One more thing..

Sorry for the duplicate email, but I neglected to mention in the newsletter that a new version of the website is up and running.  Please check it out at www.plantingfaith.org.  

Blessings, 

Anne Tipton

May Newsletter

May 11, 2009

Greetings from Kenya!
(We are attaching a PDF format of our newsletter. Help us spread the
word about Planting Faith by printing and sharing with friends.)

First, we would like to wish all of the Mothers a Happy Mothers’ Day.
It was truly a blessing to celebrate here in the Tipton family. (This
Mom is very thankful for her wonderful husband and children.)

We are marching right along with our progress in work. We are at
various stages in 8 different communities with projects – each one
full of their own successes and challenges. We are assessing at every
stage to learn from our experience to make each new project more
successful.

Our four older group projects are all at very different places in
their work. Murang’a will be reviewing and seeking new opportunities
for crops and group work. We hope to provide an update soon on which
way this group will move.

Mang’u has been quite successful in passion fruit production. The
export market has proven to be quite a challenge for them, but they
have used their business knowledge and have been actively pursuing new
marketing opportunities. A driver takes a Planting Faith vehicle out
each week to gather the fruit, and several farmers then proceed to
Nairobi to sell. Over the past few months, the farmers have built
relationships and markets for themselves with local “green grocers”
(fruit and vegetable markets) and learned a tremendous amount in the
process. This has been a rewarding experience as they are truly
moving themselves toward independence and sustainability.

In Ngare Ndare, the farmers have had a challenging year. The flowers
chosen for this group have proved quite difficult. As the export
market turned south, standards rose, and unfortunately left our
farmers behind, as they found it very difficult to meet export
standards. We are now in the process of working with a new crop –
butternut squash – which will hopefully be planted during the months
of June and July for a timely harvest in the market.

In Kabete, the flowers are just now maturing to a stage for group
marketing. In the next few weeks, we should see sufficient quantity
for export marketing. In addition to the export market, the farmers
have also been looking at alternative local markets. This group is
very well organized, and should serve as a model in many areas of
their group work.

Our four new projects are at various stages as well. Two groups are
growing aloe vera for local and export markets, and two are growing
sunflowers for the local market. In addition to producing the
sunflowers, these groups are purchasing an oil press in order to add
value to the seed and sell the oil in the local market. There is much
to be done in organizing all of these groups, and we look forward to
watching the progress of the next few months.

Michael and Rebecca remain very busy with activities in teaching and
mentoring the groups. In addition to the Rhodes, we have also been
blessed with two short term missionaries who have been living with us
since Easter. Sarah Crockett and Cheryl Vickery are here working with
Planting Faith and helping with marketing research in the vegetable
and flower markets in Nairobi. We look forward to seeing the results
they find. Sarah only has a few days left with us, and Cheryl will be
here for the rest of May.

Family life marches on. Basketball may have “March Madness”, but all
schools have “May Madness”. We have rugby games, 3 exams, 2 music
recitals and 1 Girl Scout awards ceremony left in the 3 short weeks of
the school year. Makes one tired to consider it all. After school is
out, our kids will once again have the fantastic opportunity to attend
summer camp here – which has been renamed “Camp Blue Sky”. When camp
is finished, we will go back to the US for a summer visit to update
our donors on our challenges and progress and work on fundraising for
the next segment of our ministry. We have all been a bit under the
weather lately, and are praying for a strong and healthy end of the
school year.

Thank you so much for keeping us in your prayers. Please continue to
pray for the farmers and for us so that we are able to discern God’s
way forward in each and every area of our work. Please pray for
Michael, Rebecca, Sarah and Cheryl as they continue with transitions
in the mission field. Also, please pray for the Tipton family as we
journey to the US and try to balance work and family.


In Christ,

Horace, Anne, Horace, Jr. & Mary Shea

April Update

April 1, 2009

 

Greetings from Kenya!

