I (Marc) was invited to a one-day sustainable farming seminar by Heaven’s Family in the Fall of 2012.  Being a degreed scientist, a homesteader (even back in the US), a teacher and missionary, I latched onto the concept immediately. Now our family had adjusted to growing much of our own food even when living in the US. We already knew how to farm and preserve foods. However, adjusting to a maize and beans economy and dry storing rather than canning was a big adjustment. Also, we were used to going to the local farm supply store in the US and getting whatever we needed. Here, there is no such thing as a general all-purpose fertilizer (12-12-12). We just have nitrogen-rich DAP and CAN locally, which are not ideal for beans and vegetables. They use a foliar spray (like MiracleGro®) for crops other than maize. The other big change was the seasons. Here it is long rains, short rains, and dry. In the mid-west we simply had the actual four seasons. Not here.

The seminar was taught by Craig Sorley who leads an initiative to empower Africa with practical and sustainable agriculture. His teachings were nearly entirely based on “Farming God’s Way” FGW (see www.farming-gods-way.com). He taught a lot of biblical concepts concerning sustainable agriculture but I will emphasize the science here. The thesis is that God made things to work a certain way in the wild and if we leverage His methods in our cultivation of crops we can greatly increase yield and  restore our land. I will give you my best description in as few words as possible. In the wild, trees are interspersed with other plants and provide a blanket of cover or mulch on the earth.  Trees pull nutrient from depth and reintroduce that nutrient to the topsoil. The organic matter protects the earth from erosion, provides a habitat for worms, bacteria, and other beneficial organisms that create a very healthy, rich soil structure. The ground cover prevents evaporation and runoff and ensures that all the precipitation  is absorbed and remains available for the plant roots. Other benefits of ground cover include inhibiting weed germination and propagation.

The other concept introduced was precision. Precise inputs and methods will lead to predictable outputs. Measuring plant spacing, seed and fertilizer depth and amounts precisely will lead to maximized yields. We are talking about engineering the field. Optimal spacing means inhibiting sunlight availability for weeds and maximum outputs per farming area. Crop rotation for pest reduction and to prevent nutrient depletion is also recommended (beans also fix nitrogen for future maize crops).

Our garden is huge by US standards but a standard small shamba (farm) by African standards. It is the perfect size to test this methodology. Our field is approximately 100 feet by 40 feet. I divided the shamba into five 40 feet by 20 feet parcels for crop rotation purposed. We started by adding mulch in the form of maize stalks and river grass and resting the field for the Fall of 2012. We consistently weeded and/or sprayed with a RoundUp® equivalent during the dry season  to minimize weeds in the future. We were amazed that what little rain the dry season gave us kept the soil moist even during the dry season where the mulch depth was sufficient. Now only one of our five sections had full coverage of a few inches of mulch. The other sections had variable coverage. We learned that grasses are much better than corn stalks for mulching. We only had enough grass for one section. Any seedless, non-poison leafy material will work for cover but the smaller the materials the better it holds back weeds and holds in moisture. We also have trees interspersed in our shamba, primarily a fast-growing variety that does not make much shade.

For the first crop we planted two sections of beans and two of maize. One of the bean sections also contained four rows of open-polinated maize seeds just to create seed for next year. The remaining section was for vegetables. We used just a mixed bean bag we eat from for bean seeds and Kenya Seed Company 6213 hybrid for the maize plots. We selected this variety because that is what everyone else around us is using and we want to compare apples with apples.

Now we planted a month after the rains because I suffered a serious leg injury in a motorbike accident. Therefore, when I compare my neighbor’s maize to mine they still had a month head start. Now I followed the FGW guidance to the best of my ability. In the end it was African volunteers and my family doing the labor and there are limits to how perfect they can follow instructions. Maize was spaced at 60 cm plant to plant with three seeds per hole with rows 75 cm apart. Now in actuality the holes were not 60 cm on center but rather 60 cm edge to edge meaning the spacing was a little wider than specified. As a result, I did not thin to two plants per hole but left all strong plants. The holes were dug about 8 to 10 cm deep and a mixture of lime/DAP was added per FGW specification. A little soil was returned and the seeds were planted at 5 cm depth. At a foot height, maize was top-dressed with CAN as specified.

