Bumpy Roads

If you've ever been to Africa you will know that we are famous for our bad roads. One such bad road exists like a barrier between me and one of my training groups. It is called Kamuli Road. It is a 67km road that has been under repair for over two years yet has yielded only about 12km of smoothly paved road. The rest is in various states of disrepair with sections of dusty dirt road but mostly just the old paved road eaten away by a minefield of potholes. 

Recently, as I was heading out to train our group of farmers headed up py Pam and Allen McEvoy (https://m.facebook.com/pamela.mcevoy.9?refid=46),( who are doing great work helping the locals to pick up the tool of Farming God's Way) I had to endure the infamous "Kamuli Road".  While I was trying to dodge the countless pot-holes I heard a slight "ping" from the back of my Isuzu. Just a few meters and several loud bangs down the road and I knew what had happened; my rear coil spring had either totally broken or had popped out completely. In disgust I didn't even bother getting out to check. I detoured to a parallel dirt road which I hoped would be better. It wasn't. A couple hours later of nursing my car over the bumpy terrain I arrived in hot dry Kamuli in front of the church where I was to teach at. The car was slumped over the left back tire. Further inspection showed there was no spring to be seen; it had completely" jumped out" (as the locals say). 

Discouraged, I set my attention on the training ahead. Although Allan and Pam had organised the workshop very well, only a fraction of the delegates had arrived and the time for starting had already passed. I felt another wave of discouragement sweep over me. How were we going to work with people so reluctant to keep time and prioritise the days activities? Along with the waves of heat and dry dusty air the waves of discouragement kept sweeping over me -- my enthusiasm levels were pretty low.

I have often felt like this at the beginning of a training but God has always been faithful to raise my energy and hope as I start to deliver the good news that he has put in my heart. Sometimes, this is an answer to a quick prayer other times it is God's faithful love coming through for me when I haven't even thought of asking Him for help. How much more the help is appreciated when I've asked for it!

The bumpy roads and discouragement remind me of the resistance that we often feel and encounter as we do what God wants us to do. I am reminded that we must keep scattering the good seed and let God bless it where He sees fit. If we only scatter seed where there is no resistance  we may stick to putting nice ideas on Facebook and Twitter and never get out to those who don't even know Who and what they need.

I hope you have discovered the role of resistance in your life too. It's like the waves crashing on the bow of a boat -- they only beat against the bough when the boat is moving forward.

NB-- Just make sure the resistance is not from God -- then your efforts will be futile!

If you'd like to read about the role of resistance in your life here is a great post one of my favourite bloggers Michael Hyatt: http://t.co/0OoeE0v5jN

  

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January Newsletter

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Hello Friends,

Here is our latest newsletter.

Enjoy.

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Eleven years

Today, as a write, Jane and I celebrate 11 years of marriage! These 11 years have been full of troubles, trials, fun, joy, arguments, agreements and everything in between! Our marriage is a tribute neither to the greatness of Jane’s love for me nor mine for her; God has been the one who has been so faithful, showing us the way to love each other and to glorify Him as we try to give Christ His place as the king of our hearts. We are so blessed, especially by all of our children, the fruits of our marriage. They bless us every day and we pray that they will be arrows in the hands of our Maker; going much further and doing much greater things for The Kingdom than we could ever have dreamed.

Here is a little bit of a song by Malcolm Guite to reflect my feelings for the day:

They Don’t Make Movies (Out of Love Like This)

“You can’t photograph fidelity, or merchandise restraint,

Your inner beauty won’t be selling soap.

And sometimes from the outside it might seem that love grows faint

On the inside it’s renewed each day in hope.

So there’s nothing on the surface to attract a stranger’s gaze

There’s not photo-genic posed romantic bliss,

Just two people staying faithful through the darkest winter days,

But they don’t make movies out of love like this.”

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How do you hide something from a Ugandan?

t's a joke that often comes up as I teach Farming God's Way in various communities -- "How can you hide something from a Ugandan?" The answer to the query --" by putting it in a book!"

Don't worry, I'm not laughing at the expense of my African brethren. They, too, tell this joke to poke fun at themselves. 

The point is this: there is not a reading culture here in Uganda. People don't commonly read books as a past time or for pleasure or even to gain more knowledge. In fact, if you say "reading" here in Uganda it is synonymous with "cramming for an exam". "I am reading my books" says a secondary student, meaning, that she has been cramming for an exam.

