Derek and Shea in SA

Update from Bukwini…& Shakira (these hips don’t lie)

We spent last week in Bukwini working alongside Mr. Vumile, a Farming God’s Way expert, and other community leaders. Oh, what a week it was! For the past few months Vumile and his lovely wife Patience have been traveling to Bukwini from their Transkei home in Qumbu in order to serve the families on the Bukwini Child Sponsorship List. Each of these families are caring for one or more orphaned children in this village. We are working toward each of them having a self sustaining garden in order to feed their families. Some of the people on the list have worked diligently in their gardens and have already produced a nice crop. One mama produced 20 liters of spinach alone! Others have put little to no effort into caring for their gardens which was such a disappointment to Vumile who has invested much time and hard work into making each garden a success. He isn’t giving up though. He has found two people who he has trained up in Farming God’s Way in the village and will be sending them back to walk alongside the families that are struggling.

We have a long standing relationship with community leader Mr. Njinjoni and his family who is playing an active role in the Child Sponsorship as well. Together Njinjoni and Vumile have worked to help others realize the importance of working together as a community. If I heard Vumile say it once, I heard it a thousand times, “One hour per day in your garden equals a lifetime of prosperity” and “You must work together, no one can do it alone.” If you spend five minutes with him you’ll quickly realize that he has a deep passion for farming and for people...with little patience for people who aren’t willing to do something for themselves. He will be going back to Bukwini for the next several months to work alongside the current leaders in the gardens of the village.

At the end of the month, we (Raymond, Shea, and I) will be going to Qumbu (Vumile’s home town) to train him in Church Planting principles. We all hope to see Farming God’s Way as an access tool into the community to plant Discovery Groups within Bukwini.

If you want to be a part of what is happening in Bukwini there is a trip scheduled to happen sometime in late-August 2011. You would get the opportunity to help plant gardens, work alongside Vumile, meet the people of Bukwini, and use a long drop for the very first time.