Saturday, August 6, 2011

The Revolution Continues

Chrisatshow

"Don't plough your land; you are destroying your soil", I tell people who come to our kiosk at the Ugandan national agriculture show.

I wait for their surprised look -- sometimes the new idea doesn't register until I start elaborating on the reasons why turning their soil with a plough or even with a hoe will lead to it's demise.

I explain," By inverting your soil with a plough or hoe you break the soil into small particles which will easily be eroded, compacted by the impact of the heavy tropical rains we receive and clog the pore spaces that are supposed to naturally occur in a fertile soil". I move on to the next point but very quickly someone in the small audience looking at our display says" Wait a minute -- back up! You said that ploughing is BAD? What do you mean??" I gladly continue my explanation which includes pointing out the fertile soils in forests and native grasslands that are unturned and have been producing a bountiful diversity of plant life for thousands of years. It gives me an opportunity to explain and contrast mankind's ways with God's ways in nature -- a natural and logical lead to contrast God's ways with ours; I discuss how, without God, we use, abuse and destroy almost anything for selfish gain yet, as stewards of what God has given us to take care of we should be caring for and protecting all that God has given us. He will ask for an accounting for all we have been given at the end of time.

Currently, with Farming God's Way in Uganda, we have a short timespan during which we can introduce these revolutionary and exciting ideas of minimal tillage with the gospel of the Kingdom of God. I have found that when a new crop is introduced with a growing methodology it becomes a huge success with those who decide to grow that crop. In a similar way I believe we have the same opportunity to introduce this new (actually ancient) way of farming with a methodology which incorporates the idea of trying to imitate what God does in nature and follow what He tells us to do in His Word. We have a chance to bring an agriculture revolution along with a spiritual revolution -- the most exciting prospect in agriculture missions!!

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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Monday, July 4, 2011

When the Boughs Break

For my Canadian and American friends,

On our respective "Big Days"  (July 1 in Canada and July 4 in USA)of celebration of the freedoms and great things we have in our countries we need to realize that we are, and have been for a while, on the brink of disaster. May we turn from our wicked ways and may God heal our land.
Days of Praise
When the Boughs Break
July 4, 2011

"When the boughs thereof are withered, they shall be broken off: the women come, and set them on fire: for it is a people of no understanding: therefore he that made them will not have mercy on them, and he that formed them will shew them no favor." (Isaiah 27:11)

Like a mighty tree towering over the forest, God raises up a mighty nation from time to time, with a great leader, to accomplish some purpose in the divine plan. He "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation" (Acts 17:26).

But when that nation and its leaders become proud, and its people become lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, it becomes like a tree whose branches wither and whose core becomes riddled with insect-caused decay. Finally, the boughs break, the kingdom will fall, and down will come that nation, its leaders and all!

That happened even to God's chosen nation, Israel, though only for a time in her case, since God's promises cannot fail. One after another, the mighty nations that God used to chastise His wayward people--Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Rome, etc.--have in turn been judged for their own rebellion against the God who "made them" and "formed them." God has warned that "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17).

Is that about to happen to our beloved USA as well? The signs of self-seeking power and pride among our leaders and moral decay and spiritual rebellion among our people are widespread and growing worse. Our prayer should be that of the ancient prophet. "O LORD, revive thy work in the midst of the years, . . . in wrath remember mercy" (Habakkuk 3:2). "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?" (Psalm 85:6). HMM

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Sunday, June 5, 2011

Our eyes are feasting!

Hello Friends and Family,

I recently had the pleasure of attending the graduation of the 6 studenst at the first Come, Let's Dance (CLD) Vocational Agricultural School Graduation. This was the first class to graduate after finishing their Farming God's Way Course. I have been the Instructor for these great men and have enjoyed my time seeing them grow in their knowledge of the kingdom of God and farming.The day was ideal except for the early morning downpour that mucked up the roads pretty good and put out the fire on the pig-roasting spit -- but hey, which farmer is 'gonna complain about rain, right? The day turned sunny quickly and the stage and tent were set up in the middle of the beautiful fields on the farm. Guests and students enjoyed a wonderful and meaningful ceremony with the beautiful and appropriate backdrop of the lush green crops.These young men are now equipped to bring lasting, meaningful and grass-roots change to Africa. They have been taught how to live out the Kingdom on their land!

