Our Sheep Farm: Not to Be

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CuttingEdge
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Our Sheep Farm: Not to Be

Post by CuttingEdge » Sat Aug 20, 2016 1:59 pm

What to do after retirement?

It is the question everyone asks, and while my wife and I have decided to work within our church to help people recovering from divorce, and with a local Christian camp on several levels; those are local Christian Outreaches. The Pastor of our church wants his congregation to act "Glocally" which is Local AND Globally. After talking at length today with Leslie and Suzanne Yoder; founder and CEO of Ag Connect Ministries in Pennsylvania, as well as a lot of prayer these past few weeks; we know God wants us to take the knowledge that we have in raising sheep, fixing farm equipment, and bring it to the people of Moldova.

If you do not know where Moldova is, do not feel bad, no one does.

It is tucked between Romania and the Ukraine and is the poorest nation in Europe. The average worker makes $5 a day, and a great paying job will net a Moldovian $300 a month, though the cost of living is the highest in Europe so filling up the car will consume 1/3 of it. The unemployment rate alone is at 60% making it more poor than most African Nations. However they have the best soil in the world, yet due to socialist ways for decades, do not know how to farm it. A case in point is that they dump their animal manure into the municipal dump because they do not know it can help them raise their crops. I did not feel qualified to help in this endeavor until I was told that.

However serving God in Moldova will be a sacrifice upon our end as our dream has always been to have a larger sheep farm. However I know for now that is not what God wants. I wanted to do a local adult education class on sheep farming, but God said no rather plainly. Upon reflection I see that the people in the US have ample resources for information; the Moldovan people...not so much. Katie and I want to help people, locally and globally, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with having a large farm, we would much rather help others across the world who are struggling with their flocks of sheep thrive; with a profitable sheep farm, and with the understanding that Jesus loves them.

Les suggested we go and visit Moldova in May when the country is at its spring prime and when lambing season has begun. At first we were disappointed the date to go was so far out, but upon reflection also know that times passes quickly and we need to get a lot of stuff done before any of this can happen. It will only be a 2 week trip then, and the Lord willing, after that, perhaps 3-5 times a year. It is a lot of commitment, however Katie and I are committed to being "Glocal" Christians, at our home church, at Fair Haven Camps, and soon for the people of Moldova.

Please pray for us as we prepare to combine our love of agriculture, of sheep, and the love of Jesus and intertwine it with the Gospel message.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

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His work.

Post by yellowcrawler » Sat Aug 20, 2016 6:55 pm

Reminds me of the old saying, "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach him how to fish, feed him for a lifetime." Jesus worked with the fishermen and made them fishers of men. I am glad you shared the ministry and I believe it is a great thing to do at the right time. May the Lord richly bless.
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CuttingEdge
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Post by CuttingEdge » Mon Aug 22, 2016 5:42 am

I agree, as Americans our answer to just about everything is to spend more money on it. This is not the case; but that is a topic unto itself.

The Moldovan Mission is to help them in agriculture which is about all they have. By ensuring that orphanages and senior homes thrive because they now have food. Orphaned kids are a huge issue, not because their parents die, but because they leave their kids behind to find better work out of the country. Once they are gone however, they seldom come back.

We have also agreed to be a host farm for Moldovan people here in Maine too though, so they can see how we farm and realize that they too can get greater yields. Like this one guy who had a egg farm but fed only whole corn. Once he was shown how to mill down the grain, add other grains he doubled his egg production, but let the eggs rot because his village had more eggs than it needed. Because of former socialist rule, he never once considered selling his eggs in a nearby village that did not have enough. They lack that marketing skill.

In no way is this beating them over the head with American Farm Practices or the bible. Its a simple "try our methods and see if you get higher yields" sort of thing, and as far as ministry, the goal is not the conversion of people by American influence, but to allow the Moldovan Pastors to make enough on their farms so that they can stay in Moldova, not leave more orphaned children behind, and have them bring their own countrymen to Jesus.

I hope that makes sense.

As for financial help; Ag Connect does provide loans, and that is because there are no lending institutions over there for small amounts. They are only for 100,000 loans or more, have a 36% interest rate, with the loan to be repaid on Dec 31st at midnight! Those are pretty steep terms!

