Johrei News 7 by Gilmar Dall Stella

Teaching Actuality Directive Experiences of Faith Lifestyle Step by step

Johrei News WORLDWIDE MESSIANIC CHURCH – AFRICAN CENTRAL HEADQUARTERS

Year 3 – February 2010 – #7

IMMA’s president gives orientation about the practice of small altruistic deeds. Pgs. 4 e 5

A woman “fights” a troublesome neighborhood with love and faith. Pg. 5

Incentive to culture and arts at the Central Headquarters (picture on the side) and also to public health, at an Angolan institution. Pg. 3

Go to www.johreiafrica.com and get to know the messianic lifestyle. Pg. 3

HOMEGROWN VEGETABLE GARDEN The purpose is to enable people to implement a Homegrown Vegetable Garden, a Community Natural Garden and promote food self-sufficiency through sustainable systems. To achieve health and adequate nourishment, to respect the soil, nature and the perpetuation of mankind: that’s what led thousands of Africans to develop Natural Gardens at their homes. Presently, over 20 thousand Natural Gardens add up in the continent and also many experiences.

Pgs. 6 e 7

Whoever wishes to adopt this healthy habit will find a practical and easy guide to develop a Natural Garden at home.

Pg. 8

Hygienic and pleasant Natural Agriculture in homegrown vegetable gardens (...) in the case of homegrown vegetable gardens done by amateurs, the good news of Natural Agriculture is like a light coming from darkness. Manure was mostly used in them, whose handling is unbearable under some circumstances, including the olfactory. By adopting a fertilizer-less cultivation, such suffering disappears and the labor, being hygienic, becomes pleasant. Besides that, the results are quite better and there is less work, thus eliminating two problems with a single strike. I will list the method’s advantages. Through the use of natural composts, the discomfort caused by the use of manure is avoided and there is less work. The greens obtained are of the best quality and their flavor can’t even be compared to that of greens treated with fertilizers. The volume and quantity of the produce are bigger. The appearance of pests is reduced to a small fraction of that when fertilizers are used, therefore, there is no need for pesticides. The problem of plagues and larvae transmission is inexistent. Many other advantages can be mentioned; I only listed the main ones.

editorial

Teaching

I will now explain the principle and the utilization of natural composts. Natural Agriculture uses natural composts of two kinds: grass based and tree leaves based. The first is to be ministered to the soil and the second is indicated to make a bed under the soil. The difference between traditional agriculture and ours is that ours considers the soil as a deeply mysterious matter created by God for the development of vegetable food. Therefore, to activate the soil’s force to its maximum means to achieve the original goal for which it was created. Unaware of this principle, ancient people, since unknown times and based on a wrong interpretations, began using fertilizers, a practice whose result is the decrease in productivity and the death of the soil. When trying to cover for this weakening, fertilizers in ever increasing amounts are used, which leads to the plants’ intoxication. It is said that the Japanese soil became poorer and this can be attributed to fertilizers; modern chemical fertilizers, mainly, accelerate the process of soil impoverishment. A good proof of that is that there is a temporary improvement when virgin soil from other places are added to it due to the fall in production. The farmers’ interpretation is that production decreased because the long years of cultivation depleted the soil’s nutrients. They think, therefore, that the virgin soil will be able to supply the nutrients. That’s a serious mistake because, in truth, the soil lost its strength due to the use of fertilizers. It partially recovers due to the addition of soil devoid of fertilizers.

Another practice that is revolutionizing many people’s lives is the development of Homegrown Vegetable Gardens. Through creativity, intelligence and disposition, African messianics are knocking myths and hurdles down, “building” their vegetable gardens in their gardens, backyards, small flowerbeds and, amazingly, even in wheelbarrows. Hurdles do not intimidate them. If digging a space outside their homes isn’t possible, they choose a few inches on objects they recycle for such purpose. As a result: they achieve health, pure food and a more flavorful life. It must be because of that that the African continent is already housing more than twenty thousand Homegrown Vegetable Gardens... In case you wish to add another one to the existing ones, read the step-by-step in our last page. It’s quite simple to do.

