2013 fall sower
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Departments
Director’s Corner
Breaking News
Village Spotlight
FALL 2013
environmental solutions to Humanitarian problems
The Journey oF
TrAnsFormATionHow RuRal FaRmeRs aRe
HaRvesting CHange4
6
2
3
7
Features
Transformation
Leaders of Transformation
FaRmeRs in tHe DominiCan RepubliC plant tRees.
pHoto CReDit aaRonCHang.Com
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Can you imagine what
it would be like to
have absolutely no-
thing productive to
do? For decades?
One night many years
ago, Father Jean
Wilrid Albert, a Haitian Episcopal priest
with whom we partnered when we frst be-
gan working in Haiti, joined a number o us
outside the feld ofce. As we sat in the dark,
he shared his joy at having a calling rom
Christ. “Imagine,” he said, “how you would
eel i you were sitting in a similar circle and
God Himsel told each o you about the im-
portant role that He had or you to play.”
“I’d be so excited!” Father Albert said with
emotion.
He then asked us to imagine what it would
be like to be told instead that God had noth-
ing or you to do. You couldn’t even take
care o your amily. You were worthless.
O course, God never says this to anyone.
It is a vicious lie told by a world that mea-
sures personal value only in terms o mon-
ey. On the other hand, a part o the goodnews Jesus brings is that we are all given
talents, and each o us has a role to play in
His kingdom.
God invites each o us to participate in what
He is doing in the world. We are not passive
bystanders, victims in a world headed or
destruction. Colossians 1:20 tells us Christ
is reconciling all things, and in 1 Corinthians
5:18 we learn that we, too, have been giv-
en this ministry o reconciliation. Jesus re-
minds us that even the weak, downtrodden,
and poor have an important role to play.
Around the world, the rural poor have been
told directly and indirectly that they have
nothing to contribute. This type o disem-
powerment is particularly acute in Burundi,
where thousands o repatriated reugees
are returning—many ater living in camps in
Tanzania where they subsisted on aid and
had no opportunity to work.
That is why much o our spiritual outreach
in Burundi centers on a curriculum called
“Theology o Work,” written by Lazare
Sebiteriko, our local director there. The
study has become the glue that holds ourBurundian program together. Until people
begin to understand their purpose and God-
given value, there is little enthusiasm or en-
vironmental restoration, small business cre-
ation, or even arming.
Lazare is a trained theologian and the study
has considerable depth, but I teased him
recently that it could all be boiled down to
the afrmation that God loves you and has
a purpose or you. What is not a joke is the
radical good news that this message carries
or someone who has been told they haveno purpose. It is a message with such res-
onance that churches all over Burundi and
as ar as eastern Democratic Republic o
Congo are asking to use this curriculum.
Scott Sabin
Executive Director
mR. JeRa Jules
FaRms in FonDs-
veRRettes, Haiti.
Director’s corner
tHe sower issue #101
Plant With Purpose, a Christian nonpro
organization, reverses deorestation an
poverty around the world by transorm
ing the lives o the rural poor.
ExEcutivE DirEctor:
Scott Sabin
DEvElopmEnt DirEctor: Doug Satre
markEting anD EvEnts:
Becky Rosaler
environmental solutions to Humanitarian proble
stay connEctED:
4903 Morena Blvd. Suite 1215
San Diego, CA 92117
Ph: 800.633.5319Email: [email protected]
Web: plantwithpurpose.org
Tw: @PlantWPurpose
Fb: acebook.com/PlantWithPurpose
email [email protected]
to learn How you can:
• Share your Plant With Purpose story
• Host an event
• Become a Plant With Purpose advoca
Leave a Legacy. Please consider inclu
ing Plant With Purpose in your wills
and bequests. Contact Doug Satre:
copyright © 2013 Plant With Purpose
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On October 12, 2013, the Plant With Purpose community will gather or an
international estival at the Paradise Point Resort in San Diego, overlooking
the beautiul Mission Bay.
