Plant With Purpose

Reflections on Ash Wednesday: Teach us to sit still

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 10:49:00 -0800

“Teach us to care and not to care

Teach us to sit still.” ~T.S. Eliot, Ash Wednesday

by Aly Lewis

I am a recovering perfectionist, or so I’d like to think. More often than not, I’m recovering from the ramifications of perfectionism instead of overcoming perfectionism itself. Most of the time, I’m recovering from a bruised ego and a worn out soul.

At the risk of sounding like one those ridiculous job interview farces where the candidate arrogantly clucks out weaknesses that no one in their right mind would call weaknesses, “I try too hard. I care too much,” (eye roll please) the truth is, I try too hard and I care too much. About the wrong things.

I try too hard in the wrong things. I care too much about the wrong things.

How I look in a bathing suit. How many hits I get on my blog. If the guy I met at the party is going to friend me on Facebook.

But it’s deeper routed than that. It’s more than being distracted by the trivial. It’s being driven by the tyrannical. The tyrannical need to perform, to do, to complete, to accomplish.

I have trouble caring and not caring. I have trouble sitting still.

I want meaningful rest and meaningful work. I want to care about the right things and not care about the wrong things.

How do I get there? Today is Ash Wednesday, and whether you observe Lent or not, I think there is a lot we can learn from this practice of giving something up to allow space for something else-God’s presence, deeper connection with others, peace.

Now I can force myself to sit still, physically. But how do I get my mind to rest?

How do I silence the biting guilt that courses through me, gnawing at me to be more loving, more engaged, more connected?

How do I engage in alone time when I don’t really feel the freedom to be alone? When I’m haunted with the need to be productive?

I’m so reluctant to sit, still and defenseless, with my longing and desire, to not try to fix myself, to let the Holy Spirit do its mysterious recreating in my soul.

A burden lifts when I realize I don’t have to do it, and, in fact, I cannot do it all. I can live in ways that promote health and peace in my life, but it is not up to me to heal or fill my heart. Only God can do that. He’s done it before and I can trust him to do it again. God is love.

And so today I ask you, God, for purpose, meaning, and connection. I want to stop drifting in and out of my days disconnected and unexamined. I want to really feel for and connect with people. I want empathy that moves me to compassion. I want to care about things, people, issues. I want my heart to break for the things that break your heart. I want to be living an intentional, purposeful, love-filled life. I want to share myself with others. I want to receive what others have to share with me. I want to feel joy. I want to be fulfilled. I want to know that I’m not wasting my time. I want to choose love. When the choice comes to zone out or just “get through,” when the choice comes to get irritated by the little things, I want to choose love and connection.

I can’t do this on my own—I’ve tried.

Please grant me rest from striving and doing. Please touch the places in my heart that drive me to achieve, to initiate, to do do do.

Please teach me to care and not to care. Teach me to sit still.

…

Can you relate to this drive to accomplish? What if, anything, are you giving up for Lent? What do you hope to gain?

Aly Lewis serves as Plant With Purpose’s Staff Writer and Grants Specialist. She sleuths out funding opportunities, crafts proposals, and submits progress reports on funding received. She also writes ridiculously witty and yet still thoughtful and inspiring copy for a variety of communication pieces. Outside of work you can find her roller blading, showing off her dope hip hop moves, or overanalyzing her quarter life crisis. She has a passion for social and ecological justice, anyone who speaks Spanish, and experiencing the God of the unexpected.

The Majestic Plastic Bag

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 14:01:00 -0800

by Becky Rosaler

I spotted one on the shoulder of the freeway yesterday! It made me wonder, “Will this Majestic Plastic Bag complete its journey and make its way ‘home’ to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch?” What is this Majestic Plastic Bag that I speak of? Watch this 4-minute mockumentary that Heal the Bay created to learn more about the not-so-elusive creature.

Earlier this month, a group of five countries in Africa took one step closer to banning plastic in the EAC (East African Community). This caught my attention because two of those countries are ones that Plant With Purpose partners with, Burundi and Tanzania (the other three countries being Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya).

The East African Community Plastic Control Bill would ban the manufacturing, sale, importation, and use of polythene materials. This would have a positive ecological effect, but quite possibly the opposite on the economy. Companies could obtain clearance from national environmental standards regulators to use polythene materials. They would also face fines if used without permission.

“Polythene waste is a major hindrance in urban and rural areas. The envisaged law in the council’s view, will control pollution and save both flora and fauna,” said Peter Munya, the assistant minister for EAC Affairs.

Rwanda as well as Bangladesh, Botswana, Israel, and France already have similar bans in place.