Ag Connect does give out microloans, and while very easy terms, they are to be paid back eventually. Yes its so they can lend to others, but mostly so it is NOT a handout. They want the Moldovan people to have investment in what they have.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

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Post by Lavoy » Mon Aug 22, 2016 8:33 pm

It sounds like an adventure. If you have internet when you get there, keep us in the loop and post some pics.
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Post by whiteclipse16 » Fri Aug 26, 2016 6:14 am

Wow, that really makes you think how much we take for granted. Never imagined someone might not know those simple things about manure or "business" but it is a different world outside of our country.
It's good to see people standing up for their faith and spreading it. Too bad the media doesn't pick up stories like this, then maybe others would follow in your foot steps.
Good luck on your trips and God Bless
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Post by oldtanker » Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:26 am

While my wife was taking some AG classes at the local community college one student there was a refugee from Africa. His idea of American help follows:

He was the 3rd generation refugee camp. Some families have been in there so long they no longer know how to hunt, forage or grow their own food. Because these skills are lost they are afraid to leave the refugee camp where they know they will at least be given food. He told me when I met him and he found out I had retired from the Army that what they need is a strong military who can keep a leader in power and put down the war lords. That way they can get out and farm/hunt/forage. His thoughts are we don't need to fight their wars but rather teach them to fight their own. And they need to learn to be self sufficient as far as feeding themselves. Now the part that most people don't want to hear. He said that there is nothing wrong with Christian groups coming in to teach them to farm and to do so in a more productive way but that the military aspect has to come first. If not whatever war lord is in power at the time will just take whatever they raise and chase them back into the refugee camps. He thinks that we need to stop medical aid too at least until the first 2 things are done. Disease helped keep the population under control. WHO and doctors without borders come in, inoculate children and then they have just that many more people to feed without an increase in the amount of food available. He claimed that it just compounded the problems they were already facing. Just a view from the other side of the fence.

Now for my rant part of this: After WWII the US produced about 70% of the worlds food supply. Then the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and our president embargoed grain supplies to them. 1, the leaders didn't go without and the government was so repressive and brutal that the starving masses couldn't raise up against them. 2, they, and the rest of the world realized that we were very willing to use food as a weapon. So countries that never raised much in the way of grain started to increase AG output. Right about the time a recession kicked in and most farm subsidies disappeared. Both were devastating to the American farmer. Now we are trying to teach countries to feed themselves. While on the surface it's a good thing in the long run it will again hurt American farmers. Go ask a farmer today how things are going and for a lot not well. Break even on milk is between 14 and 22 a hundred depending on the operation and debt load. Right now it's in the 16's. Corn, break even is 4-4.50, current price in Chicago is about 3.60, locally as low as 2.90. Beef has taken a nose dive too. Basically farmers today are in a world market. Teach them to grow more food and the market just gets smaller. And you have the ripple effect too. Go and look at how many people JD has laid off in the last year.

I have absolutely nothing against helping those in need. But we have to look out for ourselves too.

Rick

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CuttingEdge
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Post by CuttingEdge » Sun Oct 02, 2016 5:49 am

It is a little different in Moldova in that they are such a young country. Most families there have not farmed the same land for generations like they do here in the USA or in Europe, but only in the last 20 years or so. Even their family trees can only be traced back as far as their grandparents, after that...who knows. The displacement of people was so great because of the corruption in that form of government. My opinion is, in the USA teachers should be teaching these negative aspects of socialism and yet they are actually promoting it when Moldova is a clear example that it just does not work.

I differ in opinion too only because I have traveled abroad so extensively and have come to realize just how rich we are indeed are in the USA; even our poor are rich. My county has the highest poverty rate in New England, yet compared to the 2nd and 3rd world countries I have been too, even here we are wealthy in comparison...and I mean incredibly wealthy. When you skim off the dross what is actually taking place is peoples choices for where they spend their money. As a farmer myself, I can make my income look incredibly good, or incredibly bad and all on the same numbers. Yet the one thing that cannot be manipulated on paper, is my way of life, and I'll be perfectly honest; compared to the countries I have been to abroad, I live a very comfortable and lavish lifestyle.

Now the interesting part is; I have never been someone that chases the almighty dollar. I could care less about making it big and actually get a greater thrill out of helping people who are up against it. I have given a lot of money away over the years and will say this, YOU CANNOT OUT GIVE GOD. Its like the more I help other people, the more is returned to me. It may not be immediately, but it is returned. Now I never help someone out with the idea that I'll make out better in the end. As I said I could care less about money as long as my family is cared for, but the thing is, my faith is in God, not in me or my ability to make it. Now that I am retired, its not just money that I give away, but also my time.
I have no intention of traveling to my grave in a well manicured body; instead I am going to slide into heaven with a big power turn, totally wore out with busted knuckles, jump off my dozer loudly yelling, Woo Hoo, another Shepard has just arrived!

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