January Progress

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

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

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

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

Agriculture Project at Orphanage

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

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.