area churches and Bible camps, and a global project “for what they have a heart for,” Hudson said.

Teams sent out for design work include a licensed architect, two interns and an administrator.

“Travel is an important part of the training,” he added. In some countries, travel may mean riding over rough roads in the back of a truck. “As a nonprofit we’re trying to fill a need in areas that don’t have access to architects.”

If there are architects available in the area where a facility is being planned, 100 Fold can serve as a consultant for a project.

100 Fold currently is focused on designing a mission training center and community services facility in Cambodia. One of the Cambodians involved with the project told Hudson that “millions of people will be impacted” by the new center.

“It gives hope to a new [or developing] nation; it gives them an inspiring environment,” he said.

Fundraising is underway for a YWAM training center in Dadeldhura, Nepal. That projects brings the Hudsons’ personal mission full circle. 

Nepal is where the seeds for 100 Fold were planted. The Hudsons traveled to Nepal in 1999, aiming to use their professional skills and serve in mission work.

A Nepali man pointed out that if Hudson was a licensed architect, he could get a visa for a longer duration of mission work in Nepal. And, the man stressed, Nepal needed more training centers and someone to design them.

Hudson, a Birmingham, Ala. native, returned to the United States and set about getting his Bachelor of Science degree in architecture and then his master’s, both from the University of Virginia.

During his education he learned about Rural Studio, an off-campus design-build program of Auburn University in Alabama. The studio offers architecture students a hands-on educational experience working with underserved populations.

Hudson pondered how he could accomplish something similar. Samantha Hudson, who serves as ministry coordinator for 100 Fold, also had a heart for serving and had served with YWAM in Hawaii.

Before they could launch their nonprofit endeavor, though, Hudson needed to rack up some years of experience as a licensed architect, which he did, working for several firms and launching his own firm in 2008.

The national recession became a catalyst for 100 Fold. While working on a project to convert an old ice-skating rink into a church and community center, Hudson got to know the contractor for the project.

“When the recession hit, he ended up at YWAM [in Lakeside] to become their facilities director,” Hudson recalled. “He invited us to come up in 2009... we mapped out five to 10 years of building here. It was an opportunity to get back into mission work.”

As 100 Fold began designing buildings in foreign countries, Hudson said he began to see how his years of experience had prepared him. High-end condominiums designed for a project in Florida provided design elements useful for housing in Cambodia. It was a Robin Hood-like feeling, he said — serving the affluent while learning how to serve the poor.

“Only God can see those things come together,” he said. “You see things evolve over decades.”

One of the next steps for 100 Fold will be to incorporate a medical mission component that will allow Samantha, a registered nurse, to lead that effort. As the ministry coordinator she handles a lot of the travel details for the firm. She’s also on the home front; the couple has four daughters ages 6 to 12. And you’ll find her out in the community, too. She helped establish reading and math tutoring programs, and launched an afterschool program in Lakeside called Club 3:16.

“The kids have been on outreach to Mexico,” Hudson said. “It deeply impacted their lives. You learn to appreciate what you have.”

For more information about 100 Fold Studio, go online to www.100foldstudio.org. Donations may be made online or send to 100 Fold Studio, P.O. Box 1160, Lakeside, MT 59922.

 Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.