Lusekele -- sharing the blessings of God with farmers

I thought this first posting should be a general introduction to Lusekele.

The first thing to understand is that Lusekele Agricultural Development Center is a group of Christian believers. We live in a region where nearly 1/3 of the children are chronically undernourished -- usually hungry, often slow to develop, likely to be less healthy, and more likely to die from common diseases. The love of God and the example of Christ have drawn us here. In fact, we believe that God is already active ahead of us.

God's creation is amazing. For example, mosaic virus attacks manioc, the main staple crop in Bandundu, devastating yields and forcing subsistence farmers to cultivate much more land just to meet basic needs. But scientists have discovered varieties that resist the disease and they have selected many varieties with high yields. Some of the building blocks for manioc abundance are already known.

But how many subsistence farmers in Congo know high-powered scientists? Not many. Not surprisingly improved disease-resistant varieties are slow in coming to poor farms where they are needed most. God's blessings are locked up in knowledge storehouses. We need to find a way to put them at the disposal of farmers.

The Lusekele Agricultural Development Center is essentially a group of Christian agriculturalists intent on learning more about the blessings that God has already built into creation and sharing those blessings with our farmer neighbors. We collaborate with both international and national agricultural research programs in Congo to find ways to improve farm production. We focus on food crop varieties with better disease resistance and high yields, cash crops that add to sustainable family livelihoods and farming techniques that preserve and restore the creation for long-term stability.

Enough food to feed our families. Enough surplus to provide shelter and protection from the worst ravages of disease. A bit more for investing in the future -- educating our kids, improving our land. The freedom from want, and the freedom to return thanks and glory to the One who made us.

reflections from Lusekele -- November 2, 2007

(for previous journal items on work and ministry at Lusekele go to http://profiles.internationalministries.org/profiles/missionaries, click on Ed and Miriam Noyes, and choose from the journals list.