Meishu-Sama – March 30, 1949

Johrei News is produced by the Worldwide Messianic Church in Africa – Rua da Escola 28 de Agosto – Futungo 2 – Kawelele – Luanda – Angola – P.O.BOX 1310 REGISTER: MCS – 390/B/2004 President: Rev. Francisco Jésus Fernandes

Johrei News

Vice President: Min. Claudio Cristiano L. Pinheiro President’s Chief of Staff: Min. Glauro M. S. Leite Filho Communications Department: Min. Gilmar Dall’Stella

Good luck and until our next issue.

IMMA

The cleaner the soil, the greater its vitality. Therefore, the use of impurities such as manure brings adverse results. Because this fact is unknown, the work has been, not only fruitless but also counterproductive. Americans don’t eat greens produced in Japan because they are afraid they contain parasites. In the case of Natural Agriculture, this concern disappears. It really is a fabulous revolution of agriculture, constituting great news directed to our brothers.

hey seem small but they are not. They appear to be easy but they are a great challenge. The practice of small altruistic deeds has a depth that logic is incapable to explain. After all, to change egotistical habits solidified through many generations through Practices of Altruistic Love is not for anyone. Also, it’s not enough to wish to change, counting only on your own strength. A lot more is needed to be able to extrapolate the limits of what’s possible and interact with destiny. This “a lot more” is just the subject of Rev. Francisco Jésus Fernandes’ interview, president of IMMA, the Worldwide Messianic Church in Africa. He clearly broaches the singularity of this practice that is revolutionizing the lives of thousands of messianic around the world. Objectively, he teaches from how to detect what has to be done, up to how to conquer the merit to act on it, achieving effectively positive results. Besides that, he tells about his experience in the realization of this directive. To further emphasize this orientation, we printed Julieta Pinto’s experience of faith. Through the small practices of altruistic love – street cleaning and flower distribution – she understood her mission and managed to act on it, conquering a life of peace and safety in a known violent neighborhood.

On the other hand, natural composts have the double purpose of preventing the soil’s hardening and also of warming it up. The fundamental thing to activate the plants’ growth is to promote their roots’ development and the first step in this direction consists in preventing the soil to harden; thence the need to thoroughly mix the natural compost to it. In order to encourage the growth of the roots’ “hairs”, grass based natural compost must be used because its fibers are tender and won’t hinder the growth. Tree leaves fibers, however, are harder and because of that it’s not convenient to mix them with the soil. It’s better to use them to build a bed below the soil in order to warm it up. The ideal would be a layer of about a foot of soil mixed with grass based compost and, below it, a bed with the same thickness based on tree leaves. In the case of greens, soy and so on, the above process is convenient, but when dealing with turnips, carrots and the likes, the layers must be calculated adequately, build mounds of soil and plant them there so that their roots receive enough sun. This way the growth will be excellent. If, for example, sweet potato is planted in mounds of more or less two feet and the plantlets are disposed a foot apart, giant potatoes will be harvested. Frequently we hear said that the best is to dispose the soil mounds in a North-South or East-West sense, so that the plants can receive enough solar energy. For that, however, it is enough to dispose them according to local conditions, taking into consideration the wind’s direction. When those are too strong, the stems break; therefore, it’s necessary to plant trees around them or to build fences so that the wind’s action is lessened.

ANGOLA – PHONE.: 244 222 00 9385 244 222 00 9416 MOÇAMBIQUE – PHONE.: 00258 21 300-275 REP. DEM. OF CONGO – PHONE.: 243 315 102 187 SÃO TOMÉ E PRINCIPE – PHONE.: 00239 227805 SOUTH AFRICA – PHONE: 27 12 320 5484

Operational Management: João José Tavares

Distribution: IMMA

Editor-in- Chief: José Armando Estrela Technical Editing: Ana Cristina Stabelito Photography: José Armando Estrela, Manuel Armando Guerra Lopes, João Mavinga Collaborators: Avelino da Costa, João Mavinga, Raquel de Oliveira Fernandes Revision: Ana Florência, António Panguila English translation: Samuel Elyachar French translation: Solange Strobel

