Participants:
Series Code: TDY
Program Code: TDY200022A
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00:02 I want to spend my life
00:08 Mending broken people 00:13 I want to spend my life 00:19 Removing pain 00:24 Lord, let my words 00:30 Heal a heart that hurts 00:35 I want to spend my life 00:40 Mending broken people 00:46 I want to spend my life 00:51 Mending broken people. 01:08 Hello, Friends. Welcome to 3ABN Today. 01:11 My name is John Lomacang. 01:12 And I have with me my bride, my queen. 01:17 How you doing, honey? And I have my king, right? 01:18 Okay. I'm happy to be here. 01:20 It's going to be a great program. 01:21 That's right. 01:22 I'm looking forward to this program today. 01:24 That's right. 01:25 It's gonna be about health, not just about health, 01:29 you know, a lot of people have been facing the COVID-19. 01:32 That's a word that has become a part of our vocabulary... 01:35 Coronavirus. 01:36 Whether we want it or not. Pandemic. 01:37 Pandemic. 01:39 But our guest today is gonna be talking 01:40 about health and not just health, 01:43 but there's some natural aspects of health 01:46 that don't come from the pharmacy. 01:48 That's right. 01:49 They don't come from the shelves 01:51 in the grocery stores. 01:52 No. 01:53 We're talking about a kind of health 01:55 that will outlast and will give greater longevity 01:59 to the body that God has given to us, 02:01 something about these bodies 02:03 that just don't like substitutes. 02:06 And our guest is gonna be talking about that today. 02:08 Yeah. 02:09 And this is a term 02:11 that you become familiar with FARM STEW. 02:14 No, that's not a favorite dish of your grandma. 02:15 You'll find out what that is in just a moment. 02:17 Yeah. 02:18 But thank you so much for taking the time to join us. 02:20 And we wanna thank you for your prayers, 02:22 and your financial support of this network 02:24 as we continue going and growing, 02:26 getting ready for the coming of the Lord. 02:30 Now before we go to the music, 02:31 why don't we go ahead and introduce our guests? 02:32 Yeah. 02:34 And let our viewers 02:35 and if you're gonna be listening to the program, 02:37 let them also know who we have as our guest today. 02:39 We have Joy Kauffman here. 02:42 And welcome, Joy. Thank you. 02:44 It's wonderful to be here. 02:45 It's not your first time, you've been here before. 02:48 I have been blessed by 3ABN 02:51 helping to share the message of FARM STEW, 02:53 but today we have a special way of looking at it, 02:56 of blessing our viewers with a message 02:59 that will help them survive in this environment. 03:01 Yeah, that's right. 03:03 And so, I know natural things 03:05 from the garden is so important 03:07 and we're gonna be discussing that. 03:08 Exactly. 03:10 And before we go into that, honey... 03:12 That's right. 03:14 We have some music 03:15 that we'd like to share with you. 03:18 And the music is from Martha Jhoana De Luna 03:23 and the song is "The Old Rugged Cross." 07:42 Thank you so much, Martha. 07:43 Wonderfully played, what do you say? 07:45 Yeah, wonderful rendition of The Old Rugged Cross. 07:47 A song that has not lost its message, 07:49 no matter how long we hear it, 07:51 no matter how long it's been played. 07:53 No. 07:54 Well, I'm so glad that The Old Rugged Cross 07:57 has a lot to do also with our health. 07:59 The Lord did not just come to save us 08:01 by sharing a gospel, 08:03 but He wants to transform us in every particular way. 08:05 Absolutely. 08:07 Not only spiritually, but also physically. 08:09 And our guest today Joy is gonna tell us about that. 08:13 Before you dive into your story. 08:15 Welcome. Welcome back to 3ABN. 08:16 Thank you. 08:18 It's great to be here. 08:19 Yes. Yeah. 08:21 And tell us a little bit about your background 08:23 before we get into your story about FARM STEW 08:26 and the ministry that the Lord led you into, 08:28 just give our viewers and listeners 08:29 a little bit of history in your journey because I know, 08:33 we know some of what is about your background. 08:36 I think it's very interesting 08:37 that our audience would find out 08:39 about those things too. 08:40 Great. 08:42 Well, I was blessed to be raised 08:43 in a Christian home. 08:44 And from an early age I feel like 08:46 I was hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit 08:48 and in fact, became a vegetarian 08:50 when I was nine. 08:52 And my family was very interested 08:54 and insecure about this choice. 08:57 They thought I would become sickly and stunted myself. 09:00 And that's one of the reasons I chose to study nutrition. 09:04 And also, I was blessed with a home 09:06 where we didn't have alcohol or coffee 09:09 or those types of things, 09:10 but later in life 09:12 many, many years later in my early 40s, 09:15 I struck a hard time. 09:18 And it was a time 09:20 when I was experienced some of what 09:22 maybe some of the listeners are experiencing now 09:24 with what's going on with COVID. 09:26 I was experiencing depression, and anxiety, and insomnia. 09:30 And I really struggled with that, 09:33 but I had heard 09:34 about the Adventist health message, 09:35 I was not Adventist, 09:37 but I decided to run the experiment on myself 09:40 and apply what I knew, and it worked. 09:43 And I feel like I was brought from darkness 09:46 into His marvelous light. 09:48 And so my passion for health message 09:51 and our ministry 09:53 is because it worked for me first, 09:55 and now I've seen it work for so many other people 09:57 and I'm here today 09:58 'cause I wanna share it with your viewers. 10:00 Wow. 10:02 I don't morph the gospel, isn't it? 10:03 I like that when she said she experimented, 10:05 I'm almost tempted to ask you, what did you do? 10:06 I know. 10:08 Give us a snippet 10:09 of what that experimented entailed. 10:11 Well, at the time 10:12 I had gotten into some patterns. 10:14 I knew about Sabbath, but I wasn't keeping it. 10:17 I was starting my day with coffee 10:18 and ending with a glass of wine. 10:20 Oh, wow. Which so many people do. 10:21 Yes. 10:23 And just other things, I wasn't doing Bible study, 10:26 I wasn't resting, you know, 10:28 sleeping those hours before midnight 10:30 are twice as valuable as those after, 10:32 so just some of those habits 10:34 that I had just fallen into 10:35 and just let what I knew go dormant. 