Saturday, September 22, 2018
This morning we were able to return to Bweya to capture a
video, interviewing Martin, our Director of Agriculture. Martin graduated with a degree in
Animal Husbandry (basically the science of working with all animals) and
handles the day-to-day operations of the Ekissa Demonstration Farm. He is a leader in farming
sustainability, teaching best practices to the students at Ekissa Model School
as well as others in the community.
Individuals in the community have sought opportunity to come
to the demonstration farm to learn under the supervision of Martin. He teaches them to develop and succeed
with their own farms by first teaching them best practices in caring for the
animals. The training is quite
extensive to include learning about the various breeds, the importance of
maintaining clean, disinfected environments to prevent disease and the
spreading of such, how to vaccinate and medically care for the animals, the
importance of good diets and how to grow that food and provide supplements.
After gaining such knowledge from their time at the farm
with Martin, the trainees purchase offspring’s of our animals to begin their
own farm. Martin continues that
education by visiting their respective homes, guiding them in building the
pens, following up to ensure the animals are correctly cared for and being
available for questions or concerns along the way. Martin has developed quite an impressive vocational training
program, which is providing opportunities for people in the community to
sustain themselves and their families.
Not only is Martin blazing a trail with vocational training
through teaching new farmers the art of entrepreneurial, he is also involved
with economic development through hiring individuals from the community to
physically invest in the Ekissa Demonstration Farm.
After our time at the farm capturing the details of Martin’s
work, we spent some time at Ekissa’s children’s home, Abbey’s House of Children
(AHOC). Several of the boys are
now growing into young men, reaching the age of 17! It’s mind blowing how quickly time flies as many of them
have been with us for 9 years! Abbey continues to do an amazing job raising
these young men into self-sustaining, strong Christian leaders. Merely being in their home watching 8
boys navigate all the responsibilities of maintaining a house and caring for
one another in addition to a minimum of 10 hours a day at school and several
hours of homework each night, is beyond impressive. Their level of compassion for each other is unmatched! It can measured in their sacrifice of not eating bread and their sacrifice in deciding to walk home from Bible
study rather than paying the expenses of transportation, in order for a new boy in the home to have the funds to attend school.
This sacrifice wasn’t for a week or a month…it was for a solid year! These boys
were aware of the financial need and devised this plan on their own. This
indeed is the measure of a man of God…a willingness to sacrifice for his
“brother”.
Our final visit of the day was with “Baby Blessing”—who is
actually 7 years old now! Blessing
is the young baby presented to us who was on the brink of dying…LITERALLY! He was around 16-18 months, weighing
only 11 lbs. Doctors could not
assure of his survival but against all odds and by the grace of God, this young
one is thriving and in 1st grade!! He has been living for the past 5
years with a local indigenous family who love him dearly. It's always such a treat and reminder of God's grace when we are able to visit with this family.
Tomorrow we will begin the women's and men's conference at Ekissa Central Church in Bweya Village. We are super excited to see all that God will accomplish this week!
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