Expect to be treated to a wonderul evening! The silent auction and cocktail
hour will take place outside on Paradise Terrace with live music provided
by Serenade and Strum. A sumptuous Latin-usion dinner accompanied by
Caliornia wine will please your palate. Plant With Purpose will be honoring
Project 7 and Kellogg Garden Products or their continued support. And, o
course, you’ll hear an inspiring update on what is happening around the
world rom executive director Scott Sabin and board chair Cathi Lundy.
Proceeds go TowArd emPowering The rurAL Poor ToimProve Their Lives And LAnd.
planting Hope gala oCtobeR 12, 2013
at 5:30 in tHe evening
breaking newshouse at our San Diego ofce. It was anhonor to spend time with these inspiring
men, who are leading the way or Plant With
Purpose’s programs in East Arica. Here,
Lazare and Benoit are pictured with Bill and
Susan Hoehn at a lunch reception gracious-
ly hosted by the Hoehns.
upcoming vision tripsI you have never visited one o Plant With
Purpose’s programs, we would love or
you to consider joining us on a Vision Trip.
Contact Doug Satre or more inormation:
mexico
otb 21-27, 2013
Burundi
may 4-13, 2014
hAiTi
may 5-11, 2014
dominicAn rePuBLic
J 21-Jly 5, 2014
our website gets a new look Have you checked out plantwithpurpose.org
recently? Spend some time on our newly
updated site and learn how Plant With Pur-
pose programs are moving rural commu-
nities “From Despair to Hope.” Find out de-
tails about “Where We Work,” and take the
next step to “Get Involved” in Plant With
Purpose’s lie-changing programs.
burunDi staFF visits san DiegoCountry director Lazare Sebiteriko and Bu-
rundian board member Benoit Muhimuzi
visited Southern Caliornia this summer.
They shared about their work at multiple
home receptions, churches, and an open
RSVP BY
pHone: 800.633.5319
web: www.plantwitHpurpose.org/gala
email: [email protected]
$110 per ticket / $850 per table oF 8
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4
Dieubon Joseh lives in he rural
couniy of toan, Haii, wih
his wife and six children. mr. Joseh
says ha since he arrival of plan
Wih purose, “my rofessional andsiriual life has changed.” the ools
and raining rovided by plan Wih
purose allowed hi o irove his
ree nursery, which resuled in in-
creased incoe.
Seedlings ormerly sold or about 25 Hai-
tian gourdes. Now, Mr. Joseph says, “I
sell seedlings at 50 gourdes [$1.25 USD],
and the success rate o seedlings in the
nursery is close to 100 percent.” This past
year he grew 5,000 seedlings that he
planted on his arm, shared with riends
and community members, and sold to a
nearby community.
Mr. Joseph sees Plant With Purpose as
“an institution that adopts all necessary
moral values that are integral to the de-
velopment o a person.” He oers this en-
couragement to Plant With Purpose: “We
are willing to pass through the complete
change that you propose!”
Mr. Joseph has experienced changes in
his circumstances because Plant With
Purpose invested in his community. Plant
With Purpose embraces a model o trans-
ormation or the entire person: physi-
cally, economically, and spiritually. Com-
munities are on a journey out o poverty.
And through empowerment, they’re ex-
periencing transormation.
Bryant Myers, proessor o transorma-
tional development at Fuller Theologi-
cal Seminary, writes in Walking With the
Poor , “The goals or this journey o trans-
ormation are to recover our true identity
as human beings created in the image o
God and to discover our true vocation as
productive stewards, aithully caring or
the world and all the people in it.” These
are accomplishments that Plant With Pur-
pose witnesses every day.
our true iDentityScott Sabin says, “The frst step in our
work is helping people understand their
own power and their value in the king-
dom [o God]. This is oundational. When
it comes to solving the problem o pover-
ty, the poor themselves are our most im-
portant allies. When it comes to issues o
“The goals for
This journey of
TransformaTion are
To recover our True
idenTiTy as human
beings creaTed in
The image of god
and To discover our
True vocaTion as producTive sTewards,
faiThfully caring for
The world and all The
people in iT.”
tHe Journey oF
transFormationHolistically investing in rural communities
Becky RosaleR, Marketing and Events Coordinator
women in tanzania taking
steps towaRD a bRigHteR
tomoRRow.
