Multi Faith Farmer Training

By Sara:

Earlier this year, a friend invited me to do an agriculture training in her village near Jinja.

The group was about half Christians and half Muslims, made clear by the introductions: Christians said "praise Jesus/the Lord, my name is ___" and Muslims said "salam alaikum, my name is ___"

We did a short Bible study together from Proverbs 12:10 "The righteous care for the needs of their animals, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel."  After that, I taught about some specific ways to improve how we care for our animals.

It was clear that there were many knowledgeable farmers in the group who wanted to gain more ideas for improving their livestock production.  They were very happy to learn how to make a homemade salt block for their animals and to know how to trim goat feet.  Since many of them raise their animals with a cut and carry system (bringing the food to the animals rather than turning them out to graze), it was also very helpful for them to know the water needs of different kinds of animals.  They realized that most of their animals were not getting enough water to drink every day.  For example, it was shocking to find out that an "improved" dairy cow needs about 80 liters of water every day to produce the maximum amount of milk.

 (One of those yellow jerrycans, which people use to carry water, holds 20 liters)

I was pleased to see a group of farmers who were both Christians and Muslims, enjoying doing a Bible study together and interacting with each other as friends.  People often wonder how relationships are between Christians and Muslims in Uganda and they are generally peaceful.  

It is also encouraging to see Muslims who are willing to study the Bible together with Christians, with openness to hearing God's word.  I hope that this training (though it was one-time) helped these Christians and Muslims to develop closer relationships with each other and will give the Christians opportunities to invite their Muslim friends to further Bible studies as a way to share the good news of the Gospel with them.

Family Matters

By Sara:

My friend Jane and I have had several opportunities to do ministry together, teaching about basic counseling skills, growing relationships in families, and dealing with conflict.  One of Jane's friends and mentor, Phoebe, who is a retired women's leader, invited us to share with children in her church.  We got the invitation too late and already had plans for that day, but discussed how we could make it work in the future.  Jane and I thought it would be helpful to talk to parents first so parents can share their challenges and learn ways to raise their children well.  So Phoebe invited us over to her house, along with the pastor and youth leader, to see if this sounded like a good plan for the church.

After we shared our ideas to the group, the pastor and youth leader said it sounded good, but could we answer some questions for them?  One shared about how he heads to church before his wife and children and when he gets home, discovers they never followed him to church.  She says she had other work she had to get done and didn't have time to attend church.  He wondered what he could do.

The other asked how to have daily times of family prayer - what if people are too tired after dinner because they ate so late?  What if it is hard to get some people up early in the morning? 

And they asked advice for themselves, the church leaders, as they counsel others: how do you answer someone whose spouse is not contributing at all to pay school fees for the children?  Why do women no longer open up to their husbands after they've been married for a few years?  Why are all men like ______?  Why are all women like ______?

Phoebe gave a really great response from her years of ministry.  She said whenever she is with women, the women complain that men are all bad.  And when she is with men, the men complain that women are all bad.  But, she said when she hears these complaints, she thinks to herself that the complainers are not looking at themselves first.  She brought up Jesus' parable of taking the log out of your eye before trying to take the speck out of someone else's eye.

We spent about three hours discussing different family challenges they had, asking our own questions, sharing testimonies and advice.  When it was 6pm and we needed to go, we resolved that before we do anything with the church, there needs to be a day for the church leaders to meet and discuss their own challenges.  Sometimes church leaders don't get the support and counseling they need because they feel like they have no one to turn to.  We've seen that it is an important need for such people to be heard and cared for as they also care for others.

Galatians Preaching Conference

Post written by Tim Gamston from Broadstone Baptist Church, UK.

Although I have travelled widely in Europe, and had a few visits to the USA, I have never had the opportunity to visit Africa. So it was with great excitement and anticipation that I headed to Uganda this year on May 8th. 

I had been invited by Anthony and Sara, and pastors in Soroti to speak at a pastors’ conference. In addition, Anthony had lined up opportunities to preach on the radio, and in two PAG (Pentecostal Assemblies of God) churches. 

Radio preaching:

Many things stand out for me, from the condition of the roads to the stunning scenery (especially at Murchison Falls National Park), the friendly welcome from the people of Uganda, including their generous hospitality, and the variety of food, and yes I did try termites! It was lovely to spend time with Anthony and Sara, to enjoy home grown veg, fruit and meat! 

Preaching at a church 30 minutes outside Soroti:

The Galatians preaching conference was run over three days, from Thursday to Saturday. Around 100 pastors attended. We had six teaching sessions each day, along with sung praise, and eating together. 

The aims of the conference were to teach through the letter of Galatians, teach the doctrine of justification by faith, and give training, along with Anthony, on how to prepare expository sermons.

As believers we quickly drop into works based acceptance with God. We believe we are saved by God’s grace alone, received through faith in Christ alone. But we can so easily find ourselves seeking to keep in God’s good books through our own efforts. The danger with that is we lose the assurance of salvation, and our joy in the Lord.

Galatians shows that we don’t just begin the Christian life through faith in Christ, but we also continue the Christian life through faith in Christ. It teaches us that our standing with God never changes, because we are accepted by God based on what Christ has done for us. That doesn’t mean we can live as we please. Paul is careful to show that a person who is justified by faith will grow in sanctification. This was the message we sought to teach over the three days.

There were some real highlights:

• To be among brothers and sisters who were enthusiastically praising God in song. 
• To see the pastors engaging with the text of Galatians and preparing sermon outlines that were based on the text. Each of the pastors went home with a sermon outline on Galatians 3:14-16, and all them raised their hands to say they wanted to preach it in their home church.
• To hear comments after the conference that showed how this liberating truth of justification by faith had touched hearts.

