Farming for transformation November-2017

Why has this health worker become a farmer?  It all started when Dee went to Zambia and kept seeing children in her clinic whose nutrition levels were dangerously low. She then went to the root cause and trained in Foundations for Farming (FfF).

“Over the past year I have been teaching FfF to children at a local school which is in an area known for social and economic deprivation; I hear of many heartbreaking stories coming from here. Along with this deprivation, the life expectancy is low due to AIDS and this has resulted in a high number of orphans and vulnerable children.

“Recently the head teacher expressed that one of the challenges these children face is hunger; many come to school with no breakfast or even food to eat during school time. From this conversation, my Zambian colleague and I have decided to begin a breakfast club. We have received lists of orphans and vulnerable children in each class from the teachers and have met with local women’s groups to validate the two hundred or so names of children on our lists. A small group of women have volunteered to do the cooking of “sampo” – a porridge made from maize grits, initially one day a week. It’s my prayer that others will also come on board and share in this ministry so we can provide breakfast every day of the week. These ladies have also asked to be trained in FfF and we have planted a demonstration plot between a water kiosk and a grinding mill. I pray that at this meeting point where people come to draw water and to have their staple food (maize) processed, we will be able to share the message of FfF with all those who gather there.”

Foundations for Farming is about seeing transformation in people’s lives through faithful productive stewardship of the land. With the gospel of Jesus Christ as the Foundation, FfF teaches two key principles; one, to be faithful with what we have been given and two, to give of what we have, and that if we are to produce a good harvest everything must be done on time, at a high standard, without wastage and with joy.

— Dee Jones

 Pray for this ministry, that more local people will adopt the school food programme and that Foundations for Farming will spread through rural areas as Zambians find it works.