10:39 And so I praise God, I decided you know what? 10:42 I'm gonna start each day 10:43 with the Sabbath School quarterly, 10:44 which I love joining in on the 3ABN Sabbath School, 10:48 you guys, do a great job. 10:49 And I, you know, 10:51 start each day with that discipline, 10:53 and all of any mind 10:55 altering substances of any kind, 10:57 even if it's legal, right? 10:59 And just commit my way to the Lord. 11:03 And I just, I praise Him because He has... 11:06 I just left all of that behind 11:09 and even during this dark time of COVID, 11:12 I feel like the joy of the Lord has been my strength. 11:15 That' right. 11:16 No pun intended. 11:17 Her name is Joy. 11:19 I like that. That's true. Yes, beautiful. 11:20 That's just a very good pun, but so in your learning, 11:26 it was about a seven-year journey 11:28 or talk about that? 11:29 Right. 11:30 So during those years 11:32 I didn't know the Adventist teachings, 11:35 but from what I had been taught a lot of it 11:37 seemed a bit odd, 11:39 but then when I would really investigate, 11:41 and really pray, and really listen, 11:42 and I had people friendship evangelizing me, 11:45 including my best friend 11:46 and the only other full-time co-worker 11:49 with FARM STEW, her name is Cherri Olin. 11:51 And she and her family, 11:53 their friendship evangelized me, 11:55 and they took time, they were patient. 11:58 I was a tough nut to crack. 12:01 And so, I just am so thankful for the patience 12:03 and the prayers. 12:05 And just that I actually came to the church 12:08 where I fully got baptized 12:09 was after being in Uganda and meeting people there. 12:13 Excuse me, what was the breaking point 12:15 where you said, 12:17 "I am coming into this message." 12:19 What was that? This is the truth, you know. 12:21 Honestly, it was our members 12:23 in the East-Central Africa Division. 12:25 I wanna give a shout out to the ECD and Pastor Ruguri, 12:30 but I was there with USA ID funded project 12:34 as a public health nutritionist. 12:36 That's my training. 12:37 And when I met the members there, 12:41 I felt at home, 12:42 I knew I had a spiritual family 12:44 and I love my biological family. 12:47 I'm a mother with two teenage girls 12:49 married 21 years, 12:51 and I love my family, 12:53 but when I realized I had this global family 12:55 around the world, 12:57 including the African divisions 13:00 which are growing so quickly 13:02 that they don't always have what they need to benefit 13:05 from our health message. 13:06 And that's where FARM STEW was born 13:08 was saying we want the things 13:10 that are blessing North American Adventists 13:13 to be able to bless the world 13:15 whether you're rich, poor, black, white, purple, 13:17 God, Jesus says He wants us to live abundantly. 13:20 John 10:10, "Abundant life for all." 13:22 Amen. That's right. 13:24 And you have a picture showing that then and now. 13:26 Yeah, so this is me training in Uganda. 13:30 And it's been such a blessing 13:32 to work alongside the trainers. 13:33 So I myself, I'm not the one 13:35 that's carrying on the training. 13:36 It's a trainer of trainer programs. 13:38 So we have 30 full-time staff 13:41 who have trained over "90,000 participant training days, " 13:45 so I say that carefully some people 13:47 and what we want is for people 13:49 to come to many FARM STEW classes 13:51 and really learn all the skills 13:53 to transform their lives, 13:54 but 90,000 people have spent a day with FARM STEW hands on 13:58 practical learning the skills that will help them thrive 14:02 even now during this COVID environment. 14:04 Wow. 14:06 Beautiful. 14:07 All right now what inspires you? 14:10 Oh, goodness. 14:12 Well, God, first of all, and the Holy Spirit. 14:14 I mean, He is my best friend. 14:17 He is my father. He takes care of me. 14:19 He helps me remember things I forget. 14:22 So it's God who inspires me 14:24 and seeing Him work through His people, 14:26 seeing Him transform the lives of people. 14:29 For example, we were invited 14:31 by the president of the Church of South Sudan, 14:34 into the refugee camps 14:36 where 1 million South Sudanese refugees 14:39 are living in Northern Uganda, 14:41 including tens of thousands 14:42 of Seventh-day Adventist believers 14:44 in these camps. 14:46 I was there for a camp meeting and the President, 14:49 Pastor Clement invited us to train the people there, 14:53 the camp meeting. 14:54 And I have seen their lives transform. 14:57 And I remember now and it just, 14:58 it's one of those wonderful memories. 15:01 I said, "Do you want your livelihood, 15:05 the survival of your children 15:07 to be dependent on the United Nations?" 15:10 Because they get their rations, 15:12 you know, from the United Nations. 15:14 And, you know, there's three agencies 15:16 that decide whether a refugee is gonna live or die, 15:19 whether they're gonna eat or starve. 15:20 Really? They're all based in one city. 15:24 Wow. 15:25 What city could you imagine that would be the least? 15:28 In America? 15:30 Nope. It's a global city. 15:32 And there's three agencies based there, 15:34 the Food and Agricultural Administration, 15:37 the UN... 15:39 Oh, my goodness, I can't say all three agencies, 15:41 but they're based in one city, which is Rome. 15:44 Unbelievable. 15:45 Rome decides 15:47 whether hundreds of millions of refugees live or die. 15:50 And on April 1 of this year, when COVID began, 15:53 they decided 15:54 the refugee rations are gonna be 15:56 one third less 15:58 just because of COVID 16:00 so they all receive one day less food. 16:03 I was going to say Rome 16:04 because that's where my mind is right now. 16:06 Exactly, I know you would know. 16:08 I've asked that question, guess what city? 16:11 I talked about there are two places on earth 16:13 that are cities within a country 16:14 that are not governed 16:16 by the country's political system? 16:18 Wow, that's interesting, but very telling, 16:20 but I'll let you continue. 16:21 We control it. So, yeah. 16:23 So I'm just blessed because our trainers, 16:25 we have 30 full-time staff, 10 in the refugee camps, 16:28 10 up in South Sudan as well, 16:31 that are training people how to live abundantly. 