~ Bryant Myers
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rural environmental degradation, the ru-
ral poor have the skills, insight, and vest-
ed interest to solve these problems. One
o the most important things we can do
is empower the poor to realize and use
their God-given talents to change their
communities and restore their land.”
A shit in mindset takes places in rural
communities as sta members acilitate
community assessments and oer guid-
ance or solutions. It is then up to part-
nering armers like Mr. Joseph to carry
out the hard work. This work emphasizes
people’s true identities and what they
have to oer.
Tui Tongdi, director o Plant With Purpose
Thailand, shares the importance o part-
nering with hill tribe communities there:
“We have learned that to create sustain-
able development, participants must take
responsibility and ownership,” he says.
“We have been promoting the roles and
responsibilities o the local people.” Plant
With Purpose Thailand has been able to
step into an advisory role as local leaders
work through economic, environmental,
and social issues.
The door to true identity is being opened
in Thailand. Tongdi explains, “In most o
the villages we work with, the amilies
are not Christian. Even though we do
not preach, people start to see the love
o God. People know that we are Chris-
tians and love them. Some people ask
us why we keep loving them, and we tell
them that because God loves us, so we
love them.”
proDuctive stewarDs oF creation
Mr. Joseph’s seedlings play an important
part in Haiti’s progress out o poverty be-cause o the direct link between poverty
and the environment. Without healthy
land, the majority o rural arming ami-
lies cannot put ood on the table. As rural
arming amilies gain resources to change
the circumstances o their surroundings,
they also see a change in their well-being.
Guy Paraison, country director in Haiti,
shares, “Socially, people and commu-
nities are being transormed. They talk
more about environmental issues, and
their vocabulary has changed. They talk
about soil conservation, reorestation,
organization, grating, and compost-
ing, which are very new words.” Not
only are these words being integrated
into conversations, but communities
are also implementing these new tech-
niques. Farmers are considering tree
planting and sustainable agriculture as
long-term investments.
Plant With Purpose Tanzania just fnished
planting 1.4 million trees within this last
year alone. The tree planting eorts were
inspired by the “Redemptive Agriculture”
Bible study. This Creation Care study ex-
plores the ways that God asks us to care
or the earth and the people in it. The
study led to soil conservation work and
tree planting. What’s more, partnering
armers worked to mobilize other groups.
Tree planting competitions took place be-
tween 84 churches, 43 primary schools, 26
secondary schools, and even 2 mosques.
Richard Mihna, Plant With Purpose Tanza-
nia’s country director, shares, “The great-
est change we have seen this past year is
the increased participation in tree plant-
ing and organic vegetable production.”
As productive stewards caring or the
world, Plant With Purpose programs in
both Thailand and Mexico have observed
that wildlie is returning to reorested
areas. Plant With Purpose Thailand has
encouraged a wildlie preservation pro-
gram, and they report, “In the river and
orest areas, we can see more fsh, birds,
and wild animals.”
caring For peopleTransormation is taking place as people
like Mr. Joseph become fnancially se-
cure. In communities like Toman, Haiti,
where money is sparse, savings-led
microfnance through Village Savings
and Loan Associations (VSLAs) seemed
impossible. Today there are more than
7,000 individuals who are actively saving
through 312 Plant With Purpose VSLAs
internationally.
Plant With Purpose Dominican Republic’s
country director, Carlos Disla, shares, “Agreat change that has occurred in the Do-
minican Republic is the enthusiastic adop-
tion o a savings culture in rural commu-
nities.” VSLA participants in Thailand also
share, “We see that the saving groups are
good because we can save money and
take loans with low interest. It’s not just
about the money but also about having
ellowship and better relationships.”
smiles in Haiti anD tHailanD
expRess Hope.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 6
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6
Loans that are accessed through VSLAs al-
low or improvements in living conditions,
which means improvements to health. The
use o technologies like uel-ecient stoves
and eco-latrines are protecting the health o
amilies in partnering communities accord-
ing to Luis Castellanos, Plant With Purpose
Mexico’s country director.