For beans, furrows were dug about 8 to 10 cm deep and a lime/fertilizer mixture was applied and the furrow was backfilled and seeds were supposed to be planted at 3 cm depth. However, I lost control of the team at the bean plot. The rows were supposed to be 37.5 cm on center and seeds planted at 10 cm spacing. However, they DID NOT use strings to mark lines and just winged it by the fifth row. I can’t complain as they were all volunteers. Germination was not very good. Next time I will just plant many and thin the weaker plants. I will also do it myself for the sake of precision. They also rushed through the job and worked it with tools rather than by hand. In some places they placed the seeds in a different place than the fertilizer furrows and even placed the mulch over the plants. It was a bit messy. The moral of the story is that it is a difficult thing to get Africans to slow down for the sake of precision in lieu of just getting the job done as quickly as possible. Beans were later sprayed with a foliar spray a few times.

Weeding was done every couple weeks by the children or others while the weeds were small BEFORE they flower. Where the cover was thick and consisted of grasses, weeds were sparse. Wherever cover was light, we had more weeds. However, the weed density was far less than the community fields around us with zero mulch cover.

The vegetable plot is a mix of spinach, carrots, onions, collards, and garlic. It is where my children have their little beds of crops. Therefore, it is not FGW, but rather “farming Micah’s way, farming Isaiah’s way, and farming Jonah’s way.” That plot has the thinnest mulch cover as well. But the crops look pretty good.

Now there are three genres of crops around us: the average African field where inputs were deficient and crops are intermixed, a good commercial African field, and FGW. The fields with deficient inputs are pathetic. The maize is yellow and yield will not be worth the cost and effort. They typically mix their maize and beans (or millet) and get just a few bean pods per bean plant and small or even underdeveloped maize, if any at all.

The commercial fields have the inputs necessary, and do pretty good if the rains are there. However, it is a lot more work weeding and extra cost tilling the land. They also suffer from erosion loss, evaporation, and a dense impenetrable cake layer on the surface. No worms or beneficial critters amending the soil either. They do not apply lime. Also, much of the fertilizer applied gets washed away with rain or spreads to feed the weeds rather than the maize. The little hole in the mulch when FGW ensures that ALL inputs go to the maize.

Our neighbor Henry is a great African commercial farmer. He does everything “right” and gets a good yield. He planted a month before we did and his maize stayed ahead of ours for a while. However, when rains were intermittent our maize outperformed his. With the same volume of inputs and same variety of seed, even though he planted a month before us, our FGW maize is two feet taller than his and is a deep green rather than a yellow green. And his beans yielded about 12-15 pods per plant whereas ours yielded 25-30 pods per plant. And that is with a healthy rainy season. If drought came, the difference would have been even more remarkable.

As a result of our exceptional crop performance we are the talk of the town. This was our intention. This demonstration plot will lead into teaching multiple short seminars on the benefit of both project management and planning principles and FGW techniques. Pray with us that the Lord will use these principles to thrust these folks from poverty.

The team returned to Turkana country for a follow-up mission this week. The mission team (see photo) included Silas, Henry, Tonny, me, and the coordinator John, who made the initial connections with the people in Lodwar. It was another long, hot and bumpy journey (photos). We experienced a broken rim on the bus in a bad area (photo). An official on the bus said the nearby herd of cows made him nervous because the Pokot shepherds are known to carry machine guns. He stated earlier armed locals robbed stranded folks of everything they had including their clothing. They would have seen some blinding whiteness if that happened to our bus! Well we arrived in Lodwar at about 10 PM and then ate dinner. I learned that our guest house is really a brothel. Praise God they change the bedding daily. Silas was teaching the working girls and convinced one to pack up and go home and she did. Praise God.

