In about two weeks I will be traveling to South Africa and then on to the mountain kingdom of Lesotho (Le SOO too). This will actually be my first time to travel within Africa itself other than Rwanda where I have been a couple times. I am really looking forward to it – I really enjoy going to new places – especially seeing the new/different beauty of a new place. I daydream about hiking around the jagged hills with a good camera or riding a bike on the curly mountain roads.
I have been invited to Lesotho as part of a mentorship and training process with Farming God's Way. So not only am I looking forward to going to a new place but looking forward to connecting with a bunch of people who are keen on farming and God's Kingdom and who have a love for the poor. It should be great!
We are going to be camping out under the stars and moving out into surrounding villages during the day to teach our three day workshops on Farming God's Way. As a mentee I will be closely observed as to how I understand the FGW material and how well I can implement it in terms of a setting up a demonstration garden ( what we call a Well Watered Garden in FGW). As mentees we will be responsible for teaching about 75% of the workshops and setting up the Well-Watered Gardens. In the evenings we will go over the days teaching and our failures and successes as well as how we will teach the next days teaching material.
If I am seen to have largely mastered the FGW curriculum as well as displaying a heart for the poor we will become accredited trainers – able to train others in our home countries/regions with the assurance that we are maintaining the heart and standard of FGW.
I have had a series of FGW workshops that I have been conducting lately in our local rural churches from Deliverance Church so the teaching is fresh in my mind. I have also been continuing to work on my own garden and one at church and going over some workbooks and the DVD series to try to stay fresh and deep in my knowledge of all that FGW is.
I feel like I was made for FGW material as it combines agriculture and the King dome of God in such a real and applicable manner – making it an excellent platform for preaching the gospel and for teaching more about the Kingdom of God (which is a poorly understood topic among Christians here in sub-Sahara Africa). I am able to combine my teaching preaching skills (thanks to my dad – a pastor and teacher and also to my Christian education), my knowledge and love for the Kingdom of God (thanks to my history in Salt and Light Churches and the teaching of Brian Watts), and farming (thanks to my Mennonite blood and growing up on and near and working on farms – and also thanks to the way God made me). God is amazing how he uses so many things in our lives to make us who we are and then to use us!
I will try to send a couple updates – at least on Facebook- and hopefully here on the blog too, once I am in Southern Africa. Stay tuned for an update “from the Mountain Kingdom”.
| Want to be a missionary? It's not as hard as you think.You don't have to raise thousands of dollars for support. You don't need a theology Degree.You don't need a big mission organization behind you. You just need to be Christ's light where you are.I have found that I often am focused on my missionary job description here in Uganda and get discouraged if the day-to-day routine does not always fit with what I came to do here in Uganda. I came to teach people about farming and through this make followers of Christ and to minister to the poor alongside the local church. This work is great and very exciting –even very unique. I feel it's what I was made to do! Agriculture missions are not the most common type of missionary work so they are often miss-understood or undervalued. But that's OK (and that's NOT why I'm writing this). I find the challenges for me are not always “at work” but in the day-to-day life and how I respond to those around me. How do I respond to the taxi driver who wants to cheat me? To my Muslim friends who work for me? How do I drive? What do I spend my time thinking about and doing? How do I treat my children and wife? These are the things that many others notice (and Ugandans are VERY observant people). So, this helps me when I feel discouraged that I'm not doing all the farming and agriculture teaching that I would like to. I can relax and realize that I have the opportunity of being a missionary 24 -7. I can take time to talk to my carpenter about polygamy. Or be courteous to a rude taxi driver (that's hard!). Or make sure I treat those who work for me fairly and those who live with me like the father and husband they need me to be. It is in the day-to-day circumstances that hold excitement, disappointment, sorrow and difficulty that we will have an opportunity to display what God has worked in us. It will be of little use in the Kingdom of God if I have large training programs in farming but fail to be an example of how one of our Father's children should behave when the pressure is on. If we are not careful we can “do God's work” but fail to represent Him.So, you can be a missionary anywhere – just as long as you are representing Christ. Our troubles with missions is not always failing to go to the ends of the earth (yes we should do this!) but having difficulty showing the people at the ends of the earth what kind of Father has sent us! By God's grace may we truly represent our Father and His Son as His Spirit guides us to be the fragrance of life to those God is leading to salvation. |
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Last week I (Chris) traveled about 400km west to beautiful Mbarara District. Mbarara is one of the Western parts of Uganda with beautiful rolling hills, large banana plantations tucked in valleys and on slopes between vast pasture land. The rolling hills and well-kept plantations are very enjoyable to drive through. The seminar was held in Mbarara Town, the District Headquarters for Mbarara District The road between Kampala and Mbarara town is under major construction with the old road being ripped up and a new and wider foundation and road being laid. The end result is a much nicer road in the finished sections but a lot of dust, mud and bumps in between the black smooth finished portions. We don't have the maintenance culture here in Uganda, so instead of putting in money on a lower but more consistent level into road maintenance the country waits until the road almost totally falls apart and looks for foreign funding or tax money to totally re-do the road. The seminar was hosted by our friends from Church of Christ Mbarara who have a beautiful building on High Street in which they hosted the seminar. We had over 40 people attend the three day workshop who were from several different churches and NGOs being represented. The seminar included people from as far away as Kasese and For Portal.A number of the groups have already been implementing Farming God's Way (FGW) so this was an excellent opportunity to clarify their understanding and to assess how they are doing when measured against the FGW standards. Our last day was spent teaching the students how to make countour lines or rows across a steep slope when using an A-frame. We closed out the last day with putting in a Well-watered Garden. The idea of the Well-watered Garden is based on Isaiah 58 (espv 11) where God's people are blessed to become a like a fruitful garden as they have considered the poor and the widow and have removed the yoke of oppression. The garden is the training ground for FGW techniques and principles and serves as an example of what our gardens can look like when we do things God's way. By the time we have just marked out the planting holes the garden starts to reflect the order and sterwardship that God first intended man to have over the earth. Once the garden has grown up it is very easy for by-passers to see the difference between conventional farming and Farming God's Way. Most of the seminars take on a similar format although the ones I conduct in the rural churchesChurches are translated into the local language and I use very little of the DVD series and do most of the teaching myself. It is our rural churches around the jinja area where we will do most of our follow-up. It can often take 5 years to start to see significant adaptation of the FGW methods and principles. There is a lot of work ahead! |
| Recently we went out to a nearby plot that some friends have let us put our garden on. The boys enjoyed the day gardening. |
February 20, 2010
“Muli mutya banafe?”