16:33 And I think we're gonna roll a clip 16:34 from a couple of people that have seen this firsthand. 16:38 This will be Tamara Schoch. She is a volunteer with us. 16:42 And then the next would be Edward Kawesa 16:44 who is our Country Director in Uganda. 16:46 Okay, let's look at that. Let's see it. 16:49 In the refugee camp, 16:50 we could see 16:52 where the FARM STEW trainers had been. 16:54 We would see these tippy tap stations 16:56 just over and over again 16:58 and if you're right next to these latrines or toilets, 17:02 which had just been freshly built. 17:03 So people are immediately taking 17:05 into practice the sanitation aspect. 17:07 We would see in those same places, 17:09 we would see a small garden 17:11 that was being well taken care of. 17:12 These people are now able to raise 17:14 their own crops. 17:16 One thing that I saw yesterday and heard 17:20 is one of the people living there 17:21 in the refugee camp. 17:23 They've been very discouraged. 17:25 They're given a very small amount of land, 17:27 and they feel like 17:28 there's nothing they can do with it 17:30 because the rent, the land that they've been given 17:31 is very rocky. 17:33 There's not a lot of resources there 17:35 as far as growing their own things. 17:36 And the techniques and hope that they have been given 17:41 through the FARM STEW trainers, 17:43 they're like we can do something 17:44 even with this small amount of resources, 17:47 we can contribute to the health of our children, 17:50 we can take some ownership 17:53 and be able to have 17:54 some kind of positive effect not only on their own family, 17:58 but also on their neighbors as well. 17:59 So their lives are being changed. 18:01 And that was very encouraging to see them taking to heart, 18:05 these different aspects of FARM STEW 18:07 and it truly being a blessing to them 18:09 to their children and even to their neighbors. 18:11 When I was still walking in my cafe is when I met Joy, 18:17 the founder of FARM STEW, Uganda. 18:20 She came she wanted to do some stuff 18:23 on printing and design. 18:25 And that is how we met. 18:29 And after a meeting, 18:32 she told me about her idea 18:35 of starting an organization FARM STEW, 18:40 Uganda. 18:42 And when I flashed back my life which was not easy at all, 18:47 and there was another opportunity 18:49 of going to serve people 18:51 like how I grew up 18:55 and I knew exactly 18:57 what was people are going through 18:59 I decided and I said, "Yes, I'll be there to serve." 19:28 The FARM STEW it goes down 19:30 to those range and train them how they can change their life, 19:35 how they can utilize the land 19:38 which you are having to be productive. 19:41 FARM STEW provides vegetable seedlings 19:45 to those people after training them 19:47 how they can grow them. 19:51 Thank you so much for that video, Joy. 19:53 What we saw there is a section in Uganda where you work, 19:58 where you have a FARM STEW. 20:00 You mentioned 20:01 it's in various parts of Africa. 20:02 What are some of the other places 20:04 where FARM STEW is? 20:05 So as Edward mentioned, we started in Uganda. 20:08 He's our country director. 20:10 And then the Lord led us into South Sudan 20:12 by the invitation of the president 20:14 of the church there. 20:16 And Zimbabwe, 20:17 where I went with 20:19 It Is Written actually as a health evangelist 20:21 and we had some key people there. 20:23 And we started a team there and most recently, 20:25 we are going to start in Rwanda, 20:28 would have started already 20:29 had the school been able to open, 20:32 but we're excited to partner 20:33 with the Adventist School of Medicine 20:35 in Kigali, Rwanda. 20:37 Okay. 20:38 That is opening a lot of doors. 20:40 Now, we've mentioned the word FARM STEW 20:42 a number of times farm and stew. 20:45 What does FARM STEW mean? Right. 20:47 Well, we have the letters here in a picture 20:49 that people can see. 20:50 So it's a health message with eight letters. 20:53 And each letter stands for something so farming, 20:56 attitude, rest, and meals, sanitation, temperance, 21:03 enterprise, and water. 21:06 So those are the letters. 21:08 Here it is farming, attitude, rest, meals, that's farm, 21:13 and sanitation, temperance, enterprise, and water. 21:17 Wow. Innovative. 21:19 How'd you come up with the idea? 21:20 Honestly, I believe that was a gift 21:22 completely from God. 21:24 And it was really came to me in one Sabbath afternoon 21:26 I was reading a lot of Adventist literature, 21:30 I was actually out on the trampoline for my kids. 21:32 Just getting some sun, 21:34 you know, building the vitamin D. 21:35 And I was just praying like, asking God, 21:39 "Is there something that the poorest of the poor 21:42 could benefit from?" 21:44 But amazingly, 21:45 it's not just the poor, like sanitation. 21:48 That's not something that's in 21:49 any of our other health messages, 21:51 but now we know hand washing, 21:54 you know, the World Health Organization 21:56 says it can save more lives 21:57 than any immunization 21:59 or any other medical treatment combined. 22:01 Just hand washing. Right. 22:03 So we've all been getting a lesson 22:06 recently in hand washing. 22:08 So when you think about FARM STEW, 22:09 how could that help people in difficult times? 22:12 So one of the things that we did as an organization, 22:15 our board, which we don't have a big headquarters, 22:18 we've always been just working from our homes here 22:20 in North America. 22:22 And so we've always met virtually, 22:24 so our board of directors got together 22:26 when things started 22:27 getting interesting around here. 22:29 And I said, "How can we make FARM STEW be a blessing 22:32 to people here?" 22:33 And so we came out with this, I believe you have it, 22:36 the FARM STEW wellness guide. 22:37 Yes, that's right. 22:39 And I wanna let all of the viewers know 22:40 that you can go to FarmStew.org. 22:44 So it's just FarmStew.org 22:48 and if you wait about 5 or 10 seconds, 22:50 there'll be something pop up that says help fight COVID 22:52 and get your wellness guide, 22:54 and that's what we wanna spend a little bit of time 22:56 talking about today. 