After dinner there was a terrible incident I hate to even describe. But things are different in the remote areas of the desert. A crowd had gathered around an unconscious man laying in the street. Bystanders said he was hit by a motorbike. No one lifted a finger to help him. Silas and Henry investigated first and then joined the rest of the team. They told me about the injured man and I went to see if we could get him to a hospital. Silas is the only one who tried to help me. We could not get a car and Silas wanted to put him on a motorbike. Then the crowd started changing their story and saying he was a robber who was injured by vigilantes for stealing a phone. Even my team discouraged any action. So we just let the man lay there. All I could think of was the parable of the good Samaritan. Even if he was a robber, I did not feel right but was powerless without their cooperation as I do not speak the languages necessary to get anything done. And assisting a robber is considered very wrong in Africa. I needed cooperation.

We returned to our room and called it a night. I pondered his injuries and concluded that whether he lived or died, local medical capabilities would not make the difference. He suffered blunt head trauma and was unconscious with occasional seizures. Not good. But Silas could not rest. He returned to the scene alone hours later and the man was alone in the street, the crown having disbursed. He had no money and it was the middle of the night. He just stayed there and the man eventually died. You see, Silas knew the crowd was lying. The person who instigated the stories was the murderer who fought him over a girl. I learned all this the next morning. This is a sad testimony of the severity of life in Africa and total disregard for our fellow man. Only Christ can change these people.

The next day we met in our guest house (brothel by night) to teach agricultural methods effective in their area. It was a modified version of Farming God’s Way. But their issues run deeper. No soil and no rain! That is a big problem for agriculture. But I taught them in the classroom and hands-on in the field to dig out a small area about 10 inches deep and import soil from ant hills, rich muck from the river flood plain, and compost. Then we applied about six inches of mulch over the new soil. Add water and voila! Wait for God to do the rest. We planted a bed of tomatoes (see photo) to test this at a pilot scale. If it works, they will be encouraged to take it to commercial scale. To do the project we purchased them a wheel burrow, shovel, jembe (heavy hoe), machete, and file to sharpen the tools.

The second agricultural project was evaluating a cooperative farm for irrigation. It is a farm managed by about 100 local Turkana people (photo) consisting of 100 acres (photo). It is located on a flood plain and is adjacent to the river, which is a dry bed much of the year. Now they wanted someone to come in and install a well and set them up. However, their water demands and the lack of power inhibit this as being practicable. I put my hydrogeologist hat on (I am a degreed geologist, geophysicist, and hydrogeologist) and scoped out their situation. They reside on a flood plain with water is less than 10 meters deep with loose fluvial sediments. Think big water demands. Think no power and no heavy equipment. Solution: irrigation pond. They need to get some cattle and dredge/scrape/plow a large pond and install a diesel pump. Think America before the invention of the excavator. Most of the ponds and lakes built in America were built this way. They really have everything they need to do the job. They just needed a push in the right direction. Besides that, if they really want a well, at 10 meters, they just need a shovel and a bucket. Their next assignment is to dig a hole and definitively determine depth to water and ensure bedrock is not encountered.

Next day was a trip to Lake Turkana. This was a two hour rough ride through the desert (photo). Occasional goats, camels, and Turkana villages are all that break up the barrenness. Once lakeside, we were greeted by the Chief who is also a pastor. He hosted the meeting. We then had to board a boat to access the peninsula where we would be teaching. For most of us, this was no big deal; but for Tonny and John: major problem. These guys feared the idea of traversing the one-mile harbor in a boat tremendously. After a half hour of cajoling them, we finally gave up and left them on shore. However, shortly after we left we saw them board another boat and follow us to the other side.

At the other side we watched the locals gather in their catch by net on shore (photo). It was incredible. Reminds me exactly of what James, John, Peter and Andrew experienced in Lake Galilee. Lake Turkana is an awesome fishing spot. It is so remote, and roads so bad, there are only boats on the lake that are locally made. Therefore, this enormous lake is barely fished. Results: some incredible fishing! I would love to take my boys here but the risks are too numerous.