 

Sometimes when planning our time with a visiting team, we don’t really know how things will turn out.  Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting a team of short term missionaries from the UK who came to spend some time with Planting Faith to help us get one of our projects started in an area of Kenya called Wanguru.  They had an incredible beginning of their week – planting way beyond the number of plants expected.  They were planting aloe vera plants and were scheduled to begin work on a drip irrigation line at the end of the week.  But things definitely didn’t go as planned.  I was planning to send this out much earlier, but it ended up on April fool’s day.  Please don’t take it as a joke; it is a very real story. 

 

Wednesday of that week, at about 11 in the morning, their work came to a halt as they were viciously attacked by African bees.  There were 16 members of the team from the United Kingdom, two Planting Faith missionaries Michael and Rebecca Rhodes and many of the local farmers as well as some of the CCS employees out in the shamba working that morning.  Everyone has an account of what happened, but suffice it to say there were feelings of utter chaos, fear and panic.  From my perspective, getting a frantic call of disaster from out in the field is one of my worst fears.  And that is what happened as we were sitting down to lunch. 

 

Half of the team was stung badly, some of them hundreds of times.  One of the women, Roberta, is 71 years old, and the rest of the team estimates she must have been stung 1000 times.  Bob, who had previously experienced heart surgery, was stung hundreds of times as well.  Bob and Roberta collapsed in the field from the stings.  Clive, the team leader, laid over Bob to protect him, which resulted in being stung multiple times himself.  Michael, upon realizing the horror of the situation, began running back into the field and pouring water on people to get rid of bees. Michael was also stung many times.  The hired drivers of the safari vans that the team used for transport also made multiple trips back to the field to make sure people were out of the field.  It was sheer terror, and it, lasted for quite a while. 

 

Everyone was taken to the local district hospital where they were treated.  Bob and Roberta were admitted there.  Horace and I were in Nairobi, and Michael called us shortly after the attack.  We made several calls to get the kids secured, and we left to go as soon as we could.  After we arrived in Embu, and after consultation with our family doctor, we made the decision with the team to bring everyone back to Nairobi for further medical evaluation.  Finally, we arrived in Nairobi with everyone around 10 pm.  We visited Aga Khan Hospital, and Michael and 7 others saw Dr. Tesfaledet in the emergency room that night.  All were released with follow up medicines and a list of warning signs of trouble to watch for in the following days. 

 

To say that this team was protected by the Lord seems crazy after reading all of that, but you need to understand that there were so many instances all along the way of God’s protection.  First, when they were attacked, none of the team members can recall feeling any pain.  They were terrorized for sure, but they do not recall pain.  Then, when they got to the hospital, in a country where we regularly experience shortages of the most basic supplies, they were given injections of steroids, antihistamines and pain killers which probably prevented much worse reactions.  Then, half of the team did not seem to be affected by the bees – for whatever reason; there was a caregiver for each person that was stung.  I think each person out in that field has a story to tell, and I truly hope they will share their stories with anyone who will listen.  Our family doctor told us he had practiced medicine in Nyeri a few hours away from Nairobi and had seen deaths from bee stings before.  He was “surprised that no one died or was not more seriously injured from the attack or the shock afterwards”.  The team has returned to the UK, shaken, but able to return to their normal lives.  Two women have stayed in Kenya working with a children’s home and will work with us after Easter. 

 

It has made us think, reflect and pray a lot about mission teams – everything from “never again” to “what can we do differently”.  After digesting the experience, this truly seems like spiritual warfare.  This particular team represents an organization that has been part of some very productive work here in Kenya, not only with Planting Faith, but with many organizations.  That particular week, they were getting more done than anyone thought possible.  The enemy takes note of these things, and prepares for battle.  However, the Lord protected them in the distress of being attacked.  Please pray for their continued healing from the trauma and physical stress of this experience.  And please pray that what the enemy has meant for evil will be used for good in the testimonies of God’s protection of all involved. 