Truly caring or people means caring or the
whole person—physically and spiritually.
Lazare Sebitereko, Plant With Purpose Bu-
rundi’s country director, witnesses empow-
erment as he leads people through the “The-
ology o Work” seminar in Burundi, which
has led to action. Mhina shares, “We have
seen transormation in Tanzania as churches
are reporting increased beneciary partici-
pation in church activities and increases intithes and oerings in communities. The
reason or this is that our communities have
increased their income.”
contagious transFormationWhen transormational development is
accomplished, it is hard to contain. Plant
With Purpose sees this vision or a dier-
ent way o lie spreading. Disla comments,
“These innovative armers in the Domini-
can Republic hope to encourage others
to move orward in the care o their land,
recovery o the environment, and the im-
provement o their living conditions.”
Plant With Purpose Mexico has been push-
ing orward on expanding the program
rom Oaxaca to the state o Chiapas. “Lo-
cal pastors and leaders have expressed
their interest and motivation to promote a
process o transormational development
in their region,” conveys Castellanos.
Holistic transormation is spreading: per-
son to person, armer to armer, commu-
nity to community, and country to country
as those involved in Plant With Purpose’sprograms embrace their true identity in
Christ and work to bring God’s kingdom to
earth as it is in heaven.
Fg fal.
Family gardens, agroor-
estry plots, and sustain-
able arming methods help
parents put nutritious ood
on the table.
rtg la.
Trees act as a natural lter.
As hillsides are planted,
watersheds once again
fow with clean water.
Trees improve soil condi-
tions and prevent topsoil
rom eroding, making
arming more successul.
itg ft.
Savings-and-loan groups
give amilies a way to cre-
ate a nancial saety net as
well as invest in children’s
education, develop small
businesses, and improvearms.
dlpg b.
Strategic approaches to
market opportunities and
business development, are
providing brighter utures.
expg th l f J.
Outreach programs through
local churches help amilies
understand God’s love and
grace in a tangible way and
grow spiritually.
mblzg th hh.
Programs that encourage
the church to meet practi-
cal needs in the commu-
nity include adult literacy
classes, community recycling
programs, and lie-skills
seminars.
a tHree-part approacH
to transFormation
ita f fg pbl l-
t at a t, Plat wth Pp hlp alfag fal a th pty thgh
a appah that tgat tal,
, a ptal lt.
sPiriTuALrenewAL
economicemPowermenT
environmenTALresTorATion
environmental restoration economic empowerment spiritual transFormation
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
Plant With Purpose’s international team
made o leaders who have been equippe
to bring about change. What ollows is
glimpse o the qualications that makthis team strong.
Bunsak Tongdi (Tui) has been the cou
try director o Plant With Purpose Tha
land since 2008. Prior to this position, h
worked or Plant With Purpose as a micr
nance sta member. Tui has worked a
a child sponsorship trainer or Compa
sion International and held other jobs i
cluding teaching English. He is earning
graduate degree ocused on cooperativ
community-based economics.
Lazare Sebitereko has served as Plan
With Purpose Burundi’s country directo
since 2008. His work experience include
serving as a program manager or G
neva Global, theology proessor at th
University o Pretoria, South Arica, an
a human rights ocer or Groupe Milim
(DRC). Lazare’s education culminate
with a Ph.D. in theology, specializing
justice, rom the University o Pretoria.