I then taught a group of seven pastors and about 40 church members (photo) the Gospel of the Kingdom, house church planting, Luke 10 evangelism, and multigenerational discipleship. It was very well received. They said this was exactly what they needed to reach the unreached deep into the interior places.

During a break we wandered back to the lakeside. On shore someone just pulled in a 15-20 pound fish that looks like a bass (see photo). We bought several huge tilapia right there and ate good the next couple of days.

After the teaching the Chief insisted I come back. I want to, really, but my schedule and budget prohibit it. Now these folks are desperate for Bibles and I only wish I had carried more. I only brought five with me but had a few more at home but lacked room in my luggage. I will have to send them some somehow.

I just marvel at our God who put this vast resource in the middle of a desert. What a blessing for the local people. Without the lake, they would have nothing. Pray for the people Ferguson Gulf, Lake Turkana.

We them traveled back to Lodwar in preparation for the next meeting in Lokichar, about three hours from Lodwar. The next day we boarded a small van for Lokichar (photos of camels on the way). When we arrived at noon, we found five pastors who had been waiting for two days for us to arrive. Two pastors walked day and night 70 kilometers to attend the meeting. Another traveled 40 kilometers. Try to get an American who is that committed to learn from God!

I taught all day and they were blessed. These are serious folks and now they have been given knowledge and tools to reach deep into the interior places of Turkana land. We will marvel one day at the impact that the teachings and literature will have at reaching the unreached in this harsh area. These are literally unreached peoples we are talking about who do not even know about the Bible, God, and Jesus Christ. I praise God for the opportunity to mobilize the people who will reach them

So I want to thank all of you who have been praying with us and supporting this work financially. When this mission was launched, there remained only $792 in the mission bank account. Well, reaching the interior places is not cheap. We used a total of $752 to fund this mission. It is not easy work; the team endures many hardships to embark on missions to these remote areas. But we are willing, for the God we serve and the people we reach. However, we can’t do it without your help…both prayers and financial support.

God bless you.

Marc Carrier

Two missionaries named Michael and Robert were packing to go overseas to plant churches. They wanted to put everything in the bag that they would need to plant churches (symbolically, that is). So they proceeded to pack for the adventure.

Michael said to Robert: “A Bible, we will need a Bible to plant churches.”

Robert answered: “Yes, put it in the bag.”

Michael pulled a plan for a church building from a folder and showed Robert. Then he said: “We will need a church building to plant a church. It will take purchasing property, getting permits, and getting a contractor to build the structure.”

Robert replied: “Yes, of course. We can’t plant churches without a ‘church.’ Put it in the bag.”

Michael then showed him a brochure of a bunch of fancy audiovisual equipment. He said: “We will want to show the Jesus film and do crusades to save people and get many members for our new church. We will need much expensive equipment to attract large crowds.”

Robert responded: “Yes, I love these speakers—and what a great projector. Put it in the bag.”

Michael then pulled out a couple resumes for prospective pastors. “We will need a strong pastor to launch this church. Look at this guy. He has a degree from a great Bible college. We will have to pay him a good salary to move out there, but he will be worth it.”

“He is perfect!” exclaimed Robert. “Put it in the bag.”

“We will need some powerful preaching to draw a good crowd,” said Michael

“And we certainly want a crowd,” said Robert.

Michael then motioned to a plan for a Bible college. “Look at this,” he said.

“Wow! I love it. That is how we will train up indigenous pastors. Put it in the bag” said Robert.

Michael opened his wallet and said, “This will cost a lot of money. But we will get the Westerners to give. They always want to support missions.”

“Put it in the bag,” said Robert.

Michael zipped up the bag and lifted it, firmly bracing himself, so as not to fall. He handed it over to Robert and he nearly fell due to the great weight of the bag.

Robert commented, “This bag is real heavy. Do you think it will work?”

Michael replied, “This is how we do it, and it works for us.”

Weeks later they boarded a plane for East Nowhere and set off to the field. In the field, they encountered Wanyonyi on the side of the road on a path. They introduced themselves as missionaries and told him they had a gift for him from God.

