Using agriculture to grow God’s Kingdom
My husband and I, with our two small children, live in a very remote part of Africa. This isolated undeveloped place became home to a vast number of refugees over ten years ago. Almost all these refugees came from unreached Muslim tribes who were inaccessible to outsiders inside their homeland. Coming just a short distance over the border into the neighbouring country opened up an amazing opportunity for them to hear the Gospel.
When my husband first came to our place of work he had an open mind about what to do here. He spoke with many refugees, and they all requested help with farming, which for many of them was their livelihood back home. They needed permission to use the local tribe’s land, and support with seed and tools. Hence our farming project was born, despite us having no agricultural experience ourselves.
We began with a small pilot project and over the past years the project has grown to support 2000 families. In the beginning my husband spent hours discussing with local community leaders over tiny cups of very sweet coffee, getting permission for the refugees to use some of the vast expanse of unused bush land. Thankfully, apart from the odd dispute, it has now become the norm for refugees to be able to farm.
We support with seed, tools and some pesticides where necessary, and the farmers farm by hand using their traditional methods, which differ between the tribes. Then at the end of the season the farmers return a little seed which we treat and store ready to distribute again the next season. Life for most refugees is a struggle and storing seed at home is difficult when families are hungry. Indeed being able to farm means the difference between life and death for many as UN support has dried up.
Our project not only makes a practical difference in the lives of many, but it has enabled us to build relationships with many tribal leaders. We share and pray with them during our project meetings and have their favour and protection for us and our local workers to minister amongst their people. We are so excited that the spiritual atmosphere is changing and communities that were previously very closed to the Gospel are becoming open. Spiritual seeds are being sown widely and are beginning to sprout.
Having someone with agricultural expertise on our team would make a huge difference. Someone who could analyse soils and different farming practices and see how to increase yields. Someone who knew how to best treat and sort the seed. We have been praying for someone like this for a long time.
Agricultural projects are perhaps not as popular as healthcare or education. But with so many Muslims reliant on agriculture it is a great platform to reach them and build God’s kingdom.