The Growing Nations training program got under way during September 2009 with the initial focus of this work being a group of about 20 pastors.

The focus of the training is to equip the pastors and help them to be more effective in their churches. The leadership element of the course is being run by John van Tonder who is working through the Million Leaders Mandate Leadership training material.

Lack of leadership is one of the biggest downfalls in Lesotho and equipping the pastors as leaders will ultimately change the face of their churches, the LEC (Lesotho Evangelical Church) and hopefully the country.

The training teaches how to farm effectively using Farming God’s Way (Conservation Agriculture) methods and also how to then teach others what they have learnt in their churches. This is the key to creating exponential growth of the farming activities that Growing Nations are doing.

In between the monthly training courses at Maphutseng, August Basson and the Growing Nations team make an effort to visit each one of the pastors in their home parishes. This can involve long journeys but August says “The travelling is worthwhile as it enables us to mentor them, build relationships with each one, pray with them, etc. They are really encouraged by the fact that someone is taking an interest in them”. He goes on to say “The fact that they know we are coming to see them has brought a huge accountability structure into place. After their initial training, all of the pastors went home and started demo plots in their own gardens and churches. Having visited the sites we have been amazed to see the quality of their work and we are really encouraged”.

With Conservation Agriculture (CA) they are able to do all of the land preparation, planting and weeding themselves and get the full benefit of their hard work, becoming self sufficient and restoring their dignity.

August says “I witnessed the pastors gathered around a group of old women in the village who planted their field using CA. They helped to spray weeds and prayed with these women. What a testimony this is becoming, life and faith coming together. The women’s crops look fantastic and they have plans to plant a bigger area next year, reinvesting some of the profit they will make”.

We look forward to reporting back on how many take on board CA come next planting season.

They have also had the opportunity to learn about how Conservation Agriculture can be used on a commercial basis with visits to various farms across the border in South Africa.