Wanyonyi replied, “Are you sure it is for me?”

They handed him the bag and it nearly crushed him. Wanyonyi got up and was furious and chased them away. Michael and Robert barely escaped. Disappointed from the failure of the mission, they returned home.

“What happened,” Robert said to Michael.

“I don’t know. It looked way too heavy for him,” replied Michael.

“That was really discouraging,” said Robert. “I know we have been called to plant churches. Now what do we do?”

Michael had a look on his face and twinkle in his eye as if he was granted some supernatural insight. “I have an idea. What if we simply follow the New Testament pattern for our church planting mission.”

Robert responded in delight, “yeah, that is a great idea. Because we know it worked for them!”

“That’s it then. It is settled,” exclaimed Michael. “If it is not in the New Testament, it does not go in the bag.”

The men then dumped the contents of the bag onto the table and started repacking their bag for the church planting mission with renewed hope and vigor.

Michael first grabbed the Bible and said to Robert: “A Bible, we will need a Bible to plant churches.”

Robert answered: “Yes, of course. That is our model for how we will work. Put it in the bag.”

Michael pulled a plan for a church building from a folder and showed Robert. Then he said: “We will need a church building to plant a church. I mean, we are church planting. How do you plant churches without a ‘church?’”

Robert replied: “Actually, I don’t remember seeing a church building in the New Testament.”

Michael responded in disbelief, “What do you mean no church building in the New Testament. Where did they meet?”

Robert opened to Romans 16:3-5 and read: “Greet Prisca and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who for my life risked their own necks, to whom not only do I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles;  also greet the church that is in their house.” Then he read 1 Corinthians 15:16: “The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Prisca greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” Then Robert read Colossians 4:15 and Philemon 1:1-2 in rapid succession: “Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house… To Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker,  and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house.”

Michael stared dumbfounded and a bit humbled, “For real, there are no church buildings in the Bible. They met in houses! That is great news for the mission, because I knew the expense of the building would be a real problem. But they already have houses! Put it in the bag, brother.”

Michael started affectionately looking over the audiovisual equipment catalogs. “No, not my equipment,” exclaimed Michael, having realized the ramifications of their mutual agreement that if it is not in the New Testament, it does not go in the bag. “So now how are we going to evangelize?”

Robert responded, “In Luke 10 Jesus just sent them out in pairs—in fact, He made the point for them to go empty-handed. They preached the Kingdom of God and healed people. I mean, they were taught by the Master storyteller. Jesus showed them how to share the message of the Kingdom using simple stories.”

“You know what? That is actually much better than what we had going,” replied Michael with renewed enthusiasm.

Next, Robert grabbed the resume of the pastor they both liked, “What about the pastor? There are pastors in the Bible, aren’t there?”

“Well, that is funny you ask. Not exactly,” said Michael.

“What? You have to be kidding,” remarked Robert.

Michael clarified, “Churches certainly had leadership—even house churches. But each fellowship did not have a CEO-type running the place.”

Robert, a bit confused by Michael’s mysterious response, balked, “but pastor is one of the five-fold offices—you know—Ephesians 4:11.”

“I know, I know,” said Michael. “But all I am saying is that it was not the way we understand the role. Pastoring is synonymous with shepherding, and it was certainly a vital role. But the shepherds were discipled and trained up from the flock, and selected based on their character and how they managed their personal households. These were not seminary trained business-style leaders who were recruited and hired based on resumes.”

Robert, interested in where the conversation was heading then asked, “Well if they are trained up from the body, are you saying the church operated without a pastor at the beginning? Because I know Paul said in 1 Timothy 3 leaders should not be recent converts.”

“Precisely,” responded Michael.

“Brother, your theory sounds great,” said Robert, “But we agreed it does not go into the bag unless it is the New Testament. So prove it.”

Undaunted, Michael opened up to Titus 1 and started reading from verse 5: “For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man is above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.  For the overseer must be above reproach as God’s steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict.”