I decided to take a few of my model farmers from my region along with me for the graduation ceremony. I knew they would find the farm inspiring and they would make more connections with more enthusiastic farmers. Shortly after arriving I told a couple of "my" farmers that I needed to be busy helping to set up and I wouldn't be able to give them a proper tour right away. One piped up right away " that's OK, our eyes are feasting!". They were so thrilled with their day and I believe it will encourage them in their farms and churches (many of my model farmers are also pastors).

Well, onto the next exciting FGW event! This week I will be helping to facilitate the National FGW workshop held in Kampala annually. We are looking forward to touching base with many excited friends of FGW and to making more connections and train more people in the transformational tool that FGW is.

The following week I will be setting off for South Africa to be a part of the African FGW Extension Discussion workshop in Port Elizabeth. This will be an exciting time to touch base with so many experienced trainers and farmers on the very important topic of Extension. "Extension" is the training and equipping of farmers in their actual use of FGW. It includes teaching these farmers in different contexts, visiting them for follow-up and blessing, encouraging and equipping them on their journey in application of FGW principles and techniques. The FGW team in Africa is such a great family of encouragers and exhorters. I know our time will be rich!

Of course the downside to all of this activity is that I will be away from my wonderful family.

Please keep us all in your prayers as the enemy often tried to bring sickness and difficulty during my absence. We would treasure your prayers during the next two weeks. We want to see our family healthy and blessed even during my absence. Please pray for us all to have good health and that Jane will have the wisdom and energy to lead the family in my absence.

Jane has been away for a number of days overseeing some renovations on a house on the family homestead. Construction here can be pretty slow and of poor quality unless the owner is around to check on the workers. So, I have been mom and dad here at home for a little while so it will be Jane's turn over the next few weeks as I am away.

Please keep is in your prayers as we minister to those around us - whether they be farmers or not! We continue to need wisdom and courage to preach the good news -- in season and out of season!

Thanks everyone for all your care and support which takes so many forms,

Chris for the whole gang!

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Friday, April 22, 2011

Happy Easter and a Trip to South Africa

Hello Friends

We trust you are going to enjoy your Easter weekend at church, at home, perhaps on vacation -- with friends and with family!

We, too, are in the midst of Easter Celebrations. One encouraging new item in the midst of our "Walk to Work" demonstrations against high fuel prices(read "riots") has been the recent decision by Uganda's largest daily newspaper to let Uganda clergy edit the Sunday Vision Newspaper this coming Easter weekend. You can read about that here: http://goo.gl/P32oD

We have a very large "Christian" population in Uganda but when you see the way people think and behave it is evident that first of all our Christianity runs very shallow and second of all it has not brought the transforming power that Jesus talked about in the parables of the salt and leaven. People were shocked in 2004 when Rwanda, what was thought to be a very Christian nation, was plunged into the genocide that we know all too well. Please pray for our nation Uganda and the the work we (and many others) are doing so that people will truly be transformed from the inside out so that Christianity will cause real, deep and lasting change to the glory of God. This process happens through discipleship which is a much slower but surer process of development and transformation.

We continue our work with Farming God's Way (FGW)which takes us into the homes and gardens of many people around Uganda. We try to use these chances to challenge those who know Christ to bring His government into all areas of their lives and for those who are not Christians it is a chance for them to hear the gospel in a way that they may have never heard before.

