Bears' Sam Acho, Living Hope Christian Ministries Set For Grand Opening Of Hospital In Nigeria

(CBS) Once mini-camp came to a conclusion Thursday afternoon, Bears linebacker Sam Acho departed from Halas Hall and went off on a mission important to him.

Acho is flying to Nigeria for another summer, where he will join his family and a large contingency for the grand opening of Living Hope Medical Center. It's a hospital built by his family's foundation and will serve those in need in Nigeria.

Acho has been doing a mission trip every summer since his childhood and continues to do so now as an NFL linebacker. This summer's trip is special to him, as he explained on the Spiegel and Parkins Show on Thursday.

"Every year, we go, we spend two weeks in Nigeria and we serve thousands of people, but then we leave and can't do anything," Acho said. "So my dad had a dream, a vision, to build a clinic, a medical center, something over there where we can get people help year-round.

"The great part about that is there are some American doctors who want to go and spend time there more than once. They're going to have a place to go and teach Nigerian doctors or teach residents, bring residents and be able to build something that's more sustainable."

Part of the money donated to this project came from the $50,000 awarded to Acho as the Bears' Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee in 2016, an honor given to him for his work with Living Hope Ministries.

Acho has received support from his Bears teammates, with 12 players spending their time recently to pack medicine for the trip. Devante Bausby, a former Bears teammate now with the Chiefs, will join Acho in Nigeria.

"The coolest part for me is to be able to see people pretty much have all hands on deck," Acho said.

You can donate to Living Hope Christian Ministries by clicking here.

Listen to Acho's full interview below.