1 Corinthians 2

 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

1Cor’s “Plant the Seed” program is based on 1^st Corinthians 3;6. Believing that we have been called to use our gifts and talents to share Gods love and ultimately it is He who accomplishes His will through us.

This idea (I know it’s not an original one) came as my wife and I sat in Church listening to the vision our leadership has for outreach. The discussion went to Burkina Faso and how we would start to make mission trips there. As our Pastor started throwing out statistics on mortality rates, malnutrition, water born disease and the economic conditions something started to stir inside of us.

Our goal, simply stated, is to reach people that need help. Knowing that 1 out of 3 kids don’t reach the age of 10 in Burkina due to water born disease and malnutrition…we thought greenhouse could be key. You see, we have 3 kids…two are over 10…statistically our 4 year old would have less than 6 years left according to the numbers in Burkina.

We have partnered with 2 organizations that are installing wells and the plan is to build greenhouses adjacent to the wells. We will have to have the structure shipped over and good soil trucked in. The “Plant the Seed” goal is not only to build greenhouse, but teach the local people how to sustain the growth cycle…a “teach ‘em how to fish” approach.  As the “construction team” is assembling the greenhouse a “teaching team” will hold a class with the greenhouse caretakers with instructions on the ins and outs of planting, watering, harvesting, composting, etc. to ensure future sustainability. We have identified the first location. It will be at a girl’s home of about 25 girls. The plan is to overbuild to not only feed the girls and staff, but give the ability to take the overage to market and create a micro economy and leave these girls with a skill set as they move out of the home.

The success of this program is aided by our partners. One key component in a successful crop is water. We have partnered with Dry Tears and wherever possible we will build a greenhouse next to a Dry Tears well. Atlas Greenhouses has also joined 1Cor. Atlas has provided assistance in greenhouse design, professional guidance and pricing.