One of the tasks that I have is to loosely oversee the training that goes on here in Uganda. One way we assist those wanting to implement FGW is by holding monthly FGW forum meetings where people from many different churches and NGOs have a chance to ask about FGW and how to put it into practice. Members also get a chance to share their successes and struggles with using FGW. At one of our meetings a pastor from Northern Uganda who is planting churches in the rural areas told shared how he tells new members of the congregation that they must use FGW because he is not willing to come a pray against the "demons of poverty" when the real issue is a change in the way people live and farm!! Maybe a bit extreme, but when people don't want to change (and suffer for it) some extreme measures may be needed to "encourage" them!

As one of the leaders of the Steering Committee for the Uganda FGW forum and one of two Accredited Trainers in the country I have been invited to attend the FGW Extension Discussion meeting in Port Elizabeth, South Africa (June 16/17) where FGW trainers and implementers from all over Africa will be meeting together to discuss their extension strategies and plans as well as successes and challenges. This will be a tremendous time to learn and share with many skilled individuals including some key farmers (like Dixon, from Malawi) who will be contributing to the discussion! 

In order to go, obviously, I will need to fly down to South Africa. I am planning to be there a few days after the Workshop and have more time with Grant (the chief African trainer)and his family and continue building our relationship from the last time I had there when I was down in Lesotho and SA in September of last year.

Would you be willing to make a contribution to this trip to make it possible? It will cost about $1200. I already have a $200 donation from friends in SA. So I am remaining with $1000. You can donate to our Work Fund Account which is specifically for such expenses.

Follow the link right here to donate on line  in Canada (or here : to donate online in the US)or just go to our website links below at the bottom of this mail.

To donate by cheque through the mail you can send the cheque to the address below:

Equip Inc.
PO Box 1126
Marion, NC 28752-1126 USA
call Equip's USA Headquarters at 828-738-3891
Equip Canada
PO Box 683
Duncan, BC  V9L 3Yl
CANADA

 

Blessings to you all as you continue to be a part of the success of God's Kingdom in Africa.

Chris for the whole clan!

check us out or donate online at:

subscribe to the Sperling's blog:
 

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Cookbook for Sale!

Top

Friends, this is a wonderful cookbook put together by our friend Angelica Weiss. You can order one by sending her an e-mail. They are $10 each and the profits go towards our work here (about $5/book). Nicely laid out and over 400 "taste-tested" recipes from great people in Canada! The book has already raised a significant amount of money for us and no doubt has brought some great food to many a home!

In British Columbia
e-mail Angelica <angelikaweiss@shaw.ca>
Subject:Order Cookbook on behalf of Sperlings

In Saskatchewan
e-mail Ken and Dawn Sperling <ken.dawn@sasktel.net>;
Subject:Order Cookbook on behalf of Sperlings

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

Off to Arua

Arua

 Soon I will be enjoying a low elevation flight from Entebbe up to the West Nile region of Uganda. The rolling hills and the papyrus swamps will pass alternately under the wings of the little Eagle Air plane as we head North-West, first over the Central Buganda region and then over the north end of Lake Albert where the White Nile flows into the northern tip of Lake Albert and then very quickly out and north towards Sudan and then we will finally  land at Arua Town where it is most likely to be very hot and dry. I have been invited by the Director of Here is Life, Isaac Anguyo to help them train their Agriculture teacher at their Technical School. We will also see if we can do some planning for the hundreds of acres of land they have. They want, like so many other ministries here to make their ministry self-sustaining through farming projects. 

It is exciting to have the chance to get Farming God's Way started in West Nile. The people of the West Nile region, the Lugbara, are known to be hard working people. The specific place is called Aringa which is actually a separate area with it's own dialect of the Lugbara language. Pray that God will work in and through me to encourage these people to let His Kingdom come in the area of agriculture -- so that his glory may be revealed in how they live and farm everyday. 