 

We continue on now in our work as before.  Rebecca is currently in the US as her grandfather died a few days ago.  Please pray for her and her family as they celebrate his life and gather together.  Pray for her safe travel back to Kenya. 

 

Michael and Horace are out in the field today meeting with farmers in Mang’u about the future direction of their group as they move toward sustainability.  Our other groups are plodding along.  We are most thankful for the blessing of several rains this week.  Please pray that they continue as they are sorely needed all across this country.  Our new groups are in a critical stage of planting and the rains are absolutely perfectly timed if they will continue. 

 

We pray that you are all well in these tough times.  Please keep in touch and let us know how we may pray for you.  Email us any time.  Work on the website continues to be a struggle, but I have made some small changes- check it out at www.plantingfaith.org. 

 

Blessings,

Anne Tipton

 

Merry Christmas From Kenya

December 24, 2008

 

Dear Christian Friends,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

            “There came a man who was sent from God. His name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. He himself was the light; he came only as a witness to the light. The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

            “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

            “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:1-14

We just arrived home from church this evening, as our family attended lessons and carols at All Saints’ Cathedral in Nairobi. It was an absolutely beautiful service, and the message was very clear: “In the beginning was the Word…” Yes, the incarnation of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is what it is all about. 

As Holy Scripture says, Jesus came for the world – the whole world, and this message was underscored throughout the service. Not only were there readings by Africans and Brits alike, there were carols sung in six different languages or dialects: British English, French, Latin, Kiswahili, Calypso and an African-American spiritual. It was across the board, and the point was well taken.

As we reflect on 2008, we realize it has been a tough year for Kenya. The beginning of the year was marred by political and ethnic violence. Inflation has run amuck, and an on-going food shortage has made life very difficult for most folks here. Currently, we are under-going a gasoline shortage (for what we reason we are not sure) that is hampering everyone’s ability to travel. Unfortunately, the average Kenyan isn’t aware of the economic storm that will eventually reach Kenya, as it has the rest of the world.

Yet in spite of all this, we have our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. As we sung “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” this evening, the words “tidings of comfort and joy” truly stuck with us. It is the knowledge that Jesus is indeed with us that allows us to make it through these tough times. But not only is He with us, he give us the opportunity to become his children, all of us, from no matter where on Earth we come, and for these things we are eternally grateful.

And because he is with us, he has allowed us to have a remarkably successful year. Our family is healthy and happy. The children are doing well in school. We are looking forward to our two interns Michael and Rebecca Rhodes joining us in January. Several of our projects are doing very well, and the mission work is expanding. All in all, it has been a very good year for the Tipton family, as we go forward with the knowledge that Jesus is willing to guide us every step of the way – “Glory to the newborn King!”

Therefore, we would like to leave you with this blessing this evening: Christ, who by His incarnation gathered into one all things earthly and heavenly, fill you with His joy and peace: And the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

 

Horace, Anne, Horace, Jr., and Mary Shea

 

 

 

October Newsletter

October 15, 2008

Dear Friends,

We pray that all is well with those of you who are far away from us.  The recent economic news is enough to make all of us tremble at times, but we have faith that God has a plan in all of this and that His plan will prevail.  We know that it is painful for those of us who have life savings in the stock market or a house on the market, but we are also acutely aware of the effect that a global economic slowdown is likely to have on the farmers here.  We are praying that the Lord will lead us in finding creative solutions for these farmers addressing income generation as well as food security.

Our work continues to progress.  We do experience frustrations at times.  Some of that appears to be growing pains and learning from experiences that we have here.  There is no substitute for hands on learning sometimes.                                                                          Moby Dick                                                           

In Mang’u, the farmers are harvesting passion fruit.  We have distributed scales to the farmers in sub locations to make the weighing of their harvest and record keeping more convenient for them, and we are assisting with their marketing. In Murang’a the farmers are continuing working on their passion fruit, getting them healthy, so that they can begin harvest as well.