Cities, counties, and States across the US are joining the conversation regarding bans on plastic, specifically the single use plastic bag. If the mockumentary didn’t give you enough motivation to cut back on your plastic bag use, here are a few additional reasons:

One plastic bag can take anywhere from 15-1000 years to decompose.
An average American uses 6 bags a week adding up to 300 bags a year (multiply that by 300 million people).
A small percentage of these bags are recycled but most end up as litter or taking up space in landfills.
Plastic is the number one source of pollution in the ocean. Sea turtles can mistake bags for their preferred meal of jellyfish. This has a detrimental effect on their health with data showing that 100,000 marine species die each year from ingesting plastic.

Please share with us your thoughts on the Majestic Plastic Bag.

Do you have an opinion on a plastic ban?
What are some helpful tips to make reusable bags a part of your everyday life?
Are there other ways you’re reducing your use of plastic?

If you haven’t joined the conversation, we’d encourage you to start thinking about your plastic footprint. How much plastic packaging is involved in your next purchase? Fill your own reusable water bottle instead of buying bottled water. Say no to the bag the checker starts to put your purchase in, just carry out the item instead.

Let’s join our friends in Africa and look out for the health of the earth!

Further reading:
The proposed ban in Africa.
A Christian perspective on plastic bag bans.

Fatalism Kills

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:02:51 -0800

by Scott Sabin

Years ago, as a young naval officer, I heard a story from a friend of mine who had been assigned to train sailors from a foreign navy that was buying an older US warship.

This crew suffered from a fatalism that was crippling. According to his story, the ship was fitted out with the latest firefighting and damage control equipment. However, as the ship was being transferred to its new homeport, a fire broke out and the new crew, believing the fire was God’s will, abandoned ship rather than fight the fire. The handful of US trainers successfully fought the fire and then maneuvered the ship to pick up the new crew in their lifeboats. Later, the transfer completed, another fire broke out and this time without the US trainers on board, the new crew let the ship burn.

I don’t know if this story is true or not, but to me it illustrates how fatalism can be deadly.

In development work we often find people who are resigned to the fact that they are poor. Their parents were poor, they are poor and their children will be poor. It is God’s will that they are poor. The poor face many obstacles, but often times this attitude is one of the most debilitating. They can be given all sorts of material things, shoes, clothes, food, etc. but until they begin to see that poverty is not ordained by God they will remain poor.

Thus one of our roles in fighting extreme poverty is in helping people to realize their God-given talents to change their own situation, and make a difference in their own communities. That is one of the reasons that the village savings banks that Peter Greer describes in How Saving Ten Cents Became The Catalyst For Church Ministry are so important. Ten cents, when combined with ten cents from others, allows people to break free of the lie that they have nothing and can do nothing about their situation.

But it is not just other cultures that suffer from fatalism. In our own culture we have a very fatalistic approach to poverty eradication. It can’t be done. After all Jesus said the poor you will always have with you. It can’t be done, despite the fact that God has equipped us with some very effective poverty-fighting tools and know-how. It can’t be done, despite the fact that we have actually been making considerable progress against extreme poverty. The poor we will always have with us…

One of the things that excites me about being a part of 58 is the fact that we are beginning to break out of this fatalism. We are beginning to throw off our complacency and remove our blinders. God has told us that with him all things are possible so it is with expectancy and hope that we move forward.

This post was originally written for 58’s Blog. To learn more about 58 and our alliance with like minded organizations with the goal to end extreme poverty, visit www.live58.org.

Join the Conversation

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:50:49 -0800

Share your love with someone special today with one of
Plant With Purpose’s life changing gifts:

Cupid's Creeping Up On Us

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 08:00:00 -0800

Are you prepared?

Tired of the cheesy chocolates and fleeting flowers?

Want to branch out beyond the canned cards and candy hearts?

This Valentine’s Day, give that special someone a gift with a whole lot of heart. Plant With Purpose’s Life-Changing Gifts provide lasting and lovable ways to show you care.

Don’t just plant a kiss; plant a tree.
Show some bunny you love them by giving a family a pair of breeding bunnies.
Instead of chocolates: chicks.
Instead of flowers: fruit trees.
Heat it up with a fuel-efficient stove.
Give the gift of sheep, and ask your sweetie, “Wool you be mine?”

Plant With Purpose’s heartfelt gifts are a great way to show and grow your love for the special people in your life and families around the world!

Find the perfect present by checking out Plant With Purpose’s gifts at www.plantwithpurpose.org/gifts and be sure to download and print their Valentine’s Day card.

Blog readers, what other fun gift ideas can you come up with?

For the grant cycle, and beyond!

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:24:00 -0800

By Aly Lewis, Staff Writer and Grants Specialist

Last night I had the privilege of enjoying mouthwatering Mexican food with a fellow grant writer. We’re an elusive, behind the scenes bunch, so I don’t meet other grant writers often.