Pray for the agriculture teacher Godfrey whom I will be spending a lot of my week with; pray that he will catch the spirit of Farming God's Way -- having a heart for the poor and helping them in wisdom (Psalm 41:1)

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Saturday, February 12, 2011

A time to teach

Well, there's a time for everything -- including a time to train and teach farmers. That time, for me, here in Uganda, is during our dry season. We are still in the first and longest of our two dry seasons here in Uganda and I have been able to successfully run workshops in all four of the Deliverance Churches where we are training local farmers. I was also able to add another training hub in a small village called Bubugo which is also in the same region but is a church that is under a training program run by my friend Nathan  Jore. I also ran a three day "Introduction to Farming God's Way" seminar for church and NGO leaders in the Jinja area. As well, I continued teaching and training at the Come Let's Dance  (CLD)Agricultural Vocational Institute. The CLD course wrapped up with the first group of students yesterday as they sat their final exams and attended the Farming God's Way forum monthly meeting.

It has been crazy, but in many ways it must be that way. I have determined to reach our farming communities in the dry season for the training workshops so that the farmers have time to think about, observe and plan for a Farming God's Way (FGW) garden on their farm. If we don't reach them in time they will have planted all of their crops and will thus not have any place on their farm to plant according to FGW methods. And having no place for a garden means they will not have tried to adapt theses revolutionary farming practices -- which means they will not have a chance to test and taste the fruit of doing things God's way. We measure our success by adaptation and the quality of that adaptation. 

Our dry seasons are usually from the end of December up until the end of February and then also during the months of July and August. During this times the farmers have more time to attend workshops and are not so tied to their gardens. In Farming God's Way timing is one of the major keys to success in farming; it is also a major key to the success of training. So I have had about one seminar per week in the last month and a half. The rains haven't yet come and I am breathing a sigh of relief as the training is done and I can now get ready to do farmer visitations; helping keen farmers to set up their fields and to encourage them on their new journey.

The attached photo is of the area in which we do our rural church ministry. North is to the right (West is towards the top). The roads are mostly poor so it takes about 30 minutes to the closest church and more than an hour to the further ones (Kamuli, Kisozi and Lwanyama). Jinja to Kamuli is less than 60km as the crow flies but takes about an hour with current road conditions.

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Monday, December 20, 2010

family picture

Hello Friends!!

Here is a copy of our latest family picture, if you are a part of a mailing list could you please forward it to the people on your list? Thanks so much and... Merry Christmas!!
 
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subscribe to the Sperling's blog:
 

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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Come Let's Dance

Does not having blogged for a while mean I am too busy doing other stuff! Well probably, but I guess one of the qualities of a good blogger is that they find the time and have th discipline of sitting down and getting something down on (cyber) paper. My excuses -- a couple kids broke limbs, one had a snake bite, Jane has been gone for a number of days helping solve "family issues" in the village and I have been busy teaching Farming God's Way. So... let's see if I can actually make some of these excuses into a decent blog entry...

I am so thrilled to be teaching Farming God's Way at a small vocational school ( 0°27'1.41"N, 32°19'17.24"E) just north-west of Kampala in a district called Wakiso near a little trading center called Mwera . What is thrilling is that I have a captive audience of 5 young men (my students) and the farm manager as we go through the FGW material both in class and in the field. I first heard about the training opportunity when a Ugandan called Ben e-mailed my colleague Karl Buchholz about getting a trainer out at their CLD (Come Let's Dance) campus. At the time Karl and I were headed out the door (almost literally) to leave for South Africa and Lesotho where we both successfully did our FGW in-field mentorship. Ben needed a trainer - he had a school, students, land, a farm manager and funding, would we help to train the students? After coming back from South Africa I met Josh, an American, at one of our monthly FGW forums who also works with CLD and we made arrangements for me to make my first visit out to the vocational farm. I have returned every week since and have now got a bit of a routine where I stay for two days and a night meanwhile running classes and field work (practicals) for about two full days. I am so excited about teaching at the CLD school as this is an opportunity to train and disciple 5 young men and the farm manager in Kingdom Agricilture. They are all eager to learn and are excited to do a lot of hands on stuff! The education system here is full of a lot of theory but not much practical hands on experience. These guys will have a wealth of experience by the tie they finish in February. We'd love your prayers as we seek to change the nation through people such as these young guys!