22:58 Because, you know, 22:59 you've been hearing a lot messages 23:00 and they basically all say the same three things, 23:03 isolate yourself, 23:04 wear your mask, and wash your hands. 23:06 Those are important, 23:08 but there's so much more 23:09 to building a healthy immune system 23:11 and having a healthy outlook 23:13 that's going to help people not only stay healthy, 23:15 but stay sane during this time. 23:18 So that's what our wellness guide 23:19 is designed to do. 23:21 Yeah, we went there and we saw a pop up. 23:22 Yeah. 23:24 If you do go to that website, you get a chance to see 23:26 that when you go to FarmStew.org. 23:29 It just like she said, wait about 10 seconds 23:30 and it will pop up. 23:31 It did. 23:33 As a little caption in the center 23:34 where you can put your first and last name 23:35 and email 23:37 and get a copy of the wellness guide. 23:38 Exactly. 23:39 I'm gonna keep it up so we can try that out. 23:41 That's wonderful. 23:42 Well, we invite you to do that. 23:44 We're excited to be able to stay 23:45 in touch with you, 23:47 but right now what I wanna talk about is farming. 23:50 Gardening gets you outside. 23:53 It gets you out in the fresh air, sunshine, 23:55 you're getting exercise. 23:57 There was a study that came out actually just this week 23:59 from Princeton University. 24:01 It was saying that gardening makes you happy, 24:04 even as much as really rigorous exercise. 24:07 Now I'm all for exercise too, 24:09 but gardening is a form of exercise. 24:11 And it cuts across all classes, races, colors, anywhere, 24:14 so you don't have to live in the country, 24:17 although that's a blessed thing to be right now, 24:20 but even if you can just put a small area 24:22 about the size of this table, 24:23 you can grow a lot of food for your family. 24:27 And, you know, at this time, when so many things are dying, 24:33 whether it's people in your life, loved ones, 24:37 maybe it's just your dream. 24:39 Maybe you couldn't graduate, 24:40 maybe you lost your job or your business is dying. 24:44 There's something very healthy about seeing something grow. 24:49 So we wanna encourage people 24:50 just get out there with your shovel. 24:51 Don't make it too big so that it feels oppressive. 24:54 That's right. And get started. 24:58 There's some, lot of news programs 24:59 and they're showing 25:01 how people are growing gardens today, even in New York, 25:04 on their roofs, 25:05 they are growing gardens 25:07 and so even in the city as you said, 25:09 you can grow a garden. 25:10 Exactly. 25:12 And on our FARM STEW website 25:13 we also have a place where it says the Recipe. 25:16 And you can click on that 25:17 and there's an E-Learning program. 25:20 And what I'm so excited about is there's just the basics 25:23 we call it FARM STEW basic is up there. 25:25 It is the basics 25:27 of what our trainers are teaching in the field 25:28 you saw in the videos, the rows and the string, 25:31 you know, helping them plant properly. 25:34 So you can, anyone in the world can sign up for that. 25:37 And we made it free 25:38 so that you don't even have to have 25:39 a credit card. 25:41 We have people signing up from Senegal, from South Sudan, 25:44 from the Philippines. 25:45 We don't even know 25:47 where all these people are signing up, 25:48 but we wanna invite your listeners also to sign up 25:52 and take the FARM STEW E-Learning course 25:54 to learn the basics of gardening. 25:56 That's right. 25:57 Now the 10 things, 25:59 the 10 things you talked about of temperance? 26:01 Talk about that? Yeah. 26:03 So there's a lot in this wellness guide, 26:05 and it would take us a long time 26:07 to unpack the whole thing, 26:08 but I wanna say a few things and also the 10 things. 26:12 If you download this wellness guide, 26:13 there's also on our website, 26:14 a much longer document that talks about 10 free things 26:17 you can do to build your immune system, 26:20 but we started with farming, 26:22 you're gonna get out there and garden 26:23 small, but productive, 26:25 then with attitude, 26:27 you know, a joyful spirit is like good medicine. 26:31 You know, 26:32 but you don't want dry bones, right? 26:35 No. 26:36 Because the immune system 26:38 actually is coming from your bones, 26:40 you're producing those immune cells 26:41 from your bones. 26:43 So we've got to have a joyful spirit. 26:44 We've have to choose an attitude of gratitude 26:47 and attitude of forgiveness, 26:48 letting go of what you are losing 26:52 and looking forward 26:53 and knowing first and foremost that Jesus is coming soon. 26:56 That's right. 26:57 So... 26:58 Now we've the picture of the farm field, 27:00 the bean field. 27:01 Yeah. Okay, let's look it. 27:02 Yeah. 27:04 So there's a wonderful picture of a woman 27:05 with a soy bean field 27:07 that she is in this productive garden. 27:10 Now you can tell kind of by how she's dressed 27:12 and everything. 27:13 She may not be the wealthiest person. 27:15 I'm not even sure if she has shoes on, 27:17 but you can see the joy she has 27:20 and the careful and diligent tending of this garden. 27:24 This happens to be a soy garden which FARM STEW... 27:26 It's a rich just like, 27:29 like you're walking in a vitamin field. 27:31 Exactly. 27:32 And actually, I'm very, 27:34 I have to give a shout out to one of our staff in Uganda. 27:37 He's an agronomist 27:38 who graduated from the Adventist University, 27:41 Bugema University in Uganda. 27:43 And he is an excellent agronomist, 27:46 meaning he has all sorts of skills 27:48 in agriculture 27:49 and he's teaching 27:50 in what we call a farmer field school. 27:53 So this woman is part of a basically a club 27:56 of other people that are all learning 27:58 very disciplined farming schools 28:00 that's gonna yield the most productive results. 28:03 So would that be agronomy? 28:05 Yes. Okay. 28:06 All right, you know, strangely enough. 28:08 I had never heard of the word before. 28:09 I thought I heard all the words. 28:11 Yeah. 28:12 Agronomist, that's interesting. 