Our journey began many, many years ago on what we affectionately called our First Missionary Journey…
…when we began to pray that God would use our lives to be effective for His Kingdom. God opened our hearts to minister in Nairobi, Kenya and from 2007 through mid-2009 we served with First Love International helping to develop 5-acres into a Children’s Home. Upon return to the States, we spent and continue to spend a significant amount of time in prayer and reflection on all that we learned. Two of the biggest things we had learned— God is BIG and that He created us to be STARTERS. In 2007, we moved onto a blank piece of land and worked to establish a women’s ministry, micro-finance opportunities, we built a home for orphans, infrastructure (water, electricity and security), a dining hall, a trade center and the foot print for future buildings. In 1 Corinthians 3:6, Paul wrote, “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” We planted and others came after us to water and God has been making it grow ever since!
In 2011, our hearts were busting with desire to see how God could once again use us on the mission field in Kenya. We traveled back on an exploration trip, traveling to rural areas and exploring different agricultural ministry opportunities. In 2012, we traveled to Florida to become certified in third world tropical agricultural development. Since then, we began to see God reveal to us different ways to work, plan and start a ministry that would take a holistic approach that limited dependency of nationals upon missionaries and the USA. The approach is a FIVE focused area framework: Everyone needs to WORK in gainful employment —Everyone needs access to CLEAN WATER—Everyone needs a God-glorifying CHURCH —Everyone deserves the right to quality EDUCATION — Everyone should have access to quality HEALTHCARE. The big picture would be a strategic community development plan that would provide multiple job training opportunities, deep water wells, a school, a clinic and a church. It is a HUGE task—one we believe God has set before us and one we cannot do alone. Although we are the starters… many others will be needed to join in (teachers, medical professionals, church planters and pastors). For now, we will travel to Kenya at the end of March to take the first steps of determining the viability of this FIVE frame-worked ministry including a time frame, budget and needs assessment… and possibly the beginning of our Second Missionary Journey...
I Had a Farm in Africa 