Community Hub

Posted on April 17, 2008
Filed Under environment, home education | 6 Comments

We went on a home ed visit this week to a self sufficient holding in a village nearby. It was a really wonderful and eye opening visit. Learning about how they live on the land they have, producing their own energy, food, water (via rain!) and all of the bureaucratic tape they have had to get through was fascinating.

They are totally off the water system and recycle all of the water waste they produce, through an enlightening system of filters, reeds, ponds and willows. They even have a composting toilet! Their energy is produced via wind turbine and solar power, which produces enough for them to be able to sell some back to the national power grid.

The community element they are building up was like music to our ears. A few years ago they began to make weekly vegetable boxes up for people to buy. These are only open to people within two miles of their farm, as they want to serve the local community. They have never advertised these boxes, word has just spread around the area. People collect the boxes on a Friday, and a little community forms, with children running around the farm to see what is growing, and adults conversing - if only for a while.

Over time little connections have built up for the family, for example, locally they will help out a friend they know in exchange for wood, another contact exchanges work for horse manure! Like wise, these same people will help out the owners of the holding we went to in exchange for vegetables, straw, chickens or eggs. They met their best friends through helping to rebuild a bridge!

The owners vision was that more holdings like his would spring up in communities across the country, thus benefiting the communities they are in and becoming part of a community hub.

I’m not sure if they owners are Christian, but what they are doing in the area around them is so kingdom. It was a real encouragement to us.

community hub, environment, home ed, local community

Jesus Image

Posted on April 15, 2008
Filed Under Images | Leave a Comment

This is an interesting article that I saw on CNN today. Apparently an image of Jesus crying appeared on a window at a Florida hospital. The unexplained image remained there for a few hours and then disappeared. It was a window right by their prayer garden.

cnn, image of jesus

Zimbabwe

Posted on April 11, 2008
Filed Under Prayer, current affairs | 2 Comments

Tensions continue to run high in Zimbabwe following the election almost two weeks ago. A few days ago farms started to get raided once again. I belong to an online group and someone living on a farm in Zimbabwe wrote asking for prayer this morning:

“hi, well today was our day and time for trouble, I was honestly thinking
that we wouldn’t be hit by all the trouble, but at One this afternoon about
20 “men” pitched up telling us our time was up and we had to pack our bags
and leave immediately . We called the police - took them till three o clock
to come out on a quad bike …………. they were quite a vocal bunch and
we didn’t unlock gate no matter how they told us we had to in order to
negotiate .
I locked my self in the house with the kids, and my mother in law came over
once or twice to see if everything was OK our end of the garden .
Today of all days, we are the ONLY farm without power - makes you wonder,
The power went off at 7am and then we have trouble at 1pm
…………………. definitely planned I think
Well so far we are OK.

Please keep us in your prayers during this time …”

Please remember Zimbabwe in your prayers. In particular pray that there is a good outcome from these elections - once the result is finally known. It would be so wonderful to see this precious country turned around from the ruin it is currently in. Also pray for the regional summit, held tomorrow, which Zambia has called to discuss Zimbabwe. Unfortunately it looks like Mugabe won’t be attending.

prayer, zimbabwe