28:13 Yeah. 28:15 I've heard agriculturalists, 28:16 but agronomist is a very interesting one. 28:17 What's the difference between the two? 28:19 I mean, I don't know if you've even... 28:21 I think they just come from the same root word. 28:23 So you can have a botanist, you can have agronomist, 28:26 and they are just 28:29 what's most important about it is 28:30 they are skilled with plant life 28:33 and know how to make things thrive. 28:34 And so we combine, 28:36 we have also nutritionists on our staff that know, 28:40 you know, not only what do the plants need 28:41 to grow and thrive, 28:43 but what do the children need to grow and thrive 28:44 because we're working in countries 28:46 where one third of the children are severely malnourished. 28:51 And so that's kind of our target 28:53 is, you know, 28:54 we want all of God's children to have abundant life. 28:58 And if I have brothers and sisters in Christ 29:01 around the world, guess what? 29:03 That makes me and joy to their children. 29:06 Amen. 29:07 So I married into a big Mennonite farm family. 29:10 I'm a convert to Adventism. 29:12 So I have 20 nieces and nephews. 29:15 If one of my nieces and nephews was starving, 29:18 would I sleep at night? 29:20 No. No. 29:21 Absolutely not. 29:22 If one of my nieces or nephews couldn't go to school 29:24 because they didn't have the money, 29:26 or the girls couldn't go to school 29:28 'cause they had their menstrual cycle 29:30 and had no way to handle those things. 29:32 I wouldn't sleep at night. 29:34 FARM STEW can partner with our churches, 29:38 our brothers and sisters around the world 29:40 to make sure that we have those things 29:42 not only 29:44 for our spiritual nieces and nephews, 29:46 but for the people in their communities. 29:48 So it's salt and light 29:49 and bringing truth and the message of Jesus 29:52 and His abundant life 29:54 to people all throughout the community, 29:56 whether they're Adventist 29:57 or their whole surrounding communities 30:00 we can be a blessing. 30:01 Okay. That's beautiful. 30:03 And we know in the Bible it talks about planting. 30:05 Is that the new earth? 30:07 Oh, yeah, well in the new earth we're gonna have... 30:10 I like the Bible says, we're gonna plant vineyards 30:11 and eat of them. 30:13 Yeah. Exactly. 30:14 So that's what's happening already in Africa, 30:15 in the places where FARM STEW is they're planting 30:17 and they're eating of their own crops. 30:18 Yes. 30:20 They're not planting and just selling to stores 30:21 and buying it back and eating, 30:23 but they're eating right there from nature's bounty. 30:25 Right. 30:26 And we just started something new. 30:28 Actually, we've gotten a big delivery 30:30 of fruit trees recently. 30:33 So we're actually when you said the trees, 30:35 you know, I think of the tree of life 30:37 and a different fruit for every season, 30:40 you know, it's gonna be so awesome. 30:42 And we try to really train people 30:44 about the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables. 30:46 That's for the M for our meals curriculum 30:49 is this whole food plant-based diet. 30:52 And we actually are building a solar dryer in Uganda 30:55 and in South Sudan 30:57 so we can help people solar drying of their fruit. 31:02 So they can preserve it and make money off of it. 31:06 You know, if all the mangoes become ripe at the same time 31:08 I hate to say, 31:10 but a lot of them are rotting on the ground. 31:11 That's true. 31:13 You could do a lot more that can give you longevity 31:15 for food down the road, if it's preserved. 31:18 Exactly. 31:19 Now how was FARM STEW moving forward in Africa? 31:23 So these invitations like I mentioned in Rwanda 31:26 to partner with the local medical school, 31:28 the seventh Adventist medical school in the world. 31:32 We also are doing so much and I wanna show one thing 31:36 we started this year which is our first new well, 31:39 and we have a picture of it. 31:41 Let's see. 31:42 We really felt like the committees 31:43 where we're working, 31:45 they have a lot of what they need 31:46 and they're building a lot of capacity, 31:48 but if you don't have clean water, 31:50 you can't be healthy. 31:51 You can't. 31:52 In fact, 2,300 children die every day 31:57 from contaminated water 31:58 or lack of water globally every day. 32:02 So, you know, 32:03 the world has stopped for COVID. 32:05 Right. But it hasn't. 32:06 What about hunger? 32:08 You know, 32:09 there's 9 million people die every year of hunger 32:12 related diseases. 32:14 And the world has not stopped for that. 32:17 And I don't want us to stop. 32:18 I want us to start. 32:20 I want us to start caring for the poor 32:22 as Jesus called us to. 32:24 And, you know, Sister White, 32:26 we had a quote that popped up before I wanna share a quote, 32:28 how do we care for the poor? 32:30 She gave us amazing counsel. 32:33 It starts like this. 32:35 It says, "You give to the poor and endure them 32:40 by teaching them to be dependent. 32:43 Instead teach them to help themselves." 32:46 And she says, 32:48 "The needy must be placed in a position 32:50 where they can help themselves." 32:52 And I love that quote 32:53 because there's a role for us as outsiders, 32:55 but it's not to come and do for people. 32:58 It's to place them in a position 33:01 where they can help themselves. 33:02 Exactly. 33:03 And that's what we do with our staff 33:05 and our trainers. 33:06 For example, Edward, 33:08 who is speaking before our country director, 33:10 he has an amazing story. He was an orphan. 33:14 And his story you can find on our website at about us, 33:17 this his seven-minute story, 33:18 the Outpost Centers International came 33:21 and they did these videos for us. 33:22 They captured his story in such a beautiful way. 33:25 His life has been transformed into a life of service. 33:29 And he is fulfilled because he is serving people. 33:32 And he went through hardship, as he mentioned. 33:35 And, you know, for all of us 33:37 going through hardship right now, 33:38 one of the best ways to get out of our funk, 33:42 whatever that might be, is to serve somebody else. 33:45 You know, write somebody a card, 33:48 you know, just reach out to neighbor, 33:49 maybe dig a little garden tree to your neighbor as well. 33:52 So... That's true. 33:53 And you also talked about Wyatt. 33:56 Talk about Wyatt? 33:58 So Wyatt is a young man, he's a volunteer. 