Thursday, June 5, 2014

Exciting Farming Training opportunity for Africa & beyond!

   For the people in South Sudan, agriculture & farming are vital for the very survival of themselves & their families. To buy imported food that comes from Uganda is expensive & is not sustainable for the average family. Everyone has a small plot where they grow staple vegetables & other important crops. God has blessed South Sudan with a very fertile soil so putting a seed in the ground is enough for a fairly good harvest. However, with the occasional extreme drought in the dry season or an over abundance of rain in the wet season, whole crops can be ruined. The conventional way of farming, plowing or turning the soil up, is being used & can be marginally effective. I have learned that the conventional method is NOT the best way, especially for Africa!


   Farming God's Way was originally developed in Zimbabwe, Africa, and though it can be put into practice anywhere, is specifically designed for Africa. It is simply looking at the way God made things to grow in creation and applying it to Agriculture. It requires no tilling or plowing season after season, and little or no machinery. The hoe is the primary tool and adding organic materials, heavy mulching, and crop rotation keep the soil improving in nutrients every year. It also includes personal discipleship and the study of God's Word.

    As I have watched the videos below and done my own research, I have gotten incredibly excited for the implications Farming God's Way will have for South Sudan! The resulting increased food production gives the ability to amply supply a families food needs & the opportunity to share the extra produce with the surrounding community. This has me wanting to be out in Beth Israel Farmland right now with hoe in hand. I wish I could board a plane this moment equipped with this knowledge, but I have not yet received this fascinating training.

    Foundations for Farming/Farming God's way training will take place June 22nd-27th in Marion, North Carolina at Equip International (http://www.equipinternational.com/). It is a missionary intensive course helping missionaries to go serve (room and meals are included). 

My Dad & I are praying for the opportunity to go attend this training together. God has already provided for my deposit on the course & we are trusting the Lord for the remaining tuition & travel expenses. Please pray for God's provision & also His equipping us to bring this blessing to South Sudan.

  I would encourage you to watch the promotional video and if you have more time, the overview and the testimonials as well. The results that have come from this method are 100% successful, amazing, and very compelling.

Farming God's way Promo: (4 min.)  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vlVeqsYIxs


Testimonials: (3 minutes) Amazima Ministries, Katie Davis in Uganda: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LMDk_kbssM  
This video made me homesick for Africa!


   P.S. For those in the area, my family would be open to sharing the teaching DVDs on a weekly basis sometime in the future. Let us know if your interested.

Rubanga Cola nito (God be with you)!
~Jonathan Lueken with Operation Nehemiah  
774-254-4336

Donations via PayPal to 
Snail Mail to Operation Nehemiah (East office) 86 E. Bacon St. Plainville, MA 02762 
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Monday, June 2, 2014

I'm back in the US! A personal update and overview of my trip


   I am back in the states and sitting down to write an update after two months of not having an internet connection or reliable electricity. I apologize for not being able to give a live update on the ground, but am thankful for my family who relayed my phone updates to you all. I apologize for the length of this post which happens with summarizing a very full two months. I hope in the coming weeks to share the African Adventures from this past trip and the many awesome things that God did.


    This trip was so blessed in so many ways! Our mission team (the Levi's and myself) feel this trip to have been the most fruitful and ordered trip to date in South Sudan. Relationships were built and strengthened with our ground team and the community in amazing ways!
   
  Surveying of Gordon Mountain, Borongole mission station, and the extensive Beth Israel Farmland was completed, with the help and expertise of Surveyor Brian Mackay. Beautiful landscapes were observed and boundaries demarcated for land that will support and bless many people, today and years to come.
   
    The Levi family and myself had frequent opportunities to preach and share God's word on the radio. Nehemiah Trumpet Call 97.3 has been a blessing to surrounding community and beyond to the Madi Corridor, both in South Sudan and Northern Uganda. We find our phone lines ringing off the hook and hear reports of lives being changed by Jesus Christ, as well as educated and encouraged to live spiritually and physically healthier lives.
   
   Much of my time was spent with a hoe in hand and my feet in the rich fertile soil which is capable of growing so much food.  The rainy season was delayed this year, but in faith we planted many crops, which are now being watered by the tropical rains of East Africa. I personally had a hand in planting: Corn, ground nuts(peanuts), yams, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, green peppers, carrots, banana, mango, pineapple, passion fruit, and different varieties of local legumes. With faithful tending from our ground team, by God's grace the village of Borongole will be amply supplied with food for the table and to sell to the surrounding community. This year a storefront is being run in our village by one of William's nephews and is the perfect place to sell the locally grown produce come harvest time.

     With the brick production, you may have heard that a contract is about to be signed with a local school which we will be supplying 47,000 blocks to complete the project. Our block making team will be fully employed and the men given ample opportunity to help support their families. Our prayer is that this project will draw more contracts, which will enable this initiative to be a continuing means of self sustainability and a revolving economy.

   The Beth Israel Messianic Congregation's Sister Church in Derito is now under a strong and water proof church building. For quite a few years the church has met in a dilapidated, leaky tent, but now is doing the finishing touches on a safe and dry meeting place.

   Our Health Worker, Teban Moses, is going back to finish his next phase of medical training and on returning will have the skills needed to minister to the physical needs of the people. Rapid result malaria tests just arrived there and are one of many supplies to outfit the field clinic.


  This missions trip the Drip Irrigation System was NOT able to be purchased and sent over. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as we just had enough time with the tasks that were before us and the rains are now there. This year the hope is for me to bring the drip irrigation as the rainy season turns into the dry (this fall). I also will be looking to get some agricultural training and hands on experience this summer which will equip me to be fully a part of the cultivation in Borongole throughout the year. There is training for farming in the third world which is called FARMING GOD'S WAY and the techniques taught have very exciting and fruitful implications for future agriculture in Africa. I hope to attend this training in late June. Please pray for God's timing and provision for this very important training and initiative.
   Focused research and study of the local flora will also be a part of my return to South Sudan.


    Thank you so much for your prayers and support which were so vital to our mission these past two months! 

I am free to share about the things that God did March through May as well as the future work that needs to be done in South Sudan. I and my family, are available to share in person about my African Adventures in South Sudan at your home among friends, or at your church or another venue. I am up to traveling and would love to arrange something. Just LET US KNOW.

Rubanga Cola nito (God be with you)!
~Jonathan Lueken with Operation Nehemiah  774-254-4336

Operation Nehemiah (East office) 86 E. Bacon St. Plainville, MA 02762 
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