As I teach farming I realize that my job, at times, needs to go much deeper than just covering my material. I need to teach people how to study; the value of reading to educate themselves. Even the great Apostle Paul requested for his "parchments" when he was in jail. Many of my students suffer from a lack of some simple knowledge which could be easily acquired if they would (in some cases, could) read. Spare time is spent reading newspapers and listening to the radio -- which may keep them up on current events but may not help them find solutions for the problems they face in their every-day lives.

Modern literacy started with the printing press first used for printing the Bible with the goal of putting the written Word of God into the ordinary farm workers' hands. In our day we (those who have access to libraries and the internet) have so much to read. And read we must --  in order to stay educated and informed. But in all of our reading we need to remember that the ultimate reason behind reading is to be able to understand God's Word which has been preserved and kept within the sheath of written languages.

So, as I teach people to farm, I also encourage them to pick up the habit of reading -- and most importantly reading God's Word. Here they will find not only information but power and truth to lead them to the Author of The Book and the Author of Life.

"It is foolish to go to human puddles and forsake the clear crystal stream" Cecil J. Blay

What do you read? Why do you read? How does reading enhance your professional knowledge? Leave a comment below...

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October Newsletter

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Here's our latest newsletter.

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Here is our latest family Newsletter.

Enjoy.

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Farming God's Way at Amazima (http://amazimaministries.blogspot.com)

MAY 31, 2012

Farming God's Way

Earlier this year, Amazima had the opportunity to host a very unique training seminar at our land in Buziika called Farming God's Way. 

Although Uganda has seen much urbanization in the past few years, the majority of Ugandans are still subsistence farmers - working tirelessly to provide only what will feed their family. Uganda's two rainy seasons and plentiful sunshine should mean that these families can grow plenty of food to sustain them throughout the year.  Unfortunately, poor farming practices and a loss of motivation has left many fields in poor condition, and families are struggling to find enough to eat. Amazima's sponsorship and feedingprograms are doing a great deal to relieve the current crisis, but we are always working towards making a more lasting impact by empowering the people of Uganda to participate in changing their lives and their community.

Farming God's Way (FGW) is not an organization, but a resource to teach improved and sustainable farming methods to local farmers based on Biblical principles.

For three days, a certified trainer came to Buziika and instructed 12 local farmers in the methods taught by FGW. The largest component of the training is minimal or no tillage (turning/plowing the land). Like in America, farmers in Uganda typically completely turn over the soil before each planting season - the only difference being that they use a hand-powered hoe rather than a gas-powered plow! FGW leaves the soil unturned and only digs holes at precise intervals where the crops will be planted. The weeds and crop residue from the previous planting season are simply cut down to maintain a mulch cover on the field. This not only drastically improves water retention but over time also injects critical biological matter back into the soil. 

There are three pillars to the Farming God's Way methodology: 

          1.  Management

                    Do everything on time

                    Do everything to a high standard

                    Do everything with minimal wastage

          2.  Technology

                     No plowing

                    100% mulch covers (referred to as God's Blanket)

                    Practice crop rotation

          3.  Biblical 

                    Acknowledge God and God alone

                    Consider your ways

                    Understanding God's all-sufficiency

                    What you sow, you shall reap

                    Bring tithes and offerings to God

                    Stake your claim

The final day of training included the planting of a demonstration garden. A ten-by-ten meter plot was laid out prior to the seminar and all the participants were able to practice the skills they had been taught the previous two days. It was a great time of learning, both of new farming techniques and about the Gospel. Many of the students were not regular church attendees and one student was actually a practicing witch doctor!

An average Ugandan farmer produces 280 kg of maize (corn) per acre. Utilizing FGW techniques, that same farmer can produce 3,000 kg of maize per acre!

 

Our garden was planted next to a pathway leading to the next village so that as many people as possible can see the results and become interested in FGW.

Amazima staff member, Patrick Ouma, will be following up with the class participants to see how they are doing with the implementation of the training in their own fields.  

We sincerely hope and pray that the seeds that were planted - in our garden and in the students' hearts - will grow and flourish!

To learn more about the Farming God's Way resources, 

visit their website here.

Special thanks to our FGW trainer, Chris Sperling.  Without his heart for the farmers of Uganda and his mastery of the local language, the class would not have been able to take place!

