Three of us from ECHO will be leaving next Friday, Nov. 4th for East Africa.
The first stop will be Arusha, Tanzania where we will meet with key people and discuss plans for opening an ECHO East Africa Impact Center.
Two of us will proceed to Kigali, Rwanda to consult with Akilah Institute for Women on plans for an agricultural component on their new campus.
From there I will continue on to Kenya and join our son James in a visit to Turkana. James and I will then attend the 25th anniversary celebration of the Africa Inland Church Cheptebo Rural Development Project on Sunday, November 20th.
And of course I will squeeze in some birding along the way!
My intentions are to send a report from each of these countries — you can check up on me 🙂
Author: Bob
Tropical Agronomist
August News
August 2011
Dear family and friends,
Late summer greetings from Florida. Thank you very much for your friendship, encouragement and support over these past 26 years. We ask you to join us in praying that the years of ministry ahead of us will be our most effective yet! Ellen and I continue to stay busy with ministry and travel.
My usual week at ECHO includes answering e-mails from our network around the world, consulting with visitors and interacting with our interns. I also teach one or two sessions in the one-week courses that are conducted here. You can read all about those at http://echonet.org/content/coursesAndWorkshops
Some of the questions that come in are specific about crop selection, gardening in the tropics or pests and diseases while other questions are more broad. Sometimes people need advice about how to “do” agricultural and community development with their local community. I also help connect people. For example one contact recently asked us about the growing seasons in Zambia and I was able to forward his question to one of our intern alumni now serving there who was able to give him a first hand report.
Speaking of interns, in the last year or so the young people who have completed our internship are now serving in Burma, Thailand, Panama, South Africa, Haiti and as I mentioned Zambia. It is a great privilege to be involved with these incredible people as they prepare for service.
And just recently an opportunity has come up to consult on a project in Rwanda and visit our potential ECHO Regional Impact Center site in Tanzania. That trip is planned for early November.
Ellen reports
The Lord has given me the privilege of ministering here in the US to missionary families preparing for Africa as well as on site once they are serving on that continent. Every year I attend 5 Candidate Weeks for new missionaries at Africa Inland Mission’s US Headquarters. Beginning in October, these will be held at our new headquarters in Peachtree City, GA. This is a time when I begin building a relationship with our families and their children, and assist them in planning to raise and educate their kids in Africa.
One of the main reasons Christian workers leave the field is because of family issues. In my work, I am part of a team that helps our families not just survive, but thrive!Many of you remember the homeschool weeks that I organized and ran when we lived in Kenya. I am now part of a team who travels internationally conducting weeks like this. During these times we have workshops for the parents, as well as an educational program and academic testing for the kids. In the past year, I have been able to help with a multi-mission conference in Mozambique as well as several AIM events in Kenya. In 2012, I have opportunities to minister in Niger, Kenya and Chad.
As you may guess, all of this travel costs money. It has been exciting to see the miraculous ways that God has met these needs. If you are interested in helping with the cost of these trips on either a regular or one time basis, please contribute as outlined below with a note that this is for “Hargrave – Homeschool Position”. Many thanks in advance!
Change of address for Africa Inland Mission’s US headquarters
As mentioned we are in the process of moving the US AIM headquarters from Pearl River, NY to Peachtree City, Georgia. Peachtree City is in the greater Atlanta area southeast of the airport.If you are supporting us financially by mailing in checks, please send support gifts and other related items to the address below:
Africa Inland Mission, Attn: Receipting
P.O. Box 3611
Peachtree City, GA 30269-7611
For online giving go to AIM’s main giving page on the web at www.aimint.org/usa/give
We appreciate you very much.
Sincerely yours,
Bob and Ellen Hargrave
Caloosahatchee Creeks Preserve
One thing I do for fun, relaxation and a little bit of exercise is to count birds once or twice a month in Caloosahatchee Creeks which is a Lee County Preserve near ECHO. This preserve is undergoing restoration from previous use as agricultural land and invasion by exotic plants, mainly Brazilian Pepper (Schinus terebinthifolius). More information about CCP is available online at the Lee County Conservation 20/20 site.
Today I walked around a portion of the preserve and counted 28 different species of birds in a little over 2 hours. That’s not great by birder’s standards but pretty decent for a June morning.
Some of the summer wildflowers are in bloom now which added to the overall enjoyment of the hike.
Here are a few more pictures:
Homeschool Week Kenya 2011
The children of missionaries—our treasure! My ministry in these past years since we left living in Kenya full time has been the children of our workers in Africa. Those sharing the Gospel are living in remote areas of the bush with unreached people groups. Others are in teeming cities. Some are working at schools for the children of missionaries.
Blazing hot, damp and chilly, desert thorns, lush hillsides and mountains, humid beachfront property… Resistant people groups, believers who want to continually learn more and more. Children who learn academics easily—those who struggle with paper and pencil… Americans, Koreans, Brazilians and Brits… Preschoolers and those deciding what their next step after Secondary School will be…
Coming alongside our families to encourage, support, teach and love… in Africa and in America… Skype, e-mail and sitting down together to chat… This is how I spend my days! What a privilege.
This past week, I have had the privilege of being in Kijabe, Kenya at Rift Valley Academy with more than 40 or our school aged children. I was joined by our team of educational consultants and some of the staff of RVA.
During this week, the children had their own academic program as well as joining the elementary school of RVA for classes. Standardized testing, as well as in depth individualized educational assessments were available. Reading methods, math games, transitions and organization were some of the topics covered in workshops for the parents.
Pray for our families… Many are working in difficult and isolated circumstances—educational choices available might not be in their mother tongue, children may have learning challenges—mothers feel isolated in alone.
Praise God for weeks like this when families can spend time together and encourage each other. Pray for me as I attempt to help our families to reach the people to whom God has called them…
God Bless! Ellen