In 2002, Carlos Disla began overseein
Plant With Purpose Dominican Republ
ater holding many government pos
tions, including the Assistant Secreta
o Natural Resources. His education i
cludes two bachelor’s degrees, one ro
Texas A & M ocused on agricultural eco
nomics and the other in agronomy ro
the Institute o Agriculture in Santiag
Dominican Republic.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
leaDers oF
transFormation
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In Oaxaca’s central valley lies the tiny village o Chepeginio, a place called home by about 200
people. In this area, no one has access to running water at home, and ewer than one in fve
has access to electricity. Few kids fnish high school because they have to drop out to help earn
money or their amilies. Plant With Purpose saw the need and began working here months ago.
In this small community, Abundio and Alejandra co-pastor a small church. The parents o six children
have watched or years as young men and athers leave in search o work in the United States or oth-
er Mexican states. They eared this would become the ate o some o their own children, but today
they have hope or a dierent uture—both or their amily and their community.
“Now,” Abundio says, “our amilies are together, and they are working at home. … Now the children
see … they don’t have to be day laborers.”
This newound hope began to grow when Abundio and Alejandra and others rom their community
started working together to establish a tree nursery, a large garden, and a Village Savings and Loan
Association.
“We have hope,” Alejandra says. “We have already harvested vegetables. We don’t have to buy
things we used to buy. We are hoping to see produce rom ruit trees—oranges, apples, limes, avoca-
dos, peaches. Now, the garden is helping us to eat.”
Among the community members who work to tend the garden and nursery are Ezekiel and Magda-
lene, a young newlywed couple. Ezekiel had spent a ew years in another area working as an agricul-
tural day laborer but says he wants to stay in Chepeginio. The couple doesn’t have children yet, but
Ezekiel says, “We would love to raise a amily here and have a sense o purpose. … We don’t have
anything here—but little by little, we will.”
Abundio adds, “We see God can work in this place. … We believe in a living God. We know God has
a purpose and wants to uplit. God is providing or things we need.”
village
spotligHt:CHepeginio,
mexiCo
“Agriculture is now a very important revenue-
generating activity. Unortunately, as rural arm-
ers, we ace many obstacles to developing ourarms and sustaining ood production,” shares
Elisha Kaganda rom Kiremba, Buarundi. How-
ever, ater partnering with Plant With Purpose
Burundi, she says, “We hope that gradually we
can achieve this dream o developing our agri-
cultural activities to meet our ood needs and at
the same time give us income.”
Elisha Kaganda’s dream is one that aligns with
Humidtropics, a new initiative o the international
organization Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Plant With Pur-
pose Burundi has been selected to be the non-
proft representative on the planning commit-tee. In so doing, it is joining, it is joining some
o the most respected names in agriculture and
development research around the world. Over
the next 15 years, Humidtropics will be looking
at innovative agricultural systems and working
toward liting 25 percent o poor households
above the poverty line, increasing ood yields
by 60 percent, and increasing arm income by
50 percent, all while reducing the number o
malnourished children by 30 percent and re-
storing sustainability to arms.
abunDio anD aleJanDRa’s
CHuRCH anD CHuRCH membeRs
in CHepeginio, mexiCo
Since June 2011, Richard Mhina has been
providing leadership or Plant With Pur-
pose Tanzania. He became a part o the
team when asked to provide oversight or
compliance with a USAID grant. He is re-
ceiving his MBA this year, ollowing a de-
gree ocused on agricultural economics
and agribusiness.
Guy Paraison started at Plant With Pur-
pose Haiti as an administrative advisor in
1997. In 2001, he became the country direc-
tor. Prior to coming to Plant With Purpose,
Guy taught Spanish, worked in fnancial
credit positions, worked with UNICEF, and
served as a ounding member o Fonkoze,
Haiti’s leading microfnance organization.
Luis Castellanos has been the director o
Plant With Purpose Mexico since 2001.
His bachelor’s degree in business admin-
istration was put to use as he worked in
multiple positions or the government.
He has consulted or organizations work-
ing with rural communities and provided
business oversight or various groups.
By Beth luthye , Grant Writer
Developing
Dreams in
burunDi
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pl Wh pue
4903 Morena Blvd. Suite 1215San Diego, CA 92117
Ph: 800.633.5319
Email: [email protected]
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