Foundational Principles of our Mission

I have been reading “Too Small to Ignore” by Dr. Wess Stafford, the President and CEO of Compassion International. In it, Dr. Stafford explains 6 critical factors that must be addressed to raise families out of poverty. The factors are Economics, Health, Learning, Environment, Social, and Spiritual. I want to briefly touch on how we are planning to address each of these because I believe it is essential if we are to fully address the problem of extreme poverty.

1. Economics – Through our relationship with HOPE International, we want to equip people in Burundi to earn a living using microfinance to start and grow a business.

2. Health – I recently met with Jonathan O’Connor who works for Lifenet. The goal of Lifenet is to equip nurses with microfinance to serve villages by providing families with essential medical care while earning a living wage. We hope to partner with Lifenet to provide medical care for villages where we are working.

3. Learning – Our plan includes school for the children we are reaching out to as well as training for the entrepreneurs we are working with in microfinance.

4. Environment – Burundi has suffered from deforestation due to the burning of trees for charcoal and baking bricks. Through our Jatropha plantations, we intend to replace this practice by providing Jatropha oil for cooking oil and fuel.

5. Social – We are reaching out to the local Burundi government to support our work in Burundi. For example, Jean Marie has asked the governor of the Cibitoke province for his support. We need the support of local government to bring lasting change.

6. Spiritual – Through partnerships with churches, we intend to help connect people with a church family where they can grow spiritually while having their basic physical needs met as well.

The photo below shows some of the 171 children that SHINE recently helped by providing them with school supplies. We appreciate your prayers as we continue to expand our ministry to Burundi.

God bless,

John

“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” Mark 11:23-24

New Growth at the JTP

Last week I wrote to you about the cuttings and seeds that the farmers had gathered for the JTP. Shown below is a large quantity of seed they collected. Keep in mind that this initial plantation is experimental. We are testing the viability of cuttings and seeds with and without irrigation. This research will be very valuable when we plant a larger 100 hectare plantation. While planting from seed will provide a taproot for the Jatropha, allowing it to be more resistant to drought, we believe that we can successfully grow only from plant cuttings by irrigating during dry season. Cuttings do not produce a tap root, but they produce fruit much faster than growing from seed. The faster production could allow us to harvest seed and therefore oil much more quickly.

Below left is one of the seedlings that is already looking quite healthy. The photo on the right is one of over 300 cuttings that the farmers recently planted.

Here is a short update from Jean Marie:

“On July 27, 2009, I visited the JTP and found the workers planted the seeds and cuttings. I thank God for the seeds are germinating perfectly; they reach 10 cm height now.

They have planted seeds into 108 holes, planted 165 cuttings into the irrigated zone and 150 cuttings into the none irrigated zone. The cuttings have not started germinating.”

In my experience, it takes at least 2 weeks for cuttings to begin rooting, but the time will vary based on the soil quality, frequency of watering, air temperature and fertilization. It is quite amazing how well these cuttings take. The cuttings are pruned from mature Jatropha branches. When placed in the ground, they begin to root after a short time and typically in 2 weeks or so, they will show small buds. I have watched cuttings in my backyard grow from about 10” tall to over 25”. I am amazed every time I look at one and ponder the wonder of God’s creation.

I will continue to post photos from the Jatropha cuttings I am growing in my backyard as they progress. Below is one that has started to flower.

One final word. I have been posting one of my favorite scriptures at the end of my blog for a while now. I’m not certain if I have ever posted an explanation of why this scripture is so meaningful to me. I have been reading it every day for the past year. Shortly after I began reading it, I met Ed Acosta, one of the co-founders (with Danny Yepez) of the Costa Rica Seed Company. Ed took me to a resort he built on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. It was there that he showed me the mountain that he and his men removed and quite literally “cast into the sea”. They filled 13 acres of ocean and built a row of condominiums on this mountain ridge. It was an engineering feat. The next day after seeing this, the Lord brought Mark 11 to my mind and it dawned on me that if Ed could move this mountain, then I could, with God’s help do anything He called me to do. Since that day, I have set my sights on changing the face of Burundi through prayer and faith in what God has called me to do.

Never doubt that God is able!

God bless,

John

“Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says is going to happen, it will be granted him. Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.” Mark 11:23-24

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