Food For the Future

Celebrate with us!!

2010-03-02T18:17:00.000-08:00

Hello family and friends,

In less than one year, what was once bare land here in Sinaloa, Mexico, 14 hours south of Nogalas, Mexico, now has an agriculture training center/church/community center, weekly cooking classes and church services, pastor's house, greenhouse, orchard and garden.

We enjoyed harvesting most of the garden last week (and watching the people of the church enjoy their harvest) and we are getting things ready to do it all over again. . . . only this time . . . the pastor is taking over!! Two weeks ago he announced that he feels trained and ready to begin teaching his people!!

Your partnership in this ministry has produced sustainable agriculture education for this pastor and impoverished community that can provide food for families generation after generation. You have made this work possible! Thank you!! Please watch the slideshow to your right (now updated with harvest photos) and celebrate with us what God has done, and see the fruit of your generosity.

Your Partners in Christ,

Marco and Jennine Varlesi and family
Agriculture Missionaries

Passing the Torch

2010-02-28T10:10:00.000-08:00

Rains not typical for this time of year along with an abundance of sunshine did wonders for the garden this month! The garden took off, and the church is already harvesting beans, cilantro, beets and squash. The first tomatoes and peppers can also be seen. Papaya and orange trees have a good start and are growing tall and strong. The pastor and his wife moved into their new house. This month we have enjoyed the fruit of our labor!!

Special blessings:

We saw our first bee in the garden.
A team came to help build the greenhouse and gather more horse manure and "garbage" aka compost materials.
The pastor announced last week that he is ready to begin teaching seminars.

Pest Management

2010-02-25T11:22:00.000-08:00

We found the nasty culprits!! And nasty they are . . . these cucumber beetles or squash beetles like to eat the leaves of squash, cucumber, and melon plants and lay their eggs at the base while the larvae eat the fruit! We have managed to fight many of them using organic methods such as soap/oil sprays, neem and trapping, though you can see the damage one small squash suffered in this picture. Just in time for teaching pest management. :)

February Progress

2010-02-04T09:06:00.000-08:00

The church has enjoyed a harvest of green beans and cilantro, though we're fighting a nasty cucumber/squash beetle. We are using various organic methods to fight them. Although they are eating the leaves of the bean plants, they are not damaging the beans. The cilantro is beautiful as well!

January Progress

2010-01-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

God continues to provide for this project. The garden is growing along with the pastor's excitement for the garden, ministry, and his soon to be completed home.

Bio Intensive Garden Beds

2010-01-06T17:37:00.000-08:00

2009 Project recap:

In April, Marco visited the site of the current agriculture training center in Sinaloa, Mexico. For three years the pastor had prayed for agriculture help. He had a yet to be fulfilled vision of a field of watermelon growing on the church property. God answered his prayer for help, and our prayer for land for the training center.

In the summer of 2009, God provided a building with an adjoining kitchen to hold church services, cooking classes, community events, and agriculture classes. Since that day, church services are held every Sunday and Thursday and cooking classes every Wednesday.

September saw the addition of fill to raise the land, and our arrival in Sinaloa, Mexico.

In October, we excavated, removed debris, and began composting in a big way! We collected a couple thousand pounds of compost materials at a time!!

November was the start of the agriculture training classes and the first planting.

December was a big month as we helped move the pastors house to higher ground since it was sitting in a flood zone in addition to continuing with agriculture training.

January's plans include building a greenhouse, adding bio-intensive garden beds, and teaching a 10 week health class.

Thank you for the opportunity to extend our hands as you extend your hearts to reach the impoverished for Christ through agriculture!!!

Miriam's story

2009-12-24T07:47:00.000-08:00

This month USAID reports, “Prompted by rising food prices in 2008, riots and demonstrations erupted in over 40 countries around the world. Unable to afford adequate food, many of the poor in these countries and others are at higher risk for malnutrition . . . [food security] depends on agriculture to provide sustenance, incomes and livelihoods for the world’s rural poor - 2.1 billion living on less than $2 per day.
Food Security by USAID http://www.usaid.gov/our_work/agriculture/food_security.htm 12/2009

Miriam is a young wife and mother who attends sustainable agriculture and cooking classes at the agriculture training center in Sinaloa, Mexico. She walks almost 1 hour each way with her 7 month old baby to attend classes. At her home, she is now growing cilantro, tomato, onion, jalapeno, bean, squash and melons. This Christmas, Miriam is grateful to have learned of God’s love and provision for her as she has learned a way to provide for her family.