My new friend writes grants for an Indian reservation in Idaho. We talked budgets, we talked program management, we talked deciphering tax exempt language, and we talked the down and dirty double-spaced-times-new-roman-formatting requirements.

Now before you leave the page in sheer boredom, I’ll get to the good stuff.

Beyond budgets and details and the nitty gritty of grant writing, we talked IMPACT. Not just outcomes and success rate of proposals, but the PURPOSE of our grant writing endeavors.

She talked about the attitude of dependency and despair among her beneficiaries, an attitude similar to the often victimized rural poor Plant With Purpose partners with. I asked her if she felt her work was having a greater impact on her, in grant terms, “target population.”

Her response, “Yes, until the grant ends.”

Until the grant ends. This got me thinking, what’s the point of a program or a grant or project that doesn’t last beyond the funding? That doesn’t ultimately result in improved quality of life or transformation in the long run?

That’s the question that the founders of Plant With Purpose (then Floresta), asked themselves when they first started out in the Dominican Republic over 25 years ago.

They saw the victimization. They saw the attitude of dependency and despair that resulted from well-meaning but short-sighted relief efforts. They saw lots of programs and grants and projects that didn’t last beyond the funding.

And they wanted something different.

So they started a development organization with long-term transformation and sustainability in mind. (This long before sustainability became the non-profit buzzword that it is today.)

They started an organization with EMPOWERMENT at its core.

They designed a program intended to not really be their program at all, but a program dependent on the initiative and passion and determination of its beneficiaries.

This process of community development empowers communities to take responsibility for the solutions to their own problems. The community identifies its problems. The community identifies its resources. The community identifies and implements its own solutions. Yes, in partnership with the skills and expertise of Plant With Purpose in areas such as agroforestry, microenterprise, and forest management, but ultimately the vision, the solution, and the program is their own.

At Plant With Purpose, we’ve learned that this change, this transformation, that lives beyond the grant cycle cannot occur unless people want to change—and more importantly—believe that they can change.

I’ve come to think of our role more as a development Myth Busters team than the development implementers. We help communities break the myth that they have nothing to offer, that they are hopeless without foreign assistance, and that they have no skills or resources to offer into this transformational process.

And we’ve seen real change, lasting change, generational change.

One such story comes from the Dominican Republic. Payiyo is an older gentleman who purchased large amounts of land in a rural area a long time ago. For many years, Payiyo did not put his land to much use or protect it from deforestation, causing erosion and spilling pollution into the local river. Plant With Purpose approached him many times to talk about implementing a reforestation project in conjunction with the local government. Payiyo was reticent.

It wasn’t until Payiyo’s grandchildren began planting trees on his land that he began to see the benefits of Plant With Purpose’s work. Two of his grandsons, Miguel and Luigi (pictured above), joined a Plant With Purpose farmers association called “Nuestro Esfuerzo,” or “Our Effort,” where they began to dream of a brighter future for their grandfather’s land. Since then they have planted thousands of trees across the property, restoring and replenishing the land that will one day be their own.

Now Payiyo is one of our most enthusiastic supporters, telling everyone about the benefits of planting trees, and he hopes his grandchildren will continue to restore the land for their children to enjoy. This will have a lasting impact not only on Payiyo’s family, but for the region as a whole. Because Payiyo’s land is part of a watershed that feeds into one of the country’s most important rivers, protecting Payiyo’s land will bring clean water to thousands of children and grandchildren for generations to come.

This is the kind of story of lasting hope and transformation I am proud to retell to my grant writer friends.

Because what is the point of a program whose benefits stop when we leave?

Join us in prayer this Friday!

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 10:29:00 -0800

As you may or may not know, the entire Plant With Purpose family (I’m talking from San Diego to Santo Domingo to Mount Kilimanjaro) commits time the first Friday of every month to pray for the transformational work God has called us to participate in.

We pray other days too, of course, but the first Friday of the month is a day set apart for prayer, reflection, and adoration—together in spirit though distant in geography.

We invite you to join us tomorrow as we lift up the following prayers and praises for each country where we work. And if you’d like to be kept in the loop, sign up HERE to receive the prayer letter update each month straight to your Inbox.

God, we ask that you would hear our prayers:

BURUNDI

We praise God for:

A great start to the new year.

We pray For:

God’s guidance of the trainings on Village Savings and Loan Associations and Holistic Ministry that our staff and farmers will participate in this month.
The success of an exciting new project that will empower local schools to teach farming and sustainable agriculture.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

We praise God for:

The approval of the UN Environmental Program proposal for Sustainable Agroforestry farms in the border region. This will empower many more rural families to simultaneously replenish their land and improve their crop yields.