To see more pics just check out my CLD album on Facebook:


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Monday, October 11, 2010

Self Esteem

In this day and age where we are SO focused on our own feelings and problems we need God's word to help set us straight. The following devotion is very clear and straightforward about this. " when we focus around us on the world we get distressed, when focus inwards on ourselves we get depressed, when we focus above on God we finf rest"

----Forwarded Message----
From: sperling_equip@yahoo.ca
To: sperling_equip@yahoo.ca
Sent: Mon Oct 11th, 2010 11:01 PM EDT
Subject: October 12 - Self Esteem

Self Esteem
October 12, 2010
"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of
mind let each esteem other better than themselves." (Philippians 2:3

)
There is a great emphasis these days, even among Christians, on
developing a positive self-image, building up one's self-esteem, and
seeking self-fulfillment. The emphasis is on one's own self. But God's
Word teaches differently.
One famous television pastor even developed his own unbiblical
definition of sin: "Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or
another human being of his or her self-esteem." Then he even redefined
being born again as being "changed from a negative to a positive
self-image."
Such concepts are diametrically opposed to Scripture, though often
cloaked in pseudo-biblical garb, and they are leading multitudes away
from the true gospel and true Christian life. We do not need a
positive self-image. In reality, we need a realistic self-image--to
see ourselves as God sees us. Paul warned: "For I say, through the
grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans
12:3
).
Paul served Christ faithfully for 30 years, yet still esteemed
himself as chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15

), and testified that it was only "by the grace of God I am what I am"
(1 Corinthians 15:10
). Jesus said: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself"
(Luke 9:23
). "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the
things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things
which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his
presence" (1 Corinthians 1:27-29

). HMM

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| More Days of Praise articles


Institute for Creation Research
| 1806 Royal Lane | Dallas | TX | 75229

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. This email was sent to sperling_equip@yahoo.ca. To unsubscribe, change
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address, or update your subscription, please go to
http://www.icr.org/change


In this day and age where we are SO focused on our own feelings and problems we need God's word to help set us straight. The following devotion is very clear and straightforward about this. " when we focus around us on the world we get distressed, when focus inwards on ourselves we get depressed, when we focus above on God we finf rest"

----Forwarded Message----

From: sperling_equip@yahoo.ca
To: sperling_equip@yahoo.ca
To: sperling_equip@yahoo.ca
Sent: Mon Oct 11th, 2010 11:01 PM EDT
Subject: October 12 - Self Esteem

Days of Praise
Self Esteem
October 12, 2010

"Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves." (Philippians 2:3)

There is a great emphasis these days, even among Christians, on developing a positive self-image, building up one's self-esteem, and seeking self-fulfillment. The emphasis is on one's own self. But God's Word teaches differently.

One famous television pastor even developed his own unbiblical definition of sin: "Sin is any act or thought that robs myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem." Then he even redefined being born again as being "changed from a negative to a positive self-image."

Such concepts are diametrically opposed to Scripture, though often cloaked in pseudo-biblical garb, and they are leading multitudes away from the true gospel and true Christian life. We do not need a positive self-image. In reality, we need a realistic self-image--to see ourselves as God sees us. Paul warned: "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith" (Romans 12:3).

Paul served Christ faithfully for 30 years, yet still esteemed himself as chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), and testified that it was only "by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Jesus said: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself" (Luke 9:23).  "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence" (1 Corinthians 1: 27-29). HMM

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Institute for Creation Research | 1806 Royal Lane | Dallas | TX | 75229

Powered by phplist. This email was sent to sperling_equip@yahoo.ca. To unsubscribe, change your email address, or update your subscription, please go to www.icr.org/change

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