In Ngare Ndare, we are working on getting the very best Moby Dick flowers out of the field to the buyer, as a tight market is demanding perfect quality. It seems that here is where the first effects of the economic crisis are taking hold. Our buyer told Horace that he can only sell those flowers in the Netherlands that are perfect. “The market isn’t like it was a year ago,” he said.

In Kabete, the farmers continue to grow their bird of paradise flowers.  This area seems more affected by drought than the others, and some of the farmers’ plants are showing it. Horace recently met with a man who has a 120 foot well, which he relied on for irrigation as well as household use. The well had run dry. Thankfully, the rains seem to have begun. Please pray that they continue for the next couple of months. We need it.

In Juja, our demonstration farm is progressing nicely.  Soon, we hope to have a harvest of vegetables that we will take directly to consumers.  However, it too is not without challenges: namely wild animals.  A hippo is eating the broccoli; a dik dik (very small antelope) is eating the cucumbers; and zebra are eating the sweet corn. Yes, farming in Africa has its own unique problems. On a positive note, we do hope to have real sweet potatoes (very unusual here) by Thanksgiving!

Also, in Juja we have begun a very exciting research and demonstration project with our passion fruit farmers. Partnering with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), the Kenya Horticultural Development Project (KHDP) and a private company called Real IPM (integrated pest management), we are helping to develop radically new techniques for growing passion fruit. It involves the use of drip irrigation, the laying of plastic over the seedbeds and both organic and non-organic fungicides. There are plans to publish the results when work is through, and a manual will be developed for this method of growing. We also plan to use the farm in Juja as a teaching and demonstration tool for other passion fruit farmers.

Family life is progressing well.  Both children stay very busy with all their many activities, and both had excellent report cards.  It is still soccer season for Horace, and Mary Shea has continued with basketball and swimming.   The animal members are also doing well.  Our newest family member is Zoe.  She is a boxer puppy, and she is about 8 months old.  She is very sweet, and if you know boxers, you know what we mean by her being so ugly, she is cute. 

Living in Nairobi is never without challenge, but lately we are experiencing water rationing.  We regularly go without city water on the weekends now.  We do have reserve tanks, and with a little effort (filling tanks and pumping our own water into the reserve), we are getting by.  We have all become much more careful about water consumption, and we are learning to cope with the situation.  Thankfully, we have enough water for the athletes to bathe during the week!

We are very excited to announce that we are getting two interns in January: Michael and Rebecca Rhodes, who are recent graduates from Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. Their arrival is truly an answered prayer for us. They come with the highest recommendations, as we know they are both very Godly people.

On another note, we want to thank our dear friend the Rev. Don Smith and his family for renting our house in Memphis for the last year. It was a real blessing.  Don has recently taken a call from a church in Fair Hope, Alabama, and we are thrilled for him, and we know he doesn’t mind living on the coast either. However, we are now faced with the difficult task of having an empty house. We, therefore, have decided to put it on the market, in spite of all the economic turmoil. So, if you know of anyone who is interested in a very cute, smallish (2000 sq. ft.) house in East Memphis, let us know.  If you don’t know of anyone , please pray that this house sells as quickly as possible.

Finally, please note our change of address in the U.S. Our new address is:

Planting Faith Ministries, Inc.                                                                                                               c/o Buddy Dearman                                                                                                                                                          999 Shady Grove Rd. Suite 400                                                                                                          Memphis, TN  38120

Now, may the Lord bless you and keep you, and may His face shine upon you always.

Yours in Christ,

Horace, Anne, Horace, Jr. and Mary Shea

 

 

 

 

 

September Newsletter

I recently sent this via email.  If you want to be included in our email list, let me know.  I attached a PDF file for sharing.