We pray for:

God’s guidance in hiring a new Coordinator for Spiritual Development in the border region. The coordinator will develop relationships with local churches, equip pastors for better outreach, distribute relevant Bible study curriculum and training materials, and coordinate local outreach events at churches and schools.
Wisdom and energy for the literacy facilitators that participate in the “Church, Community, and Change” project. This project empowers the local church to be an agent of positive change in the community. The first area churches have identified as an urgent need in the community is literacy, so Plant With Purpose has partnered with churches to offer literacy classes to community members.
For a smooth and effective transition from our traditional credit cooperatives to a savings-led model. Savings groups provide farmers who usually wouldn’t have access to financial services such as savings and loans with the opportunity to save their money in a safe place, receive loans to invest in businesses, and build a network of community and accountability.

HAITI

We praise God for:

A safe and productive trip to Haiti for Doug Satre, Development Director, and fruitful meetings with the SG and Kellogg Foundations.

We pray for:

Our partnership with the Cooperative Baptist fellowship and the new project in the community of Magandou.
The reconstruction and rebuilding of Haiti as families work to transform their lives.

MEXICO

We praise God for:

The excellent work of stewardship of creation that is being done with local churches.
The spaces for new children’s clubs that have opened. After-school children’s clubs provide an opportunity for Plant With Purpose to equip youth to lead a dedicated Christian life.

We pray for:

A new health project, and enthusiasm for the participants whose training begins this month. Pray that many would experience healing and improved health.
The prospect of expanding to another area, that God gives us wisdom and guidance.
Our work in the area of Mitlatongo, where devastating mudslides occurred a few months ago. Pray for the recovery of families who were affected.

TANZANIA

We praise God for:

The successful USAID audit.

We pray for:

Continued growth and team spirit among the Plant With Purpose Tanzania team. We’re working hard to build a strong team that works well together and reflects God’s love.
The sustainable agriculture and VICOBA competition that is currently underway throughout the entire Kilimanjaro region. We hope that this will ignite further excitement within the community for learning about and applying best practices in sustainable agriculture.
The organic agriculture tradeshow that we’ve been working hard to plan. We hope that it will be a success and a great opportunity for farmers to be able to connect to buyers and markets.

THAILAND

We praise God for:

The good work that is being done.

We pray for:

The final stage of Community Land Deed process at Huay Lu Luang. Pray that God will be with all the parties involved in the approval process. When it’s approved, the village will fully own the land and will also become a national example for other villages in how to protect and conserve their natural resources.
The new Village Savings and Loan groups that will be forming soon in target areas.
God to guide our thoughts and grant us wisdom in working with non-Christian villages to promote their roles in the communities in responding to the social and moral issues.
The movement of local churches throughout northern Thailand. Pray that God would give us wisdom and would strengthen our network and unity so we could become salt and light.

USA

We praise God for:

Becky, our new Marketing & Events Coordinator. We thank God for her arrival in January.
The Coast Vineyard film screening of 58: The Film. It was a great success.

We pray for:

Doug and Jimmy’s trip to Haiti with La Jolla Presbyterian Church and St. Clements Episcopal. Pray for safe travels and a wonderful time of fellowship.
The new board members that have just joined the Plant With Purpose board. We are so excited that they are part of the team!
A safe and successful visit of a few board members from the Tanzania program.
Program Officer, Christi’s visit to Tanzania.
Corbyn Small’s new role as Regional Representative, and that his efforts would be blessed as he travels and builds new relationships.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We are deeply grateful for your partnership.

Strength like a Sycamore Tree

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:59:00 -0800

by Becky Rosaler

But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:7-8

California’s varying terrain creates an assortment of ecosystems full of native plants. Right behind the Plant With Purpose office in San Diego, you can find a small tributary of our local watershed that supports a riparian ecosystem.

One of my favorite trees can be found outside our doors, the California Sycamore! Their substantial presence often signifies that you are near streams of water, their roots tapping deep into the ground to get the elements that sustain its life. In the warmer months when sycamores send out their green leaves, shade from the sun and cooler air are guaranteed to be found under the large leaves. Their branches provide home to birds and small animals while the leaf litter is a haven for decomposers. If there is plenty of water in the stream, one tree on a hot day is said to be able to transpire (loss of water through stomata) a couple of hundred gallons of water back into the atmosphere, creating its own little microclimate.

The prophet Jeremiah equates one who trusts in the Lord to being like a tree planted by the water. The sycamore comes to mind when I read this verse, a strong presence in our landscape.

As we continue to plant trees around the world, we are seeing ecosystems restored and trust in the Lord being established. These individuals are becoming sturdy trees that characterize a healthy environment, ready to withstand the hardships of life.

For instance, one of our farmers from the village of Barye, Haiti, Ms. Cyvadier Duclas said, “Thanks to Plant With Purpose, I’ve come to know that if my land is protected, it can start to produce food again. I now know that trees protect the soil, trees make rain fall, and in general, trees are life. When I plant a tree, I take care of it.”