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A day in the life

I woke up early and was out the door by 6:30am. I made my usual stop at Igar which is a petrol station just east of the Nile. I put some dieselin the Isuzu and ran inside for a coffee and a couple muffins. Not quite Tim Horton's but the coffee woke me up and the muffins filled me up. I started my 100km drive on the highway that heads west from Jinja towards Kampala. It is called a highway but it is difficult to get over 60km/hr let alone 80 as there is so much truck traffic with hundreds of big trucks carrying containers and fuel from Mombasa and Eldoret on their way to Kampala or through Kampala on their way to South Sudan, West Uganda eastern Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and even Western Tanzania. Many are overloaded and in rough shape so the going is pretty slow if you get stuck behind one. Given that many of the drivers are on a local drug called mailunji or marijuana and are overtired and rune trucks in pretty rough shape there are a LOT of accidents involving large trucks ( I calculate one truck off the road/accident per trip to Kampala). So I try to balance speed and caution as I head west. 

As I near the urban sprawl of Kampala I head North west on a dirt road that I found on Google maps the other week which cuts of a few miles of traffic plugged road as I head to Kira farm just north of Kampala. 17 minutes later I am back on a tarmac road heading north where i will meet another winding paved road that takes me through a rural area just north of Kampala. I enter Gayaza and head north again at the round-about and after a few kilometres if nice tarmac I turn off Zirobwe road onto a bumpy access road which takes me up to the beautiful gate of Kira Farm. It's 8:30 and two hours after leaving home and 100km of driving I am ready to help over 25 students plant theirexperiential gardens that we had prepared a couple weeks ago together. Kira farm is the location of Amigos Worldwide which gives technical training to disadvantaged youth, most of whom have come fr

om the region where Kony was active or were even child soldiers or slaves under him. They are a pleasant group of students on the whole but not without the usual attitude struggles of young people everywhere. Each student is taking a technical course (carpentry, mechanics, tailoring,etc) in addition to being taught Farming God's Way. The idea is that they can go back to their home area and create their own wealth through having self employment and farming the rich land where they are from.

The students are mostly eager to plant their gardens with a few dragging their feet and trying their best to find somewhere on the campus to hide. But they know farming is important and most will have grown up on a farm or near one. Farming to many youth is just a a lot of hard work with little income. With FGW we are trying to change that. Farming definitely is hard work; but we want that hard work to result in higher yields grown on better soil so that farmers can have a sustainable profit! We are teaching them how to take care of their soil so that their soil will take care of them -- and their grandchildren!

We first plant one sma

ll garden together so that each step can be observed carefully. Then, all of the students disperse to their own 6 x 6 meter plots. With each student having their own garden it is very quickly evident who listened and who didn't and wh

o is lazy and who is diligent. Through the simple process of these experiential gardens we will be able to disciple the students through their strengths and weaknesses meanwhile guiding them to learn the basic principles of all farming. The gardens are soon planted and just a few of the slower students are left out in their plots. Mulch is brought in, covering the garden, completing the last step of planting. 

See the full gallery on Posterous

After a nice late morning tea break with some of the British staff I am off to a nearby research station to collect improved seed. Most of the staff at Namalonge are friendly and willing to supply me with free samples which I willingly wait for like a boy i

n a candy shop choosing his favourite sweets.

 At the end I leave the extensive farm property (which a colonial era golf course) with samples of improved cassava, sweet potato, a plethora of bean varieties and some maize. I am very happy with my treasure and start my 2 1/2 hour journey home thrilled that we have starting stock for our seed bank project.

By the time I get home it is getting dark and I am happy to see my wonderful family -- but it has been a full day and I am happy to be part of such ordinary yet profound work as we train people how to farm and how to depend on God in simple and practical ways. Even the seed we have obtained is part of God's all sufficiency that He will express to the farmer as it reproduces "after it's own kind" for many years to come!

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Sperling Jerry-Can (Feb 2012)

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Composting

I teach composting as the key way that ordinary farmers can have the best fertilizer without spending any cash (which they may have in short supply).

The process of composting takes dead and decaying things and turns them into food for the future growth of the plants in our garden.

This is the same spiritually. I was thrilled to see a simply profound post on blog I normally follow. I have been going through one of those times when past failures and sins had been bothering me -- if for no other reason than I wish I hadn't got caught in them. But of course that is just regret and it won't get me far... God has a better plan; he wants to take our sins and troubles and turn them into stepping stones for a more pure, righteous and joyful life in Him.

Please enjoy this lesson on composting. http://goo.gl/SVV4d

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An Old Barn

I was recounting my Grandfather's love for creation to a friend recently and I thought of this "old" poem I write a while ago.

Today's entry is in memory of my Grandpa Willems. He loved Creation and he loved the Pslams. One of his particular interests was photographing old barns on the prairies. My Grandfather's name was R.B. Willems.

 
                             An old barn
                                      First stanza
 
I’m creaking,
I groan
 
I’m teetering,
I lean
 
I’m fading,
I’m brown
 
But RB comes to see me,
He comes out from town
 
What does he see in me?
What does he know?
 
