Northwest Africa
In the heart of Northwest Africa, a determined farmer named “Usad” faces a daunting challenge. The land he relies on to feed his family is turning barren from the creeping growth of the Sahara Desert. Usad, with unwavering faith and determination, refuses to surrender to despair.
Practical Tools for Farming and Faith
Northwest Africans are 90 percent agrarian, yet they lack seeds, fertilizer, and equipment to grow enough crops to eat throughout the year. Like Usad, they are impoverished because they don’t have knowledge, experience, and wisdom of how to manage people, crops, and resources.
There is also a famine for knowing Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit—the One who provides wisdom for developing people and crops.
“The farmer knows just what to do, for God has given him understanding.” –Isaiah 28:26
As a Muslim-background believer, Usad is being discipled in Christ and His Word while he leads others in faith. This process of working the fields while growing faith is a symbol of hope and resilience that empowers farmers in Africa.
The purchase of two used farm tractors will equip farmers in Africa in a unique way. Each tractor provides practical assistance to indigenous, Muslim-background Christian leaders who use the machines to work their lands. They have been persecuted, and this is a way to show the Lord’s provision for them. But the benefits don’t stop with the believers.
A Sustainable Plan
Community members, including Muslims and non-believers, may also rent the tractor at a low cost, which is a blessing for them and helps with their crops too. And even further, half of the rental income is used for seeds, fertilizer, and maintenance. The other half will be saved to build up funds to purchase more tractors.
Over a one-year span, farmers will work 150 acres of land, which will provide 180 tons of millet and corn—food to feed 32,000 people!
Those involved in leading the program use the tractor to prepare the soil and seed the fields, and they manage the distribution of food after harvest as well. This initiative is making a profound impact on the livelihoods of many Northwest Africans and their communities. One tractor has been purchased, and the vision to purchase a second tractor is underway.
Prayer Is Vital to the Work
You can pray that vital tools of agriculture and productivity can multiply quickly, fostering discipleship with economic growth and securing food supplies for many. Empowering farmers is transforming lives in the soul of their land and hearts.
We are grateful for agriculture projects like the tractor program, which can help both Christian leaders and local farmers to thrive.