How are you, our people?” This is a question in Luganda – the main language here in Uganda. We hope you can answer “Tuli bulungi” which means “We are fine”. Yes, we do hope you are fine and that the New Year has got off to a good start.
Since the New Year I have not really set any goals or aspirations. This is not because I lack motivation but because it seems that the New Year actually started with our return to Uganda in October. Since the end of October this has been a season of new things – a new school year for the boys, a new baby on the way, a new season of work here in Uganda. Although we have served in agriculture missions for some time, this is the first time we are exclusively training and teaching farmers full time. Previously we have worked alongside existing programs and organizations so it is very exciting to start off this new year with a fresh start into a new phase of serving in God’s Kingdom.
Farming God’s Way seminars
Farming God’s Way-(FGW) www.farming-gods-way.org has become our main source of material and inspiration for the work we are doing. I first attended a FGW seminar a year ago at New Hope Uganda where we used to live and serve. The FGW seminar addressed the many challenges I saw facing the Ugandan farmers – the solutions are both spiritual and technical (because the problems are both spiritual and physical). It was not difficult for us to adapt and start using the material for our work.
Since returning we have put on three two-day seminars and by the time this letter reaches you we will have started our village seminar series in the local Deliverance Churches (DC). Our very first seminar was done at our home church, DC Walukuba. Our pastor wanted me to teach the congregation and the leadership team so that when we took the seminars to the village our members would know and understand what is being taught. We now have a Well-Watered Garden (a FGW demonstration plot) at the church property that the congregation is very excited about. The next pair of seminars after this first one was meant to serve the local farmers, church leaders and NGO members interested in farming. These two seminars at the beginning of February were very successful with over 60 people attending and a total of over 30 NGO’s and churches being represented during the two seminars. Each class put in a Well Watered Garden which was the training ground for applying what they learned.
Farming God’s Way seminars
Over the next month we are heading to rural areas mostly within about 80km of Jinja. We will train church members from our Deliverance Church family. On March 17-19 we will be running a more extensive three day seminar in Mbarara in Western Uganda (about 400km from our home in Jinja). This will be exciting to see a new group of people embrace FGW in a region where we used to live (2003). These seminars are very revolutionary for farmers; we are taking the farmers on a journey from poor management skills to a very careful management system at the same time they are introduced to the idea of zero tillage and constant mulch cover which replace the traditional ideas of how farming should be done. They will very likely see more than a tenfold increase in crop yields if they uphold FGW principles.
Well Watered Gardens
A Well Watered Garden is a small demonstration plot where farmers learn about praying over the land and breaking curses over it, about carefully measuring the plant spacing, minimal/ zero tillage principles, the importance of maintaining God’s Blanket (mulching) and many other FGW principles. These gardens are a “light” in the community. They are well kept, well watered and are generally grown in the dry season so that local farmers can assess what FGW is all about before they give it a go in the next rainy season.
Family
Life has not been without it’s struggles since coming back to Uganda. Although we are excited about our next baby, Jane has felt very sick with the regular “morning sickness” but has had additional troubles such as a severe sinus infection which she is just getting over now. The boys have all had malaria once and I have had trouble with my teeth – having a root canal done and crown to be put on soon. We have also had trouble with our house help as our girl Ruth who had learned very well how to keep our home left without notice a few weeks ago. Another girl who we had been helping out by letting her stay here has also recently left as we could not tolerate her lying and deceitfulness any longer. We have a new helper who is just learning the ropes which is a bit hard on Jane as she has little energy to train a new worker. We also had a visit from Cindy Benda who spent over a week in Jinja; Cindy will return within the year to join the Equip Team here. Cindy is a well-experienced Nurse who served in the US army and grew up in Congo so Africa is not new to her.
Prayer Needs
Please pray for us as we take FGW to the rural churches in our area.
Pray for safety in travel and security at our home
Pray for our health, especially Jane in her pregnancy
Pray for open hearts to God’s Word as we share our lives with people
Pray for a teacher for the boys (K, Grade 2)
Pray that we will always be ready to share the Hope that is within us
Financial Needs
We continue to need more regular supporters. If you have committed to monthly or annual support please remember to renew your support as the new year has already began. January 2010 was our lowest level of support over the last 12 months. We also are continuing to raise money for a truck for our rural work with FGW. If you want to contribute to our general support please send your cheques with a separate note: “for Sperling Support”. For contributions to the seminars, the truck and the upcoming ministry trips please designate on a separate note: “for Sperling Work Fund”
Blessings and thanks to all of you for your love and care for us,
Chris and Jane,
Andrew, Tugume, Kenny, Albert, Isaiah, and Ezra
e-mail: sperling_equip@yahoo.ca
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In the US donations can be sent to:
Equip, Inc.
PO Box 1126, Marion, N.C.
USA, 28752-1126
In Canada donations can be sent to:
Equip Canada
PO Box 683
Duncan B.C.
V9L 3Y1