About two weeks after the end of the conference, Anthony sent an update. One of the PAG churches in Soroti (whose church leaders all attended the Galatians conference) had published their preaching programme for the rest of 2025. Starting on the 6th of July, they were going to be preaching a series of expository sermons through Galatians. 

I’m thankful to the Lord, Anthony and Sara, and the churches of Soroti for this immense privilege and blessing to be able to serve in this way. 

To God be the glory.

Farming God's Way Review

By Sara:

Over the years, I have had a lot of interactions with Farming God's Way (FGW).  This is a form of conservation agriculture developed in Zimbabwe in the 1980s.

Conservation agriculture has three main principles:
1) Reduce soil disturbance through minimum or no-tillage
2) Keep the soil covered
3) Mix and rotate crops

There are other aspects, but those are the main ones we need to consider now.  Farming God's Way fits into this classification by promoting: 1) no-tillage, 2) mulching, and 3) crop rotation.

In 2014, I participated in a Farming God's Way training in Kenya.  I have also visited places around Uganda where the method is taught, including our region of Teso as well as Kabale in southwestern Uganda.  I've also talked to many missionaries who are trying to teach Farming God's Way or are interested in it.

Preparing planting basins at FGW in Kenya:

Farming God's Way is a very structured approach to farming.  This makes it extremely easy for anyone to try, whether they know anything about agriculture or not.  For example, it gives exact measurements for spacing between rows of crops, size of planting holes, and depth at which to plant seeds.  It makes it a very easy method for anyone to reproduce, no matter how little or much they know about agriculture.  However, this very specificity is also a problem since it doesn't give options for people to adapt it to different conditions.  

In my region of Teso, many people still have pretty large gardens - several acres - and often prepare the garden by ploughing with oxen.  According to Farming God's Way, you need to dig planting basins with a hoe and should not plough because that disturbs the soil too much.  It is true that in conservation agriculture it is important for farmers to reduce soil disturbance.  However, telling people to stop ploughing and start digging their large garden with a hand hoe is a huge change and seems to most farmers like moving in the wrong direction.  Additionally, in Farming God's Way, you keep the soil covered with mulch.  First of all, it is extremely difficult to deeply mulch a several acre garden.  Secondly, in Teso, termites usually have eaten all the mulch a couple days or weeks after you put it down, making it seem like a bunch of work for nothing.  

Personally, I would prefer to offer Farming God's Way as one option in the category of Conservation Agriculture.  In Teso, you can still do conservation agriculture through minimal tillage - by using an ox-drawn ripper instead of a plough, and keeping the soil covered - by intercropping with cover crops.  The cover crops can also be chopped down and used as mulch which was grown right in the place where it is needed.

Farming God's Way is a method amazingly suited to other regions, though.  When I visited Kabale, in southwestern Uganda, some years ago, I saw people who had great success with Farming God's Way.  They have very small pieces of land - often less than 1/2 an acre - which have been seriously degraded.  Because the land is small, it is easy (and normal) to dig by hand and also possible to cover the whole thing with mulch.  The cooler temperature and higher elevation there makes termites less of a problem.  And since it has been so degraded, even small changes like digging planting basins (and putting manure/fertilizer in each basin) and mulching have a big impact on crop yield.  

In Kabale - tiny non-FGW potatoes from one plant (top photo) verses a greater quantity of bigger potatoes from one FGW plant (bottom photo):

There are some great biblical teachings that go along with Farming God's Way, such as an emphasis on tithing and encouraging farmers that they can tithe from their harvest, instead of thinking that they must have cash in order to tithe.  It also is helpful in reminding farmers to make good use of the times and seasons God has created by planting at the right time and weeding at appropriate times.  I love how FGW emphasizes God's role as a farmer who planted the first garden in Eden and who sets an example to us as farmers.  No one needs to be ashamed of having the high calling of working as a farmer, following God's example.  

On the other hand, however, there are some biblical applications which I believe are not good interpretations of the Bible.  One example comes from Leviticus 19:19 "Keep my decrees. Do not mate different kinds of animals.  Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.  Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material."  Based on this verse, FGW tells farmers it is wrong to grow two types of crops together in a garden (intercropping).  But why is this verse in the law?  What kind of law is it?  A moral law which holds true to all people in all times?  Or a civil law specific to the nation of Israel which was fulfilled in Jesus, the perfect Israelite, but no longer followed by people who are citizens of other nations?  Or a ceremonial law meant to keep the Jews clean and different from people of other religions - fulfilled in Jesus, but no longer practiced by Christians who have been made clean once and for all by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross?

In discussion with a FGW teacher, he told me that it is bad because you will get less yield if you do this.  It is true that if you grow, say beans and maize in the same field, you won't get as many beans as if it was just beans.  And you won't get as much maize as if it was just maize.  But you will get more total volume of harvest.

The name "Farming God's Way" also makes me uncomfortable - I have met a farmer who asked, "if this is farming God's way, then are all other ways of farming "farming Satan's way"?  Even when we think we have the best method of doing something, it seems a bit presumptuous to call it "God's way" unless it is explicitly in the Bible. 

In conclusion, I think that Farming God's Way can be a good and useful way to do conservation agriculture - in some places.  But it is important to closely observe the farming context and traditional ways of agriculture before assuming that one method can fit all places.  There are always improvements we can make to how we farm, but the improvements will be different depending on where we begin and what our climate and setting is.