Promise Springs Rescue Center is located in the middle of a very rural area where farming is one of the main ways of earning a living and THE main way of feeding your family.  We began a small farm before we were able to accept girls into the center, envisioning being able to provide a part of the food for the girls and also providing jobs to some in the local community.   We tried new techniques of Farming God’s Way, but the Kenyan farm workers were not totally on board with this way of doing things.  It was not what they are accustomed to.  Through trial and error and much advice from local pastors who are also farmers, we have a cross between Farming God’s Way and farming the Kenyan way.

This past growing season we were able to provide enough tomatoes for the girls and the babies and to sell some at the market to get money which we used to buy other foods.  That was a big step. Before we had girls at the center, the farm workers would take the vegetables grown (carrots, cabbages, tomatoes and potatoes) to local vulnerable people and give them as gifts.  They prayed with these people over their health and their needs.  The farm workers were always touched by the desperate situations they encountered.

As girls and babies started arriving, we no longer have produce to give away, but our advisors felt that with the type of soil we had, the best way to provide help for the center was to let them grow a cash crop.  They would take a portion of the profit, which supplements their income and the rest of the profit is donated to Promise Springs Rescue Center.  We just harvested the first crop of onions.  The whole staff of the center pitched in to help with the harvest.  It was over 3 tons of onions.  The buying price was down because of the overproduction of onions in the area.  We may break even with this crop but the next crop should bring more with less overhead because we have established the drip system used to water the crop in the arid region that we are in. 

Everything starts with small steps and a lot of prayer!