Satisfied Wages for Nicaragua

A cool morning to plant beans! We finished Mature Bean project #2! This cycle it did not look as good as the first and we only harvested 4 quintals (100lbs sack) of beans. A disappointment, but a lot learned during the growing cycle too. Darwin wanted to try a different method of planting the bean seed, by using stakes. This is a traditional method used in our region by many farmers who's fields are on hill sides. With oxen it can be difficult to furrow the sides of hills and mountains full of rocks and boulders. Even though a large portion of the field we planted was flat, there was a rocky incline on the west side of our field.  We hired some workers from the adjacent community to plant the seed. A total of six men, three stake the holes and three men following, filling the holes with a small portion of fertilizer, seed and covering the seed with soil. This is where experience of a planter is very necessary for straight rows and a consistent plant population. Planting lasted two ...

Our ministry is based on a simple but profound concept, work as worship! The Hebrew word AVODAH,( עבדה ) means service. It carries two other meanings, work and worship.   In the Old Testament this word was used when the nation of Israel was called to serve God, and worship him. It is also the same word used to describe work! We can say this word, Avodah, is spiritual service. (Exodus 23:25) This concept is expressed again by the Apostle Paul in Colossians 3:23. When we “work” as unto the Lord it is an act of spiritual service and is also worship.    Whether we are giving a workshop in the Jinotega Chamber of Commerce, or in a farmer’s field of beans, the concept of Avodah is what we live out and teach. It is in this field of beans where we have the most potential to reach our region of Nicaragua with the Gospel! We are now purchasing a small farm to invite farmers to experience avodah with their own senses. We have certified red bean seed, sorghum and hybrid corn availa...

Jinotega's mountain burning Rains and cool weather has finally returned to Jinotega valley. It was passing 90 degrees in May, record setting temperatures for the region. Fires raged in the mountains all around us. Smoke filled the valley at night and even turned the moon red, (maybe Sahara desert dust too)! Fires on the mountains came very close to peoples homes, forcing some to evacuate or try to fight the fires themselves. These fires were set by vandals, or burning trash piles. Other fires grow out of control by people using slash and burn to log trees illegally. It is upsetting to see the destruction of this beautiful region.  We can live from agriculture sustainably. We can work with nature instead of against it. Within our ministry we spend a lot of time reviewing and teaching God's forgotten mandate, the Great Commitment. Found in Genesis 1:28. I encourage you to read this portion of Genesis, and think about the words dominate, or subdue. In these versus, God is calling ...

1st group of producers!  We held our first introduction seminar for bean producers at the end of March! While we invited many farmers, about 25 attended the seminar, and 15 ended up finishing all three days! Most of these 15 were from a community to the north-west of the city of Jinotega, called San Marcos. A few others from the northern areas, El Carril and El Mojon.  During these three days we introduce who and what we do as in the La Semilla, Jinotega team. We introduce Christian concepts of work, agriculture and creation management. I presented our introduction, Darwin the Biblical foundations. The second and third days were handled by Marcelo and Eduardo, agronomists from the Jinotepe team.  Darwin is enjoying his teaching moment! All of the participants were excited and had some many technical questions about planting beans, and how to treat the plagues they encounter in their bean crops. These questions were answered well by the more experience men from Jinotepe....

Jari and I arrived back home in Jinotega late December, just before Christmas time. We took a few days to rest and recover from our travels and a small cold that traveling brings. We couldn't wait to go and see the field of beans now that it was almost harvest time. Up to this point, we only saw the field in pictures, but now it was time to be present and see the beans flow in the wind! The plants did not disappoint us in person. They were healthy, bushy with big leaves and plenty of bean pods maturing to a nice deep reddish color. Some of the plants leaves had started to turn yellow as they were reaching maturity and dying off, putting the last of their nutrients into the beans. Darwin had done a great job caring for the plants and now he was preparing for the harvest, but when would they be ready?  The answer was, wait. A test of patience. In the first week of January we saw large portions of the bean field dying off. Since this was Darwin's first time planting beans he wasn...

We stood on the roof of the Cate Hotel in Morogoro, Tanzania, in awe of the Uluguru Mountains and centuries old Baobob trees with trunks large enough to carve a house out of. We praised and thanked God for bringing us to Tanzania, East Africa! We met new people, cultures and shared a love for making disciples in the Lord Jesus Christ! We were there for our Discipling Marketplace Leaders Global summit!  This was our first time gathering with the rest of the DML team from around the world. We spent the week together sharing how the Holy Spirit is working with us to make disciples in the marketplace. We celebrated our diverse countries, and tribes. We sang in so many different languages to praise our living God! We ended the week with a trip to the Mikumi National park, admiring God’s great creation observing elephants and lions! A beautiful reminder, to love what God has left for us.  We also shared our challenges and laments at our summit. The hardships of living in a fallen wo...

A cool mountain morning at the demo plot Since Darwin graduated from the Managua Agronomy University in 2019, he wasn't able to find stable work in his career until now. This means apart from a few internships while in university he has lacked the hands on experience needed to work with farmers. In fact, he has grown up in the small city of Jinotega and has never planted anything of his own! Darwin never lacks enthusiasm to try new things. However, I knew if he was going to mentor experienced farmers on the technical side of growing beans, he needed to grow his own!  We had an older bag of red bean seed we had been using for promotion purposes in our workshops for the past six months. It was an older batch of seed, and while returning home from a workshop it started to rain and the bag got wet form a leak in my truckbed cover. While taking it out of the truck to store it again, the bag split open on us! We were able to recover the seed, but this meant we could no longer use it for ...