Blessings,

Anne

September 1, 2008

Dear Friends,
We are safely back in Kenya after our short visit to the US. It was a whirlwind trip where we had the opportunity to visit with friends and family. Unfortunately, we did not have enough time to spend with everyone or get to see everyone that we wanted to see. Horace was able to accomplish quite a lot for work and meet with several new churches and individuals to share with them our work and vision for the future of Planting Faith.
The jet lag affected us more than previous trips. We would blame it on age, but even Horace, Jr. & Mary Shea were affected this time. We all seem to be back on schedule this week though. School has begun, and the children are into a full routine of activities. Horace, Jr. will be playing Junior Varsity Soccer and Mary Shea will be involved in basketball and swimming. We keep a family calendar on the computer which went from empty to full in about 60 seconds. So much for the slower pace of Africa!
After being gone for six weeks, naturally we are a bit behind in our work, but we are catching up quickly. Horace has visited with several of the projects. In Mang’u the farmers are beginning to harvest passion fruit. We have a marketing meeting scheduled for later this week, as things seem to be progressing nicely there, and in Ngare Ndare, the farmers will be harvesting their Mobydick flowers soon. Horace will travel there tomorrow to observe their progress. In Kabete, the bird of paradise flowers are growing well. This crop was planted in late March, so they have about six months to go to reach harvest.
The Murang’a group has had an issue with fusarium – a deadly fungus for passion fruit. About 25% of the entire crop is affected. Last week we brought an agronomist out to their farms for a lesson on diseases. The solution to their problems will require intense management, including increased fertilization, pruning and soil drenching. Some of their diseased plants will be salvaged; while others will have to either be replanted or re-grafted from the original root stock. Horace has visited them several times, and things appear to be improving.
In Juja, we are in the beginning stages of starting an organic vegetable farm and market for the farmers of the Thika area. We are currently researching which crops we can grow to market locally for delivery service to Nairobi. Our plan is to develop the market and contract with local farmers to grow the produce. Ultimately, the farmers will be the owners; we will just get the wheels in motion.
Eventually we plan to move this work to a research and demonstration station that Planting Faith hopes to purchase in the near future. It is an exciting development for Planting Faith as we have long hoped to provide a demonstration station to the community. The idea is that on one side of the farm, we will conduct meaningful research which is relevant to the local farmers’ situation. After we have completed researching a particular crop or livestock, we will then move it to the demonstration side of the farm, so we can show it off to the farmers. We hope that it can be a model farm for any subsistence farmer in the region.
Please pray for all the farmers with whom we work that they will succeed in their endeavors, and pray that we can make our demonstration farm a reality as well. It is only by the grace of God that any of us shall succeed.

Yours in Christ,
Horace, Anne, Horace, Jr. and Mary Shea

Misty Monday in Nairobi

Hello All –
Just a short update to let you know that things are fine here.

We are experiencing August in Nairobi – which can be a bit dreary. Today is overcast and misty. We had some sun over the weekend which was very nice.

We are experiencing a water shortage here in Nairobi. We are having to be very careful about our water usage in our home. Stories about the exact cause of the shortage vary between a shortage of rainfall (which was not entirely evident this year) or lack of maintenance in the dam that stores the water for Nairobi. Apparently, it leaks and has not been repaired or maintained in the past few years. Water is coming from the city supply to our house at the moment, but it is running with very low pressure.

Horace is on his way down to Immigration to complete his work permit renewal today. Mine is not ready – which is typical here. The head of the household’s will the completed before the spouse. I am waiting to hear when mine will be ready.

This week, Horace will be traveling to see their progress first hand. So far, he has visited Juja and Murang’a. Murang’a farmers are dealing with a disease problem in the passion fruit. Thankfully, most of that can be treated with proper pruning. We will provide further updates later this week.

We have begun work towards the demonstration farm which will be used for researching locally marketable produce. Our goal is to start a home delivery service of organic vegetables which will be grown by local farmers. We are excited about the prospects of that new project.

All is well with us here, and we pray that all is well with you. Please continue to pray for the farmers with whom we work.

Blessings,
Anne