Since the people of Barye joined Plant With Purpose over ten years ago, they have benefitted from increased incomes, improved health, and greater food security. Families like Ms. Duclas’ are growing nutritious food on their restored land and selling the extra in town. Parents are able to send their children to school and the entire community is being transformed.

Take a minute today to appreciate the trees around you. Let them remind you to trust the Lord where you’re at and to lift up the individuals that are being transformed though the sowing of our work and the lives being touched by Plant With Purpose.

Plant With Purpose Welcomes a Fresh Face with a Big Heart

Wed, 25 Jan 2012 15:22:00 -0800

Please join in welcoming Plant With Purpose’s newest staff member, Becky Rosaler. As the new Marketing and Events Coordinator, she will play an integral role in executing Plant With Purpose’s marketing campaigns and PR efforts as well as planning our annual Planting Hope Gala!

You’re in for a treat today as she shares a bit of the incredible journey that has brought her to partner with Plant With Purpose.

I’ve been asked, “Which part of the Plant With Purpose Mission resonates most with you?” “Which part of this vision for lasting transformation,” I ask? My resounding answer happens to be, “All three!” It seems like Someone has perfectly orchestrated this time in my life to join the Plant With Purpose team and I couldn’t be more thrilled or honored.

Let me share some background so that you too can see God’s faithfulness. As a student at Westmont College, I obtained a degree in environmental biology studying under professors who imparted their love for creation and Creator. Upon graduation, I took a permaculture certification course and headed to the Philippines to put into practice what was learned. It was then I realized that this idealistic American might do better reaching out to her own culture and sharing about the needs and injustices taking place in the world with those in my sphere of influence. My day job became teaching outdoor education programs in Orange County while lending my evenings to ministry. A few years later, I joined the staff at North Coast Church in Vista as one of the 20something pastors. Those 6 years were spent growing in my knowledge of Jesus, investing in others, fostering community, furthering our outreach program, and leading mission trips to Eastern Europe. 2008 arrived and I was ready for something more…but our economy was ready for something more as well. I ended up back at the Ocean Institute, this time in the marketing department where I helped with special events, fundraising, and general marketing responsibilities.

In 2008, a friend of a friend introduced Plant With Purpose to me. I have offered my assistance when time and schedule have allowed at alternate gift markets, outreach events, and I even volunteered for the 2011 Gala. Who knew that in 2012 I would be planning the Planting Hope Gala!

I look forward to communicating with you, connecting with our advocates, celebrating our life sustaining programs together, raising funds for what happens in the field, visiting the villages that we sponsor and learning as we go! Please feel free to drop me a line or find me on facebook by using becky@plantwithpurpose.org.

All along my heart has been developing a yearning to see: environmental restoration, economic empowerment, and spiritual renewal…the three parts of Plant With Purpose’s Mission.

Bonus section: traveling, planting, creating, catching up with friends, laughing with my family, enjoying a good story, being outside, worshipping our God, and eating delicious food are all on my list of favorites!

What’s Your Purpose?

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:34:00 -0800

by Aly Lewis

Recently I was posed the question, Why are you here?

Not why-do-people-exist or what-is-the-meaning-of-life, but why am I HERE at this juncture in my life. At this computer at this desk with these coworkers at this job to do these tasks.

One answer is this:

February 2006, Managua, Nicaragua

Plastic smoldered and filled the air in a hazy smokescreen that seared my eyes and bit at my nostrils in the city dump of Managua, Nicaragua. Skeletal cows munched on the aluminum cans that children searched all day for in the city dump. This was their home, their school, their playground. Our yellow school bus heaved and rattled into the dump. We pressed our faces against the hot window panes, peering out into the ocean of refuse. When we realized where we were, our faces dropped, eyes averted and laughing silenced. One man lifted his dark, gnarled hand to brush the sweat from his furrowed brow. Our bus grinded to a halt and the door creaked open. Trevor, one of our program facilitators poked his head out and yelled something to the man in broken Spanish.

Did he mind speaking to us for a minute? Did he mind sharing his story with us?

The man carefully stepped over the debris, clambering his way to the open bus door. He moved through the sea of trash like an experienced sailor. Like he’d long since lost his land legs. We wore fresh skirts and smoothed slacks. The old man glanced down at his modest t-shirt, sweat stained and torn. We wanted to know what his life was like. How was he surviving? What did he think about God? Parched and at a loss for words, the man swallowed a few times, his tongue wetting his chapped lips, gums, and the few teeth he had. Then he told us the only thing he knew.

“Dios ha bendecido a mi familia.” “God has blessed my family,” he said. “God is good. Before this garbage dump we were on the streets, and that was worse. God has provided, and God is good.”