Does he like the way I lean?
Or does he remember what I’ve been?
 
Does he enjoy the wind whistling through?
Or does he imagine me, once new?
 
Perhaps, is it the contrast
Of my faded wood against prairie skies?
It could be the prophetic way I’m leaning
To remind him how time flies by
 
                                   Second stanza
 
Well, I haven’t seen RB for a while,
I would like to see him smile,
Or wink at me through his lens,
 or mutter some prose from David’s pen.
 
I heard he was creaking and groaning too,
to leave his body and join the Creator who’ll make him new.
 
A few others pass by my leaning frame,
I wonder – do they know of my fame?
 
Do they see my prophetic lean?
Or remember what I’ve been?
 
Do they know man’s future – man’s past?
Do they know things  made of wood, hay and stubble don’t last?
 
Do they know they are unlike me?
Once fallen, once dead  - a few more things will be done a few more words said –
 not by the wind or a barn like me – not even David will utter these.
 
The Creator Himself will tell men their lot.
 
Did they heed the Prophet’s words,
did they hear the Wind speak?
Did they turn from their sins and seek their Creator,
did they hear the Message given so clear?
 
These flowers and the grass around me – soon they will fade,
Soon I’ll be gone too – I won’t point the way,
But the Words of the Creator forever will stay.
 
                                                                                    By C.S. Sperling
                                                                                Upon the death of my grandfather Reuben Benjamin Willems

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An Old Barn

I was recounting my Grandfather's love for creation to a friend recently and I thought of this "old" poem I write a while ago.

Today's entry is in memory of my Grandpa Willems. He loved Creation and he loved the Pslams. One of his particular interests was photographing old barns on the prairies. My Grandfather's name was R.B. Willems.

                             An old barn

                                      First stanza

I’m creaking,

I groan

I’m teetering,

I lean

I’m fading,

I’m brown

But RB comes to see me,

He comes out from town

What does he see in me?

What does he know?

Does he like the way I lean?

Or does he remember what I’ve been?

Does he enjoy the wind whistling through?

Or does he imagine me, once new?

Perhaps, is it the contrast

Of my faded wood against prairie skies?

It could be the prophetic way I’m leaning

To remind him how time flies by

                                   Second stanza

Well, I haven’t seen RB for a while,

I would like to see him smile,

Or wink at me through his lens,

 or mutter some prose from David’s pen.

I heard he was creaking and groaning too,

to leave his body and join the Creator who’ll make him new.

A few others pass by my leaning frame,

I wonder – do they know of my fame?

Do they see my prophetic lean?

Or remember what I’ve been?

Do they know man’s future – man’s past?

Do they know things  made of wood, hay and stubble don’t last?

Do they know they are unlike me?

Once fallen, once dead  - a few more things will be done a few more words said –

 not by the wind or a barn like me – not even David will utter these.

The Creator Himself will tell men their lot.

Did they heed the Prophet’s words,

did they hear the Wind speak?

Did they turn from their sins and seek their Creator,

did they hear the Message given so clear?

These flowers and the grass around me – soon they will fade,

Soon I’ll be gone too – I won’t point the way,

But the Words of the Creator forever will stay.

                                                                                    By C.S. Sperling

                                                                                Upon the death of my grandfather Reuben Benjamin Willems

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Stewardship Farming

In my teaching lately with Farming God's Way I have been struck with how the idea of stewardship is much closer the Biblical model for business and farming than the mostly capitalist model I was told was biblical in the Christian world view teaching I received when I was younger. In this earlier teaching private ownership was emphasized as the correct way to view our lives and it influenced the treatment of all material goods around us.

In our training material we teach farmers that they need to aim for sustainable profitibility. Profit is not wrong! God is a God of multiplication -- a God of plenty. If there is no profit then there will be no life on earth. But the way in which we earn our living from the land must not rob the land of long term fertility just for gains in the short term -- it must be sustainable year after year; generation upon generation. We must add to our account (the soil) as much if not more than we subtract from the account. Our care for creation is not just a nice modern "green" idea but it is our job and our responsibility. If we do not care for our farmland we will see low yields and losses and hunger as the order of the day! 

Of course, the solution is not socialism either, but an understanding that ultimately we own nothing (including our very lives) but are caretakers of all that comes under our influence. We are stewards who will give an account to our Creator.

The question is not whether any of us will be a steward -- the question is: what type of steward will you be?

 

I was inspired to write this short post when I found this devotional in my inboxthis morning, underlining the shift in my thinking. http://www.icr.org/article/20161/

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