34:02 And we are thrilled to have him. 34:03 He's actually a "botanist." 34:05 We were talking about agronomist and botanist, 34:07 and he recently dedicated himself to FARM STEW. 34:12 And he actually went over to Uganda 34:14 and was doing the training 34:16 to be ready to launch our program in Rwanda. 34:19 And I think we have a video, why it was involved in, 34:22 so let's jump to that. 34:23 Okay, let's look at that. 34:28 I want to tell you a story. 34:31 There was once a village 34:33 deep in the heart of East Africa. 34:34 Passing by, one can see there were lots of children 34:37 and laughter, 34:39 farms that stretched for miles 34:40 and everyone been huge grins as people drove by. 34:44 Many passed in way to the friendly villagers, 34:47 but there were things that lay hidden beyond 34:48 the sight of a passing car window. 34:51 No one saw the villager scavenging in trees 34:54 looking for leaves to eat. 34:56 No one seemed to understand 34:57 that no matter how hard they tried, 34:59 those miles of farmland 35:01 had stopped producing food years ago, 35:03 their soil was dying. 35:05 And the village's drinking water 35:06 was contaminated with feces and roadside chemicals. 35:09 No one knew 35:11 that the village's children were hungry. 35:13 Things were getting worse. Children were dying now. 35:16 It didn't used to be this way. 35:18 FARM STEW is an acronym 35:20 for a recipe to an abundant life. 35:24 The ingredients are farming, attitude, rest, meals, 35:30 sanitation, temperance, enterprise, and water. 35:36 The ingredients encouraged change using education 35:39 to improve the health and well-being of poor families 35:43 and vulnerable people. 35:45 I saw FARM STEW demonstrating 35:47 how to effectively repair the soil 35:49 and grow nutritionally sensitive crops 35:51 like soy and fruit trees. 35:53 I witness the first farmer field school 35:56 being used to teach a community how to grow their own food. 36:00 Six brand new wells were installed 36:02 in our communities. 36:04 Clean, sparkling water flowed out 36:06 to all that needed it. 36:08 I watched FARM STEW make soy milk, 36:10 whole grain porches, 36:11 and teach how to collect nutritious greens 36:14 growing wild in the field. 36:16 The children of these communities 36:18 were not going to starve. 36:19 FARM STEW is a tool to meet people's needs 36:22 and bring the love of Jesus to the works of this church. 36:26 Wyatt. 36:27 Beautiful. It's amazing. 36:28 You can see how the people are excited about. 36:30 And how do you feel 36:32 when you see the sense of accomplishment 36:34 and transforming lives? 36:36 Because you talked about contaminated water, 36:38 food supplies 36:39 and when you mentioned the backdrop of one third 36:42 of the supplies have been cut to people 36:45 that have this great food need. 36:47 When you think about FARM STEW, 36:49 what sense of accomplishment do you sense? 36:51 Honestly, I just praise God 36:53 because I've talked to a lot of our trainers 36:55 over the last few weeks and they just said, 36:57 you know, "Joy, this message was for such a time as this." 37:01 And there are many people suffering right now 37:04 all over the world, 37:06 many starving before the virus will hit them, 37:08 they will starve, but, you know, 37:10 in the FARM STEW communities, 37:12 the people that have taken 37:13 this message to heart, they are not suffering. 37:17 They're out in these rural villages, 37:18 they're growing their own food. 37:20 They're washing their hands properly. 37:22 They have their latrines. 37:24 You know, they are not struggling 37:25 in the same way. 37:27 And I praise God for that. 37:28 I only wish we were bigger. 37:31 And I know God wants us to grow 37:33 because I know He wants 37:35 abundant life for all people. 37:37 And, you know, why we had to bring Him home. 37:39 His time in Rwanda is gonna have to wait 37:42 until the school can open, 37:43 but praise God, 37:44 our 30 African staff are still there, 37:48 and they are still doing what they can. 37:50 So when we first heard about the virus we had, 37:53 Betty will show a picture of her. 37:56 We made a flyer about COVID before there was even a case 38:01 in Uganda or South Sudan, 38:02 we were out handing out these flyers 38:05 and putting them up and educating people 38:07 and actually the local governor of Iganga, 38:10 which is the capital city where we are in Uganda. 38:12 Okay. 38:14 They thanked us on live radio 38:16 saying we were doing a great job, 38:17 and then we've been able to go out 38:19 and teach the hand washing. 38:21 Now everybody's listening. 38:23 Before people were just in hand washing, 38:25 but you can see them with their masks. 38:28 I know I noticed that the people had a mask. 38:30 And you talk about a little girl Tippy. 38:34 Yeah, the next picture is one of my favorites. 38:37 You know, we can teach adults and the adults we teach them 38:40 to love their children. 38:41 And we're excited about... 38:43 Is this her? Yes, this is her. 38:46 So she, you know, as young as five years old, 38:48 they can really learn how to take care of themselves. 38:50 I don't know if people caught that, 38:52 she's washing her hands. 38:53 Exactly. 38:55 You know, we did it like that too. 38:56 Yeah, so a tippy tap. I'll just say briefly. 38:57 It's what you how you can wash your hands with running water 39:00 in an area 39:01 where there is no running water. 39:03 And, you know, the Bible is the first place 39:05 where it said we should wash with running water. 39:08 That was long before germs were discovered. 39:10 God knew 39:12 that we needed to wash off germs. 39:14 So that's what we train and now people really get it. 39:18 There's a lot of interest in our message. 39:20 That's true. Oh, my... 39:23 Now talk about FARM STEW in the gospel. 39:25 How is it spreading the gospel? 39:27 Oh, yeah. 39:28 Well, first, I just praise God 39:30 because all of our curriculum is infused 39:33 with the Scripture, our staff, 39:35 our godly people who love the Lord 39:38 and love His church. 39:40 And so the gospel goes with them, 39:43 but we also feel that we are the right arm 39:46 of the gospel. 39:47 So we're just opening the door for the church. 