Griffin (left) and Vincent in Emmanuel’s garden of faithfulness
Disciples Making Disciples
Jerry’s 3rd and final trip blog from Africa (Kenya)
Dear Family,
The final leg of my journey took me to Kenya, where I stayed with our trainer Griffin Juma. This was a very encouraging trip. On the first day, I visited with Griffin, his wife, and four of their five sons. I love those little guys.
The next day, we met with Griffin’s generals and began our field visits. The first field we stopped at belonged to a 15-year-old boy, Emmanuel, who plays on one of Griffin’s youth soccer teams. Through his combined FGW and soccer program, he mentors youth while also teaching them FGW. He has three teams: the Blessed Dreamers (ages 20 to 30), the Blessed Juniors (ages 15 to 20), and the Starlets (a team of young ladies). About 60 youth participate.
Emmanuel was at school when we arrived, but his grandfather, Vincent, was home. Emmanuel had planted kale in a very small “garden of faithfulness.” Vincent said the kale has benefited the family greatly. They used to spend $30 a month on vegetables; now they can save that money thanks to the yield from this small garden. It also provides an income that pays for Emmanuel’s basic needs such as soap, school supplies, and shoe polish to keep him looking fresh at school. Emmanuel is one of 12 youths who are helping to support their families by practicing FGW in a small garden of faithfulness. I had the opportunity to pour into some of these youth on my final day in Kenya.
From there we walked almost 8 miles to visit more farmers. We recorded the testimony of one of Griffin’s generals, Moses; you can see it by clicking here. Another of his generals, Meshack, has tripled the land he owns through FGW. His wife now runs a store selling fresh produce from the farm. But even more impressive than the harvests from the fields was the number of second- and third-generation disciples we saw!
For example, we visited a farmer named Brian who was a disciple of Dickson, who is in turn a disciple of Griffin. Brian has been practicing FGW for one year and has seen great results. He mentioned that a friend of his named Tobias had seen Brian’s success and wanted to start FGW as well. Brian and Dickson got him started a week prior to my visit, so we dropped in to see Tobias too. As a result, we were able to take a photo (see below) of four generations of disciples in Tobias’s field. It is amazing to see so many young people practicing FGW.
Four generations of disciples! Right to left: Griffin, Dickson, Brian (involved for one year), and Tobias (involved for one week at the time of this photo).
Griffin has gone from training 6 farmers in 2016 to 60 farmers today. The demand for training has skyrocketed as more farmers have noticed the abundant harvests FGW farmers are producing in Kenya. The model farm that you helped Griffin purchase is now up and running, and it has also created greater demand because people are seeing FGW performed at high standards and at field scale. The farm both contributes to Griffin’s income and serves as a classroom for people to learn in.
We are still working to develop the model farm as a training center so that we can continue multiplying disciples. But already, it is incredible to see the vision we set forth in December 2018 now coming to pass. May God continue to be glorified through the work He is making possible in Kenya through Brother Griffin, his disciples, and your prayers and donations.
God bless you and thank you for joining me on this trip!
Grace and peace,
Jerry Jefferson
Director, Farming God’s Way Ministry