“You can’t be serious,” responded Robert. “I have read the New Testament a hundred times and I never noticed that Paul’s churches were launched leaderless. This is amazing! What a discovery. This will make launching our house churches a million times easier. All we have to do now is make disciples, organize them into fellowships, and simply disciple them until the Holy Spirit reveals the leadership. Put it in the bag, brother!”

Robert’s enthusiasm sank as he thought out loud, “Well if we don’t have a pastor, who will preach the sermons? I mean, without powerful sermons, who will come, really?”

Michael answered, “Actually, you don’t find sermons preached in the New testament either.”

“Not true, brother,” responded Robert, confident he had stumped his dear brother Michael. “What about the ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ ‘Sermon on the Plain,’ Stephen’s powerful sermon, and Peter at Pentecost? There is certainly preaching in the New Testament.”

Michael calmly explained, “There is preaching, but NOT to believers. All those examples were evangelism, not examples of sermons directed at the churches.”

“I see your point,” responded Robert. “So what did they do in the churches? Who lead the service?”

Michael answered, “They had an interactive service lead by the Holy Spirit. I mean one would teach, then another would lead a song, and they even spoke in tongues and prophesied in turn. It is right here in 1 Corinthians 14:26: let me read it, ‘What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification.’”

“So it looks like no one person ran the show, but rather all who were so inclined participated as the Spirit lead,” noted Robert. “This takes a lot of pressure off the would-be pastor. This really sounds great. Let’s put it in the bag.”

“Another thing I noticed in reading 1 Corinthians 11, is that they shared the Lord’s table as a full meal. I mean every week. They took communion, but not a token wafer and a little sip,” said Michael. “In fact, they called it the Love Feast. This was the centerpiece of their meeting together.”

Robert feeling about three inches tall, not understanding how he could have missed these things, having received so much Bible training, replied: “brother, this is a real humbling exercise. I really never knew any of this. But I am blessed and relieved. Because I am certain the folks we are ministering to are going to love this. Put it in the bag.”

Now they looked at the plans for the Bible college together. They looked directly at each other and both realized at the same time that there is no Bible college in the Bible. So they thought of the New Testament alternative to Bible college and both blurted out at precisely the same time, “discipleship!”

Michael then quickly opened his Bible to 2 Timothy 2:2 while Robert was opening his to Luke 6:40. Michael read first: “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”

Then Robert read, “A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher.”

Michael said, “Put it in the bag, brother.”

Robert saw the last item. “Money—that is a sticky issue. What do we find in the New Testament. Church planting costs a lot. I mean we need the church building,” then quickly realizing, “oh yeah, no building.” Then he went right down the list, “pastor…no pastor, audiovisual equipment…no equipment, Bible college…no Bible college…”

Michael interrupted, “I got it, I got it…I know what we need money for.”

Robert looked confused.

Michael continued, “The Bible. We will need money for the Bible. That is the only thing we need to plant churches!”

Robert was laughing nervously, somewhat bewildered as to how such a complex endeavor as church planting could have become so simple and affordable.

Robert contemplated, “So what did the New Testament church do with their money. I mean, they took offerings, didn’t they?”

Michael, eager to answer the question, responded by reading from Acts Chapter 4 starting in verse 32: “And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.  And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.  For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales  and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need.”

When Michael finished reading, Robert answered his own question: “They simply gave to all as they had need. So the money went to the neediest among them. I am certain our new house churches will love this.”

Michael grinned, “put it in the bag.”

The next week they returned to the mission field. Both were amazed by how light the bag had grown. They both were eager to carry the bag this time, remembering how heavy it used to be.

They stumbled upon Wanyonyi again. He saw the bag and made a run for it. They caught up to him and were able to explain to him that it was different this time. This time they handed the bag slowly, and held it with Wanyonyi until he supported all the weight. Wanyonyi was shocked by how light it was.

They all praised God together and the men urged Wanyonyi to take it to his people. Wanyonyi walked away under the blue sky carrying the package to all the villages. The missionaries returned home, overjoyed by the success of their mission.