39:50 And I wanna share with you a video by Pastor Thomas Amoli, 39:54 he is actually the pastor that's over the refugee camps, 39:57 the South Sudanese camps 39:58 and he shares it so eloquently 40:01 I would love to let him put it in his words. 40:03 Okay, Pastor Thomas Amoli. 40:06 FARM STEW come in with this idea 40:10 that we can grow our food 40:13 from those small compounds 40:15 or small plot given to us by UN, 40:18 that was when our eyes open that we can see light 40:24 where things are coming for our own good. 40:30 That makes me to remember what Paul says in Roman 40:34 that all things happen for the good of God's people. 40:39 On that point I think FARM STEW came 40:43 through Mama Doreen in March, 40:47 I think it was in Bidibidi and April it reached us 40:51 and we started moving. 40:53 I was there 40:54 with my associate pastor Everest. 40:57 We moved from camp to camp, 41:00 taking Mama Doreen 41:02 teaching all these new skill 41:06 that FARM STEW is bringing in our life, 41:10 in our church to our members. 41:13 And you can see light coming to members' face. 41:16 Now we have hope for our children, 41:19 we have hope for ourselves. 41:22 We have new things 41:24 when we learned about the soya bean. 41:27 Ah, people could make milk from soya bean. 41:30 People say, "Wow, that is the point. 41:33 We left our milk. 41:35 God has brought our milk back 41:37 through getting milk from soil." 41:40 That was a big takeout. 41:42 You know, I tell people 41:43 that I see now FARM STEW be like 41:48 John the Baptist going ahead, 41:51 and then we as pastors and ministers 41:53 will follow with the message, with the gospel, 41:57 it's powerful. 41:59 They prepare people health's wise, food wise, 42:03 natural food, making everything. 42:05 I think that is a very powerful thing. 42:08 That with the help of FARM STEW 42:10 is a right hand for me as a pastor. 42:14 As they move, the gospel goes 42:18 and people hear the word of hope 42:20 and they eat the natural food 42:23 that they produced by themselves powerfully. 42:28 We've already seen dramatic improvements 42:30 in the lives of thousands of people 42:32 FARM STEW has trained. 42:34 The FARM STEW recipe of abundant life 42:37 has developed by examining the factors 42:39 that lead to global hotspots of health and longevity, 42:43 the Blue Zones. 42:45 FARM STEW is real tested and working solution. 42:50 Also Pastor Amoli is very much involved 42:52 in the gospel aspect of FARM STEW there 42:56 and what area is he in by the way? 42:58 So he is overseeing the refugee camps 43:01 and the South Sudan attached territory 43:04 actually goes into Uganda. 43:07 And so because they have so many members 43:10 that actually live in Uganda 43:11 because of the volatile situation 43:13 in the country of South Sudan, 43:15 it's quite a dangerous place, actually. 43:18 Yes. 43:20 Now what is your vision for Africa with the FARM STEW? 43:26 Yeah. 43:27 So the vision that I feel that God has given not only me, 43:31 but our entire board of directors, 43:32 I have a fabulous, fabulous Board of Directors 43:34 very engaged. 43:36 We have volunteers all over the United States. 43:37 I just wanna shout out to them and thank them as well. 43:41 The vision is that we could partner 43:43 with the church around the world. 43:46 For example, there are 8 million members 43:48 in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. 43:50 Adventists? Adventist members. 43:52 Eight million? 43:54 Yes, and growing, 43:56 40% of the church growth is happening 43:58 in the three divisions of Sub-Saharan Africa. 43:59 Beautiful. 44:01 So we can partner with them. 44:02 I'd love every church to have a FARM STEW committee. 44:05 You can see a picture here of Pastor Dukubiey 44:09 learning to wash his hands from FARM STEW, 44:11 so Pastor Dukubiey has been the original pastor. 44:15 I played clips of him on other 3ABN shows. 44:19 He says that where FARM STEW goes, 44:21 people come. 44:22 And so they use us going out before a TMI effort, 44:26 total number involvement effort to bring and attract people 44:28 to the gospel. 44:30 So it's really, really a blessing, 44:32 and then I wanna show one thing 44:33 we were able to do last October, 44:36 I was in South Sudan. 44:37 We brought in leaders from the whole country, 44:41 actually church leaders, 44:42 and you can see one of the pastors, 44:44 Pastor Paul, 44:45 up in the northern part of South Sudan. 44:48 I've never been there 44:50 probably never will get to go there, 44:51 but you can see him holding the FARM STEW rainbow, 44:54 that's our food guide. 44:56 And he is teaching 44:57 the whole foods plant-based diet. 44:59 We sent them out with seeds. 45:01 We had 62 people 45:02 go through a four-day intensive training 45:05 where myself and the local trainers lead out 45:08 and taught partners from all over the church. 45:10 So that's our dream. 45:12 Okay. 45:14 That's fabulous. 45:15 And I noticed that you said Blue Zones. 45:17 Yes. What are Blue Zones? 45:19 Well, as you may know, 45:21 the Loma Linda area has been identified 45:24 as one of the Blue Zones, 45:26 one of the five places in the world 45:28 with a hotspot of health and longevity. 45:30 So our dream is that we could have 45:33 Blue Zones pop up all over the world, 45:35 no matter your race, 45:36 no matter your economic status. 45:38 People can live healthy, abundant lives 45:40 with the gardening, the fresh air, 45:42 the sunshine, the good habits, 45:44 not using alcohol and drugs and all of that 45:47 we can live abundantly and that's my dream. 45:51 And when you talk about support, 45:54 when you look at the future of FARM STEW, 45:57 what are some of the areas that you need 45:59 your financial support 46:01 because you talk about developing the ministry 46:02 how it's still growing. 46:04 And I think this is a great opportunity 46:06 to let our viewers and listeners know, 46:08 here are some of the needs 46:09 and then we can give them information 46:10 on how they could support it. 46:12 Absolutely. 46:13 So one of the things I wanted to show 46:15 is two of our trainers. 46:16 These are South Sudanese refugees, 46:17 and also church elders on a motorcycle. 