It’s funny. I never thought I would have anything to do with farming. I despised it when I was young. It was the last thing I ever planned on doing. Yet there I was Sunday afternoon teaching these guys how to build a proper compost pile. God does have a sense of humor and works everything according to the counsel of His will.
On the fourth day that we were with Gift, we were able to do a demonstration on making compost according to the model from Foundations for Farming, a Christian agricultural ministry based in Harare, Zimbabwe. This organization teaches farming methods according to scriptural principles. According to them, the Word of God and the clear order of God’s own creation are the foundations for farming.
Several of the local farmers came, many of whom are just youn
g men. We were able to teach the men how to make ‘natural fertilizer’ free of charge using hard work, initiative and the materials God has already provided. We laid out two areas side by side measuring two meters by two meters by two meters high at his home near the road so everyone who passed by could see. By sunset we had built the compost up to about knee level (50cm) using 40% green material, 40% dry or brown material, and 20% corral manure. I explained the process of aerobic decomposition and the importance of tracking the core temperature (heat) in the pile and actively turning the pile every few days.
Gift was blessed. At the end of the demo, after all the other men had gone home, Gift told me, “You have anchored me. I am full of hope now.” He was so excited. He has been under relentless pressure from his entire extended family not to waste his intelligence and his education and to go to the city to get a ‘good’ job. Yet he said he knew in his heart that God wanted him to be a farmer and to teach the people in his community how to farm more faithfully in order to bring life to them. That evening he said God had assured him that this was what he was supposed to do. He was so excited that he stayed up all night making several trips to the bore hole (well), about one kilometer away to deliver water and gathering bundles of material.
The next mornin
g we could see he was ready to go. I have no doubt that he finished the pile (2 meters cubed) by the end of that day! Praise God for the teaching of Foundations for Farming, praise God for making a way to show practical mercy ministry to the poorest of the poor, but most of all, praise God for demonstrating His transforming grace and power in the life of one farmer named Gift Mashandi Mulelekwa.
