The Gospel According to the Ground

Greetings from Burundi!  

In DML's 2024 annual report, we announced that this year would have a special focus on agriculture, as we recognized that the majority of members in our partner churches and denominations are farmers.  While we had been equipping people to do their work as an act of worship and teaching basic business principles, we continued to face the significant challenge of "hungry farmers" (as addressed in this blog this past March).  

When an opportunity came to partner with an organization that was teaching conservation agriculture through the church, it didn't take long to see the potential of working together.  Conservation agriculture aims to improve soil health, increase water use efficiency, reduce labor and input costs, enhance biodiversity, and increase crop yields (by 4 times, we are told).

We planned to have three pilot studies:  Sierra Leone, Burundi, and India.  

But as our other partners heard about this opportunity, it became apparent that they didn't want to wait for the results of a pilot study.  They wanted in!  

Our partner in Burkina Faso came on board.  They have been trained to be trainers and have taken this message beyond their borders and into Togo and Guinea.

Our partner in Nigeria came on board.  They were trained to be trainers and have taken this message beyond Nigeria, to our partners in Tanzania and Kenya.

Our partner in Uganda will attend a training next month.

And at the same time, Sierra Leone is moving forward.  The training in India happened last week.  

This week in Burundi, we are hosting our youth conference, which will bring together 400 people over three days, with a focus on agriculture.  Last week, 30 trainers were trained to coach the 400 young adults, along with the DML Cameroon leader, who wants to start in this in Cameroon as well as other Francophone nations!

It's been an exciting season.  

Yesterday, I spoke at a church with approximately 1,000 people about creation care and our call to preach the gospel to "all creation" (Mark 16:15).  

I reminded the church that creation care is a gospel issue.  From Lausanne, “If Jesus is Lord of all the earth, we cannot separate our relationship to Christ from how we act in relation to the earth. For to proclaim the gospel that says ‘Jesus is Lord’ is to proclaim the gospel that includes the earth, since Christ’s Lordship is over all creation. Creation care is thus a gospel issue within the Lordship of Christ.”

Job 12:8 says, "Speak to the earth and it will teach you." We listen, we learn, we teach, we preach.

To those who have supported this effort through your partnership with our scholarship fund, we extend our sincere gratitude.  Enjoy this video from Burundi, worshiping as they prepare the land!