Blessed? The last time I checked, my definition of blessed did not include the privilege of sorting through trash and watching your children inhale toxic fumes on a daily basis.

Trevor thanked him for sharing and handed him a cold, dripping water bottle. He greedily grabbed the fresh water, and the condensation formed tiny rivulets in the deep, cracked creases of his craggy palms—living water in a thirsty, barren land, fresh water in a sulfuric sea.

***

That’s part of it. That’s part of why I’m here. Writing this blog. Working at this nonprofit that serves the rural poor. Thinking these thoughts. Still struggling with the word blessed . Still working through what it means to see God at work in this unjust world.

It’s why I’m HERE at Plant With Purpose. It’s why I’m so passionate about the work of our field staff who empower and transform the lives of the rural poor.

It’s why I have hope of a better story. A story of families restoring their land, raising their incomes, and learning to thrive BEFORE they end up desperate, on the streets or at the dump.

It’s why I can tell a story like this:

Meet Jayaw Licha from Panasawan, Thailand. Jayaw Licha is a dedicated farmer with a wife and a child. With the help of Plant With Purpose, his life entire life has been turned upside down in the best possible way. Plant With Purpose taught him sustainable agriculture techniques, such as interplanting crops with trees and using organic fertilizers and pesticides, which he applied to his farm.

Now his thriving farm produces an impressive variety of food year round—coffee and tea, corn and beans, mangos, bananas, and pineapple, just to name a few! His land produces enough to feed his family and he sells his corn for extra income.

In fact, his farm is doing so well he no longer has to leave his community to work as a day laborer to support his family. Ultimately, he doesn’t have to leave, his family doesn’t have to leave, and there is no hint of slums, begging, or garbage dumps in their future.

So today, HERE, I am grateful to write such a story of hope and have my eyes opened to the blessing (yes, I said it) of seeing God at work in an unjust world.

But enough about me, what brought you here? What’s your purpose?

Two Years Later: Remembering A Tragedy, Celebrating Progress in Haiti

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 10:33:00 -0800

Two years ago today, a catastrophic earthquake struck Haiti. 220,000 people were killed, 300,000 were injured, and over 3.5 million Haitians were affected.

For those who’ve devoted your prayers, your time, and your resources to partner with Plant With Purpose and the people of Haiti, we say thank you.

Two years after such devastation, let us take a moment to remember the lives that have been lost, the sacrifice that has been given, and the journey ahead.

Let us continue to remember the country of Haiti and the courageous families that live there as they build a better future. If you would, we invite you to take 5 minutes to watch Planting Hope in Haiti, a beautiful video filled with the perseverance, courage, character, and hope of our sisters and brothers in Haiti.

Since January 2010, Plant With Purpose has helped Haitian families recover from the devastating quake while investing in a brighter future by restoring the land, raising their incomes, and encouraging them to grow in the knowledge of God’s love and grace.

In the last two years, Haitian families partnered with Plant With Purpose to establish over 200 garden plots and attend nearly 500 financial trainings, enabling children to experience improved nutrition and parents to provide for their families and send their children to school.

In response to critical needs, these families received over 700 goats and 400 drinking water systems. Additionally, families have restored 55 watersheds and planted over one million trees to replenish the barren landscape and work toward a future filled with bountiful crops, clean water, and economic stability.

As we remember the tragedy and celebrate the progress of the last two years, consider partnering with Haitian families to recover and rebuild in one of the following ways:

Sponsoring a village in Haiti for a dollar a day
Planting an entire forest for $100
Fostering spiritual renewal by giving toward needed Bible study training and materials

Thanks again!

Happy New Year!

Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:47:01 -0800

Happy New Year’s, blog readers! We are excited to usher in 2012, all bright and shiny with possibility.

But before plowing full steam ahead into the new year, we’d like to THANK YOU for your involvement in transforming the lives of the rural poor over the last year. Thank you for reading, commenting, and sharing Plant With Purpose with your friends. Thank you for your feedback, your support, and your prayers.

Because of you, farmers are recounting stories of transformation, restoring their land and their livelihoods, and gaining the courage to reimagine a brighter future for their families.

Stay tuned for recaps and highlights of 2011 later this week.

Thanks again, and here’s to a year of recounting, restoring, and reimagining a better future together!

Still Dreaming

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 15:44:40 -0800

This Christmas, we were thrilled to share with you the Christmas wishes of farmers from around the world. Just because Christmas has passed, doesn’t mean these farmers have stopped dreaming.

Bibiana’s dreams for the future remain as vivid as ever. Bibiana is an enthusiastic 11-year-old from the village of La Muralla, Mexico. Her elementary school teamed up with Plant With Purpose to teach environmental education, and Bibiana is one of the star students. She loves learning how to care for the land in her community and is exciting to share that knowledge with her family and neighbors. Bibiana is also helping her family tend to their family garden, something that is improving the family’s nutrition and health.

