Good morning and greetings from back home in Iowa. Success in agriculture today in America will not to be where things are but to be where things are going. Much of agriculture in Africa is not where things are but where things have been. I think 3 keys to succeed in either country are a willingness to diversify, an ability to build relationships, and a workforce that sees the vision and takes advantages of opportunities.
In Malawi everyone grows maize (corn) from folks we visited living in the obscure villages, to our guest house kitchen help, to our room cleaners, to the policeman we encountered, to the airport folks who checked us in the country, to this fellow who brought our guest house fuel every three days for cooking.
We heard and observed from forward thinking folks who shared their thoughts on how to diversify. We were encouraged with their projects and ideas. Growing fresh flowers for weddings, funerals, and get-togethers. Grain brokering meaning buying and storing crops from farmers who traditionally sell at harvest because they need the money and holding that grain until the dry season when prices are higher. Growing sugarcane as a cash crop instead of continuous corn. We saw folks selling hybrid seed corn in their little spots along the roads on the way to the villages. We were pleased how Moses and Maria are helping themselves and others by building and renting out small two family homes. Below is someone who has built his own welder and is in the repair business.
In Malawi you really don't want to completely empty your coffee cup. Their coffee has what you might call sediments. Things that settle to the bottom. Russ and I would enjoy breakfast, coffee, and conversation together every morning while we waited for things to happen. Malawi has what they call military time which is promptness and Malawi time which is whenever things happen to work out.
In the villages the adult women showed us how they were learning to read. In Malawi visits, training, and even business deals happen under a shade tree.
In the villages the gals do the farming. Russ and I shared with them how better planting methods would not only improve yield but help with weed control and preserve moisture with canopy. We showed them how to germ test their seed because in their country you can't always assume everything will grow like our country. We told them how we feed corn to beef and pork so we have meat. They could totally not comprehend feeding good food to livestock. They asked me what I ate if I didn't eat corn. I teased them and told them my favorite was Irish potatoes (potatoes like ours). They laughed and told me I wouldn't be strong.
Women here are strong in many ways. They do the farming. Raise the children. Cook the meals. And just in general carry the load in many ways. I struggled carrying this 110 lb. bag of fertilizer from Harrison's car to the field and it's only half my weight. This gal carried it back to her home on her head and she wasn't any bigger than that bag of fertilizer.
We planted test plots in two different villages on two different days. We planted half on level ground in about 26 inch rows, single spaced seeds with fertilizer 2 inches under the seed and encouraged them to fertilize again when the corn was as tall as my cell phone. They planted their half on mounds about 46 inches apart with 2 to 3 seeds per mound and no fertilizer saying they would fertilize later. In the villages the culture is that men have more than one wife. I told the gals I only had the ability to care for one. They laughed and laughed when one gal teased me and told me if I would eat maize (corn) instead of Irish potatoes I would have energy for more than one wife. :) I think not.
The whole village came out to watch our efforts on both locations. After we would finish a plot we would gather around and pray. We prayed for rain. We prayed for the village and it's families. We thanked God for His provisions and prayed for a blessing on their year.
I have shared with you what we showed them. I would like to finish this visit with what they showed me. The village women showed me how they could work together happily no matter how difficult the circumstances. Below is Maria and Moses and their family when we took them to an Indian restaurant in Lilongwe. Maria showed me strength of character. She's had a tough time losing her home in a flood, her job, and multiple family members to death after an illness. After moving in with Moses widowed mother they have 28 family members living under one roof.
This is Harrison, his wife Miriam, their daughter Nyengoyake and her fiance Tushah, and their daughter Maureen. Maureen is graduating from African Bible College in June. She is married. Nyengoyake and Tushah are getting married in June. They are serving in a village building relationships one at a time. Harrison has showed me loyalty. To his friends. He was our constant driver, our interpreter, our money changer. To his family. He and Miriam are close to my age and have taken in and are raising nephews and nieces who have been orphaned. And to his community. He is a pastor as well as a farmer.
This is Charles. He cleaned my room just about every day. He, Baxton, Miriam, Moses, and their fellow workers at Korea Garden who cared for us and fed us showed me faithful serving to us and to each other no matter what the job. Because my bedroom was right next to the kitchen and because of an eight hour time difference between here and there causing lack of sleep, I would often hear them come in around 4:30 in the morning laughing and visiting. They had a camaraderie with each other and did their job well.
Last Sunday morning we worshiped with Moses and Maria's congregation. They showed me how they love to sing and express their love for God. They showed me how they care and share with each other when they have so little for themselves.They showed they considered me as brother with them in Christ as they asked me to give the message and how they intently listened as we read the scripture of the good Samaritan and talked about and asked the question, Who is my neighbor?
In his church, in the field, and in his village Moses showed me a humble leadership. After coming along side him with a hand up, not a hand out, in our first visit to Malawi when my little sister Beth still lived there, Moses is seeing a bigger picture. He is thinking far ahead of his next meal. He has bought in and willingly changed to a way of farming he wasn't used to. He deversified by building and renting out small homes. He is seeing the results. And he is now leading, helping, caring, and serving others with the gifts God has given him.
Hennie has shown me contentment no matter what the circumstance. As a South African farming in Zimbabwe he had to leave his home and his possessions. After 11 years in Malawi as serving as a farm manager for a larger tobacco farm he had to leave is job. After a number of other doors closed he is working at a tractor and generator dealership solving problems and believe me the country has it's share. Hennie loves his Lord and is a true friend.
They children have shown me happiness and friendliness despite having so little.
I see a new generation of missionaries. Jerry and Elaine's son and his family moved to a country in the old Soviet Union, bought a home, and are making a difference one relationship at a time. John and Delores's daughter and her family moved to a country near Turkey with their family, set up a small business, and are sharing Christ one friend at a time. Justin went to Cambodia, lives with 4 young Cambodian men there, teaches and trains, and is sharing Christ one friendship at a time. Ed and Mary also spend their winters in Cambodia building relationships one at a time. We are to do the same, right here in our communities. Looking from Africa, home, family, and our ability to provide and share with our vocations and opportunities are such a blessing. Have a good week.
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