Sister Burita’s corn stalks: the largest I’ve ever seen! (And I’m a tall guy…about 6-foot 3 inches)

Chasing Hunger and Poverty

Jerry’s first trip blog from Kenya

Dear Family,

Let me start with a little intro…

I love to visit my FGW brothers and sisters in Africa, and it’s been on my heart to one day introduce my oldest son, 16-year-old Jafone, to them. He’s been practicing Farming God’s Way methods with me in my hometown of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, where I’ve been teaching and discipling troubled urban youth right on vacant city lots. It’s been very exciting to see the lives of these young men transformed using something as simple—and foreign to all of them—as agriculture. (And our efforts have also gotten the attention of local media and government!)

Back to Jafone. He’s become our urban farm manager here, but I wanted him to see that we are a part of something much bigger than just planting some crops here at home. I also wanted him to see the opportunities here at his fingertips—just by growing up in the US—compared to other places around the world.

Bringing my son along on this trip to Kenya was especially appealing because we would be visiting youth prisons with kids his age. He’s at a crucial stage of his life and I want to see him appreciate what he has and what he can do with what’s available to him as an American.

Now to our incredible trip together…

On our third day we met up with Griffin Juma, our accredited Farming God’s Way trainer in Kenya. We traveled to his rural home in Saboti and were served a delightful dinner of chicken, cabbage, rice and potatoes. His wife Filomena is an amazing cook! After some food and fellowship Jafone and I retired for the evening.

After breakfast the next day, we had the opportunity to meet Griffin’s father, Cleophas, one of Heaven’s Family’s longtime ministry partners. From there we were off to visit the farmers Griffin has been training. Our first stop was the humble home of Pastor Chris, one of Griffin’s disciples.

If you have been following David Servant’s teachings lately, you’ve heard a lot about making disciples that make other disciples. Well that’s what Brother Griffin has been doing with Chris through FGW. And Chris has maintained very high standards on his farm, just as Griffin taught him, and now he is reaping the benefits. And…he is teaching those in his God’s Love Group to do the same.

After praying over everyone’s fields, we were off to meet Mr. Waweble, another disciple of Griffin who is himself making disciples. (This man has an incredible back story, but I’ll save that for another update.) Mr. Waweble took us to see the fields of Sister Burita, one of his disciples.

Brother Griffin was very excited about Burita’s progress. This was her first time using FGW methods and she too did everything to very high standards. Not only did she have the tallest corn stalks I’d ever seen, but she has also planted “relay” crops to keep her farm producing. She showed us where she had planted her cow peas and sweet potatoes. Griffin was elated to see her prospering with FGW. Many other local farmers have taken notice of her high yields, and have signed up for the FGW training in September. We prayed over her field and headed to Mr. Waweble’s farm.

Upon arriving at Mr. Waweble’s, the sky opened and there was a torrential downpour. We made it into his house just in time. Thankfully there was more food and fellowship!

While we waited for the rain to stop, I asked my son if he would pray over Mr. Waweble’s field. To this point he had seen me pray over the 5 fields we had already visited. He said “Sure, Dad.” (Brother Griffin’s 7-year-old son Roy was with us as well.) So after the rain subsided, we went out to Mr. Waweble’s field and all knelt down to pray, including Roy. This was a very proud Dad moment, and it reminded me of my first trip to Malawi, when Pastor Dick asked me to pray over a farmer’s field. Then it hit me—disciples that make disciples!

I thank God for the incredible opportunities He’s given me to advance His kingdom and make disciples that make disciples. Together, we’re chasing hunger and poverty away from the continent of Africa through this amazing Farming God’s Way Ministry the Lord has entrusted to us. We could not do it without your help. Thanks for being apart of our team.

Please watch for my next trip blog!

Grace and peace,

Jerry Jefferson

Director, Farming God’s Way Ministry