“We have learned to care for and water the plants from the school nursery,” Bibiana said, “I also planted trees with my mom and brothers. I like working and going to Plant With Purpose workshops because I learn a lot about taking care of plants.”

This season, you can give the gift of a family garden to help families like Bibiana’s to establish and grow a thriving garden. Consider how you can help to change the future for children like Bibiana.

To give toward a family garden click here.

To read more wishes from families around the world, click here.

A Christmas Wish: Investing in the Future

Fri, 23 Dec 2011 10:00:05 -0800

It’s almost Christmas! Today’s Christmas Wish comes from Rafaela Leonidas Encarnación from Basima, Dominican Republic. Rafaela is the mother of an entrepreneurial family. With six children, Rafaela was always worried about making ends meet and feeding her family. She operated a small business in her village, selling various items to other community members, but the income generated from her business was not sufficient to meet her family’s needs.

That started to change when Rafaela joined a Plant With Purpose group where she received training in small business and financial management.

Now, Rafaela’s business is thriving, and her daughter has also set up her own successful business selling empanadas. The income her daughter generates not only supplements their household income, but it also makes Rafaela very proud of her daughter’s entrepreneurial spirit.

“Partnering with Plant With Purpose has been very good for my community and me,” Rafaela says. “Thanks to God’s providence and the business training received through Plant With Purpose’s workshops, my business has been more successful, I have been able to attract more customers, and my relationship with my family is stronger.”

This Christmas, consider giving the gift of opportunity to entrepreneurs like Rafaela and her daughter. Village savings and loans associations (VSLA) offer a safe venue to learn to save money, receive low-interest microloans, and take part in critical business training.

A Christmas Wish: Sharing and Living the Good News

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:13:13 -0800

Our next very special Christmas wish comes from a woman named Jocelyn Dieumène of Barye, Haiti. Jocelyn lives in a place where words like community mean something. In the five years Jocelyn has participated in Plant With Purpose programs, her income has increased as her small plot of land has gone from producing 20 pounds of beans at a time to 50 pounds at a time. She is now able to afford the fees needed to send her three children to school, but beyond that Jocelyn says participation in group Bible studies has also encouraged her to give back to her community.

“When I listen to God’s word, my ideas change positively, and I am ready to share with my neighbors,” Jocelyn says.

During the Christmas season, you can help communities like Barye to strengthen their church and community ties by providing critical resources, training, and Bible study materials to pastors and leaders.

Consider giving a gift that will empower churches around the world to engage the needs of their communities in the name of Christ.

A Christmas Wish: Clean Water for Haiti

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 17:13:36 -0800

Forget the iPad, Christmas sweaters, and stocking stuffers, all Visnel wants for Christmas is access to clean water.

In Haiti, the place he calls home, clean water is hard to come by. Waterborne disease kills thousands of people there every single year, a fact that has only grown worse as the country continues fighting a cholera epidemic. In fact, contaminated water nearly cost Visnel his life when he contracted cholera this year. But thanks to his Plant With Purpose community group leader, Visnel arrived at a clinic for treatment just in time.

“Plant With Purpose saved my life!” Visnel says.

Still, while we celebrate this example of the incredible support system people are finding through Plant With Purpose groups, we believe that people like Visnel shouldn’t be getting sick in the first place. Something as simple as the gift of clean water changes communities and saves lives. It means health instead of illness, and it means a better, more hopeful tomorrow. It also means opportunity for Visnel’s children and others like them as they can go to school instead of walking for water each day.

In Matthew 10:42 Jesus says, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

This Christmas season, consider providing children and families like Visnel’s with access to cold—and more importantly, clean—water.

Click here to meet more farmers like Visnel and view the complete Plant With Purpose Christmas Wish List and give the gift of hope to families in need.

A Christmas Wish: Peace on Earth (Especially in Burundi)

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 16:11:04 -0800

Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors! — Luke 2:14

We all have our Christmas wish lists, whether on Amazon or eBay or scribbled on some Post-its and stuffed into our coat pockets.

The rural poor have their wish lists, too. Their hopes are simple, really — the opportunity to make a living, food on the table for their families, a better tomorrow for their children. This year, farmers from the communities where Plant With Purpose works have given us a few specific requests for their Christmas wish lists.

Take Gervais for example. He is a subsistence farmer living in Burundi, one of the three poorest countries in the world – largely due to the pattern of civil war and genocide the country has experienced over the past four decades.

Plant With Purpose has organized farmer groups there that teach techniques to create more productive farms—training that brings both peace and prosperity. Gervais agrees, saying a great benefit of his group is friendship and unity as they work together in the fields.

