Farming God’s way in Muldersdrift
"We believe that Farming God's Way is part of God's solution for Africa, where it can be turned around from being the begging bowl to the bread basket of the world.”
Community Ministries based in Muldersdrift has a totally different view on farming. They are currently busy realising their vision called Gardens of Faithfulness that consist of 1m x 2m gardens with four ‘bomb-proof’ vegetables such as beans, spinach, beetroot and spring onion.
These gardens are meant for settlements where minimum space is available, and can feed a family of four people for three months, after a six to 10 week growing period.
The most recent training session was on Saturday, 27 March and was attended by more than 55 people in line with the intention to train as many facilitators as possible.
According to Training Coordinator, Jaap Heesterbeek, a challenge was put out for each person to train 10 other people in starting a small vegetable garden where they live.
“The vision is one million of these gardens in South Africa to alleviate the current food shortages among the poor. Quite a few were inspired to start their small gardens within a week of the training, and 50 sets of seeds and seedlings were supplied to attendees for this purpose. We have prepared a 60m x 5m area for big and small gardens for training and food-growing purposes, which will be planted with all types of vegetables shortly, suitable for this season. We believe that Farming God’s Way is part of God’s solution for Africa, where it can be turned around from being the begging bowl to the bread basket of the world,” said Jaap.
The existing food-production garden is part of the three-day Farming God’s Way (FGW) training sessions for over 150 people that was conducted last year.
Over 70 cubic metres of topsoil had to be brought in and spread out over the hard and stony soil in order for the garden to be started.
“Farming God’s Way is simply a tool of equipping to empower the poor to help themselves. Farming God’s Way was originated before man was on the face of the earth, when God first put his ways in place to govern his creation and their interrelations with one another. God is the master farmer who has been farming this way since the beginning, and by simply following his ways, amazing solutions to the food security and poverty crisis can be revealed,” explained Jaap.
The next training session is on Saturday, 1 May at Community Ministries, 69 Drift Boulevard, Muldersdrift from 9am to 1pm.
