Mary's Musing

September 2019

Entrusted with Increase – 4 Acres of New Land

In Matthew 25:21, Jesus tells the Parable of the Bags of Gold. The master gave bags of gold to his servants, according to their ability. And he praised and rewarded the servants who were faithful with a few things and put them in charge of many things. Being servants that God has entrusted with a ministry in Haiti, Rod and I have been praying about how we can make a lasting, sustainable impact there. God answered by giving us an increase.

In July, we purchased a 4-acre piece of land, a mile away from our existing home/land in Haiti. The property will be developed into a training center, demonstration gardens, and experimental gardens using vegetables and crops. We will be setting up a model farm using Farming God’s Way’s biblical, management, and technological solutions that are fully reproducible for Haitian farmers.

We are building up and equipping nationals as they continue to break off the dependency/poverty mindset. This only happens when they come to know Jesus and see God’s all-sufficiency.

I’m not sure how the servants in the parable felt about their responsibilities to care for many more things. But I do know that we are humbled and standing on God to provide us wisdom and financial resources to make this happen. We want to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Come and share your master’s happiness.”

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Smiling Boss Jello and Jhanson

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Beautiful 'Farming God's Way' Corn Field

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Neighbors Field of Corn

Boss Jello (Gee-low) has farmed his whole life. He attended one of our Farming God's Way trainings and immediately began utilizing this method on his land. The above pictures are the results. The corn was healthy, tall and uniform, with many stalks bearing 2 ears, very unusual for Haiti. When I asked what Boss Jello thought of this new method, he happily reported that it was much easier planting his fields, he used very few seeds, keeping his input costs down, and the corn developed better. He is so proud of his beautiful corn field and so are we!

Corn yield success story: Nasson, a farmer who planting a 30' x 30' section of his farm in Farming God's Way last season, reported a harvest of 70 cups from this small section. The rest of his field yielded 7 cups. Farming God's Way produced 10-fold increase in a much smaller area. Nasson exclaimed he would be planting more land in Farming God's Way this season.

Farming God's Way isn't only a technique but a heart change. 2 Chronicles 7:14 "Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."

It is our ultimate desire that people come to know Jesus as their Savior and walk out the destiny that He has for them. Farming God's Way is a wonderful tool that we can use to share the gospel but also provides sustainable profitability for our farmers. It is our desire to break the dependency mindset and help equip farmers to help themselves. We are beginning to see this happen!

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Jhanson and Kerwin at Training

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Trainer Jhanson at Work

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Mary and Rod Learning the Ropes

Knowledge is Power

Back to school came early for my team. Jhanson and Kerwin, my 16 year old helper, attended an Agricultural Conference in Northwestern Haiti. After Jhanson explained Farming God's Way, the conference leaders asked him to present this information for the group. He taught for 2 hours! They asked him to come back for their next conference and present for a whole day! This is how mission work is sustained; training nationals to train peers. I am bursting with joy and pride!

Rod and I also increased our knowledge at a Farming God's Way conference in Indiana. It was an amazing time being surrounded by other like-minded Christians who want to equip the poor to come out of poverty. We were doubly blessed to have Grant Dryden, the South African who developed the training material for Farming God's Way, as our main presenter. I can't wait to get back to Haiti to begin the model gardens on our new land!

Opportunity to Partner with Us

Though not all are called to be missionaries overseas, all are called to help the poor. Deuteronomy 15:10 "Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do." Why give money to Haiti when we have such a need in America? Great question. One reason is we have governmental agencies here to help, with food, housing, money to live on. Why support our mission project? We are making an impact bringing sustainable profitability to the farmers we work with. The farmers aren't dependent on us, but are learning to make a difference in their own lives.

We can't do this alone. We need your help! We love to share our mission project and are always looking for churches and organizations to share our vision with. Ask your pastor or president of your organization if we can come and speak.

We need funding. I used to be afraid of asking, but if I don't ask, I am taking away your opportunity to partner with the mission the Lord has placed on my life and the blessing God promises to you when you give generously to the poor. So I'm asking. Will you become a monthly partner? Would you consider helping us build a fence ($1200)? What about a well to water our new gardens ($7500)? As we develop our new land, we will have many needs. Each one an opportunity for you to help.

Please pray. For stability in the Haitian government; For lower gas and food prices; For travel protection; For Farming God's Way to transform lives for Jesus. Thank you and God bless you!!