There is a Burundian proverb that goes, “Munda harana inzara hakazinduka inzingo,” meaning “The stomach thatgoes to bed hungry wakes up jealous.” When farmers like Gervais can provide food for their families, they begin to work together with their neighbors for a better tomorrow.

This Christmas season, you can promote peace on earth (or in Burundi at least) through the gift of seeds, tools, and training.

Also, please take a few minutes to read about a number of life-changing gifts on our Christmas Wish List that will turn a Christmas 2011 wish into a long-term gift for many.

Retweet the Sounding Joy

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 09:44:20 -0800

It is officially twelve days until Christmas (crazy, huh?), and we would like to present… *drum roll please*…

The 12 Days Of Christmas (Plant With Purpose style)

On the first day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me
A Fruit Tree on a Hillside

On the second day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Two Breeding Bunnies,
And a Fruit Tree on a Hillside

On the third day of Christmas,
My true love gave to me,
Three Family Gardens,
Two Breeding Bunnies,
And a Fruit Tree on a Hillside

Okay, okay, you get the idea. Stay tuned to our twitter and Facebook for the next twelve days to see the complete 12 Days of Christmas (Plant With Purpose style).

Join in the merriment and “Retweet the Sounding Joy” of giving life-changing gifts in honor of our friends and loved ones this Christmas season.

Today’s tweet:
On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me - A Fruit Tree on a Hillside http://bit.ly/t8AqKc #PWP #12DAYS

Let’s see how many fruit trees we can plant on deforested hillsides! Merry Christmas and happy tweeting!

Too Cool for School Posted by Corbyn Small We talk a lot about...

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:22:10 -0800

Too Cool for School

Posted by Corbyn Small

We talk a lot about empowerment on this blog, whether it be empowerment for the women we work with so they can become providers in their families or empowerment of entire communities to unite, work together, and move toward a common good for the sake of all of the families living there. Teaching a man to fish, rather than giving a man a fish. Don’t we all want to be providers or to be a part of something bigger than ourselves? Doesn’t every parent want their children to grow up learning how to do things for themselves, thinking through problems and finding solutions?

Every semester, Emily Small (yes there is a connection there), teaches a class at Albert Einstein Charter Academy called Root(ed). Root(ed) teaches 6-8th graders about the six countries that Plant With Purpose works in. They talk about socio-economic issues, the third-world, poverty alleviation, and what Plant With Purpose does to make a difference. One thing that Emily Small doesn’t teach the students is what they can do to help. She asks them.

Emily guides her students through a process of learning about farmers who live in places like Haiti, Thailand, and Mexico, helping them to discover the challenges these families can face and how they’re learning to overcome those challenges as they partner with Plant With Purpose. Then, she sets the kids free and allows their creative minds to do the rest!

Every semester different groups of students have raised over $500 by throwing creative fundraisers and spreading the word about how people can help. They’ve had bbq’s, school dances, staff vs. student flag football games, videos, dramas, raffles, carnival style games, and now…coming to Albert Einstein Academy this Wednesday… a movie night! Click here to listen to one of their promotional ads encouraging students and families to come join!

Needless to say, we think that empowerment is awesome. Whether it be in a developing country or right here in our own backyard. Thanks to the staff, leadership, and students at Albert Einstein Academy for partnering with Plant With Purpose over the last two years to raise well over $2,500 to support the empowerment of families in Mexico, Haiti, Dominican Republic, Thailand, Burundi, and Tanzania. Through your desire to “provide each student with roots and wings to thrive in a global world,” you are empowering the creative minds of brilliant students who will be the leaders of the next generation.

Now the question is… will you be there?

Coffee Makes Christmas Better

Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:42:15 -0800

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas … the jam-packed mall parking lots, the crowds, the pressure to buy things you don’t really need. But, hey, let’s not focus on the negative this year. Giving really can be a way to celebrate.

Take the Plant With Purpose Holiday Village Market gift guide, for example. We know, we’ve been talking about it a lot, but with good reason—things like groves, goats, or gardens truly are life-changing gifts for children and families living in extreme poverty. But we also know that sometimes you just want to wrap something that you can put under the tree or on your co-workers desk. Enter Project 7’s “Products for Good.”

Project 7 supports 7 global needs—Save the Earth, Feed the Hungry, Heal the Sick, House the Homeless, Quench the Thirsty, Teach them Well, and Hope for Peace—by giving a significant portion of revenue from all the products purchased to support organizations like Plant With Purpose. The best part is that these are products that you probably already buy, like gum, mints, and coffee.

This year, don’t stress over what to buy. We’re pretty sure that Project 7’s Save the Earth Breakfast Blend will keep you, your family, your friends, and your co-workers in the Christmas spirit. Plus, for every bag or can you purchase, you’re supporting the work of Plant With Purpose to transform lives in rural communities around the world. And that’s reason enough to celebrate.