46:20 So one of the things I mentioned, 46:22 we don't have a big headquarters anywhere, 46:23 we don't believe in that, 46:25 we want people to go out into the rural villages, 46:27 but it takes staff 46:29 like these two wonderful guys, 46:30 this is Joseph and Elias. 46:33 It takes them being paid salaries 46:36 even now during COVID. 46:37 We were able to actually advance their wages 46:40 before the lockdown 46:41 because there was price spikes that happened 46:43 and the Holy Spirit I feel 46:44 directed me to advance their wages 46:46 so that they could be able to feed themselves. 46:50 And we believe a laborer is worthy of their hire. 46:52 So these are full-time people that are out working hard. 46:56 So we have staff wages, transportation, 46:59 and we also help girls with the menstrual cycle. 47:02 So we have a pads project for the girls $15 a girl 47:06 to keep them in school and... 47:07 Fifteen? Yes. 47:09 That's all? 47:10 Yes. Is that for how long? 47:11 Those will last 47:13 for two or three years actually. 47:14 Fifteen dollars? 47:16 Fifteen dollars. Yes. 47:17 It's beautiful. I didn't plan this. 47:18 I feel like God did is $15 to start a garden, 47:21 $15 for pads, 47:23 we can bring water to a community 47:25 and it averaged out. 47:26 I didn't plan this to $15 a person. 47:29 So we try to make it easy. 47:31 Everything in FARM STEW is taking complex ideas. 47:34 You know, I went to Johns Hopkins 47:36 for my master's in Public Health. 47:38 I got a lot of education, but you know what, 47:40 if it's not simple, if it's not practical, 47:44 people aren't gonna do it. 47:46 So we want to put those simple practical skills. 47:49 And also, you know, I wanted to show, 47:52 we have these wells that we're trying to put in 47:55 and that a well, a water that is life for people. 47:59 And we have a matching grant this year for these wells 48:03 where every dollar is matched up to $84,000. 48:06 We have a plan to put in 50 wells, 48:09 we have six in 48:11 and we would have had six more in April 48:13 where it not for the downtime, 48:16 but we are trying to work 48:17 really hard to reach our goal so that's $4,600 per well. 48:22 And that is our dream 48:23 to get those installed this year. 48:26 But it feed, well, the well, what, 48:29 how many people will get use of that well? 48:31 A lot of people will. Oh, a lot of people. 48:33 It's supposed to be defined for about 300, 48:36 but as you know, 48:38 when you put water into community, 48:40 people come. 48:41 And, of course, we teach them also about Jesus 48:44 and the living water 48:45 that would flow from Him for eternal life. 48:49 Now I noticed, you talked about integrating the truth 48:53 with scientific truths. 48:55 That's very interesting. 48:56 Talk about that briefly? Yes. 48:58 So as a trained Public Health Nutritionist, 49:02 I do believe in science, 49:04 there's a lot we can learn from science. 49:07 But we have to start knowing that the Word of God 49:09 is the foundation for truth 49:11 and we build the scientific ideas upon that. 49:15 So there it needs to be an integration and, 49:17 you know, we've gotten some pushback 49:19 of people that say, 49:21 "Well, why are you including the Bible 49:23 in your health curriculum?" 49:24 You know, when I'm out 49:26 talking to the world about that, 49:28 but local people in countries 49:31 where the spiritual life and the physical life 49:33 are not so disconnected, they're integrated. 49:37 And so I believe that this Holy Scripture 49:40 has the power to motivate behavior change 49:43 in a way that nothing else can do. 49:45 And so I've actually been able to be 49:47 in the halls of powerful places, 49:50 you know, seeking resources for FARM STEW 49:54 making actually a case for the Word of God. 49:57 Oh, yeah. Beautiful. 49:59 And that's one of the things we're excited about 50:00 we're doing research 50:01 actually with the University of Macquarie, 50:04 University in Uganda. 50:05 And we have some plans, 50:07 actually to do some other projects 50:09 with other non-Christian non-Adventist groups, 50:13 but all the while defending the Word of God 50:15 being central to our program, 50:17 and we will not depart from that plan. 50:21 I like that, you're talking about not only it's just bread, 50:23 temporary bread, but the bread of life. 50:25 Amen. How it all connects together. 50:26 That's interesting. 50:28 I like that you put that in defending the Word of God. 50:31 What makes that? 50:33 How did that challenge come 50:34 about that you had to include God's Word in that? 50:38 Well, as you know, leading a nonprofit, I mean, 50:42 money doesn't grow on trees. 50:44 True. Not at all. 50:45 So we try to get creative, 50:47 where are we going to look for the funds 50:49 to be able to keep these workers going out, 50:51 to keep the seeds, you know, we buy a lot of seeds, 50:54 we buy the pads for the girls. 50:56 We've served 6,000 girls already. 50:59 So we get ideas who could we partner with? 51:03 Because, you know, Sister White says, 51:04 "Don't just take money from Adventists." 51:06 There are so many Adventist Ministries, 51:07 I don't wanna only be asking Adventist for funds. 51:11 I want to reach out. 51:13 And if I can do it, and our board is committed, 51:16 if we can do it in a way with integrity, 51:19 where we still uphold everything 51:21 about the truth of this church, 51:23 and honor God, 51:24 then anybody can give us resources 51:26 if your stimulus check arrived and you don't need it. 51:29 I like that. I love that. 51:31 I know people that are not getting 51:33 a stimulus check. 51:34 Wow. 51:35 Well, you know, on the other side, 51:37 we're gonna just take a little break, 51:38 but what we've learned about FARM STEW, 51:40 it's a very, very worthy cause. 51:41 Yes, it is. 51:42 And we have a few more things we're gonna say 51:44 about before our program ends, 51:45 but we're gonna take a short news break 51:47 and come back on the other side 51:48 with a few closing thoughts. 51:50 Right. 51:52 If you'd like to find out 51:54 more about how to support FARM STEW International, 51:56 visit their website FarmStew.org. 51:59 That's FarmStew.org. 52:01 You may also call them at 815-200-4925. 52:06 Send an email to hi@farmstew.org 52:11 or write to FARM STEW International, 52:13 PO Box 291, Princeton, Illinois 61356. |
Revised 2020-06-18