The agriculture training center is in need of your help to continue bringing life changing principles to impoverished communities. To contribute, click the donate button to your right, or email for an EFT authorization form. Would you consider becoming a monthly contributor?

December progress

2009-12-14T18:19:00.000-08:00

This past week was a great week on the project! Classes are going well, plants are coming up, and compost work is keeping us busy. We are helping to build a home for the pastor of the community at the agriculture training center. We were excited to see one wall completed this week!

Over the last week and a half we've gathered several thousand pounds of horse manure, two thousand pounds of organic cucumbers, and a truck load of other compost materials. We gather compost materials at 4:00 to 5:00 in the morning. Every other day the compost needs to be turned by hand. It's dirty, heavy, smells and gets all over your clothes and shoes. And, it takes time to see results! But without it, the hard dry clay-like soil will not yield any fruit. It's similar to our hearts. They are hard. Some take years of preparation before they are soft enough to yield the wonderful fruit the Lord can bring. The preparation is not easy. It's poco a poco (little by little), day by day.

Last week's cucumbers + a truckload of veggies = this week's compost

2009-12-10T20:51:00.000-08:00

Agriculture Project at Orphanage

2009-11-24T16:19:00.001-08:00

James 1:27 Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Agriculture Training Center

2009-11-24T16:05:00.001-08:00

Isaiah 61:11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

First class

2009-10-14T06:23:00.000-07:00

Our first agriculture class has 21 students! We are very excited at the enthusiasm and welcome we have received. There is land with an adjoining building that is equipped with a large room for lectures, fans, and a kitchen. God has provided!

" May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us, that your way may be known on earth, your saving power among all nations". - Psalm 67: 1-2

Sinaloa: Agriculture Training Center

2009-07-01T18:55:00.000-07:00

Our focus on the agriculture training center in Sinaloa is to train national pastors, missionaries and community leaders in sustainable agriculture practices. They come to learn how to reach their communities for Christ through agriculture. A session with only 15 to 20 students could result in several community gardens and potentially affect hundreds of families.

God has blessed us with land, involvement from a local Mexican church, and an incredible team. Lord willing, we will “break ground” this fall and begin training immediately.

“I am sorry, but we only have tortillas today.”

2009-06-01T18:44:00.000-07:00

“I am sorry, but we only have tortillas today.” Quoted from the director of a Matamoros feeding program that provides assistance to 300 elderly people. At a recent visit to the feeding center, they had nothing to eat other than tortillas!

25 acres of land has been donated to the project, and volunteers are ready to work the land to provide a harvest for these people. We are preparing the soil for a fall planting and a winter harvest. To get started, we need some hand tools and basic supplies.

Agriculture Missionary Training Site

2009-05-01T18:32:00.000-07:00

An experiemental garden bed was created by the agriculture class Marco taught this winter/spring. The owners of the property were very surprised to see wonderful crops growing in the poor soil they didn't think would support a garden. Marco taught and implemented composting of organic materials, manure tea and other organic gardening techniques in the course.

Nicaragua

2009-03-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

Nicaragua update:

Marco returned safely from leading an agriculture team to Nicaragua! Many families received organic gardening instruction and hands on assistance getting their gardens started. Others who already had gardens received further training including natural pest control.

Marco taught an agriculture seminar and had feedback from two agronomists from UNAN (National University of Nicaragua) that attended. They both appreciated his instruction and found it to be useful and well done. Very encouraging feedback!

As many home visits as possible were done, and a plot was made for the church/pastor. The group worked very hard and came home exhausted!

We hope you enjoy the following slide show (through Kodak):

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=18rocjor.9iup2797&x=0&h=1&y=9gr8i5&localeid=en_US