Printers: Eal Printing: 1,500 issues, every three months

Email: ascom@johreiafrica.com

Actuality

African Central Headquarters welcomes

1st IMMA’s Culture and Arts Festival Department, Min. João José da Cruz was in charge of the closing act. During both ministers presentations, it was unanimous the reflection of considering the Culture and Arts Festival as an activity that corresponds to the Divine Plan and to Meishu-Sama’s will, who consecrated Arts and Beauty as one of the Pillars for the Salvation of Humanity, in its widest sense. “Paradise is the World of Beauty”, was the theme that, on December 20, 2009, the 1st Messianic Culture and Arts Festival welcomed at the Central Headquarters in Africa and counted on the participation of five choir groups, two singers, four poetry declaimers, three groups of juvenile dancers (Hip-Hop and Kuduro styles), totaling 25 children and six young adults and a young theatrical group from the Rocha Pinto Johrei Center. The festival took place under the program allusive to Meishu-Sama’s Birthday, the Worldwide Messianic Church’s founder, who was born on December 23, 1882. The opening session was presided by IMMA’s AssistantMinister Ernestina Olinda Prazeres Coimbra Junior, director of IMMA’s Scientific Research Department (Africa) and IMMA’s director of the Information Technology

Cultural portraits of Baixa do Cassanji Deep rooted cultural portraits of the Angolan region known as Baixa do Cassanji, at the Malanje province, highlighted the festival when some restricted masks and traditional clothing, of intense national cultural recognition, were shown. Besides the cultural group ‘4 de Janeiro’ (January 4th) from the Kalimba Kiaxi district, that represented cultural portraits of the Baixa do Cassanji region, among which, those related to nature, to East Angola region’s habits and costumes and the charming mimic and danced presentation of the differences between today’s and yesterday’s youth education, the festival was also marked by young musician Chimuna’s show, who sang the Festival’s anthem in a Hip-Hop style

www.johreiafrica.com

Institutional – The site has an institutional area where it is possible to know more about the Worldwide Messianic Church’s purposes, its founder, the 4th Spiritual Leader’s orientations, the foundation for his philosophy and his doctrine, as well as the practices of Johrei, of Natural Agriculture and of Beauty. Search for Units – It is possible to find the Church’s addresses in Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé e Príncipe, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.

The Worldwide Messianic Church in Africa’s website was launched with the purpose of relaying the institution’s information to its internal public – ministers, members, missionaries and visitors – and to external public and private organizations, media, religious institutions and others.

Updated information – Periodically the user can access news, know about the activities promoted by the Church and their dates, read and watch videos of experiences of faith and others, be informed about the publishing of books, read the issues of the Johrei News newspaper, and seek for inspiration in his/her daily routine at the column “your day-to-day wisdom”. Versions – The site was launched in three versions: Portuguese, English and French. Besides those, we are getting organized to offer the contents in local dialects and other languages.

and by the clown Sebas, who staged Salvation’s Philosophy.

The organizers plan for a festival encompassing other Churches In an interview, Min. Francisco Xavier Hatewa, from the Worldwide Messianic Church in Africa, stated that the festival organizers are working towards making the next events embracing to other cultural and religious institutions, because, as he understands it, this first one was an antechamber for the next ones. Min. Hatewa, who headed the organization, thanked everyone who made the festival a reality: “I hope that in the next years the preparation period can be of, at least, two or three months and that this period is preceded by small culture and arts festivals, so that the larger festivals can have their quality improved”. According to him, the African Central Headquarters remains prepared to host top characters from several cultural initiatives.

Training of Community Monitors

Public Health The first seminary for the “Training of Community Public Health Monitors”, at Luanda´s Intermediate Health Institute, in Angola took place on November 9, 10 and 12, 2009. At the seminary, organized by the Scientific Research Department of the Worldwide Messianic Church in Africa, headed by the Assistant Minister Ernestina Olinda Prazeres Coimbra, lectured renowned doctors and specialists in public health from the Provincial Directorate of Health and from some hospital units in Luanda, who during three days conveyed to the participants, subjects related to the main endemics, namely: malaria, acute diarrhea illnesses, sexually transmitted diseases, emphasizing HIV and AIDS and about preventative measures , particularly, hygiene and cleanliness. Were participants at the seminary, people dedicating in the Scientific Research Division at the Central Headquarters of Africa and from some religious units of the Worldwide Messianic Church in Luanda, numbering approximately 40 health professionals.

Directive

Altruistic love:

foundation for building a paradisiacal home The 49th Salvation Network Congress was performed at the Central Headquarters in Luanda, with the presence of the Worldwide Church in Africa’s President, Rev. Francisco Jésus Fernandes, who lectured to about 7,500 people among ministers, members and visitors. He broached several issues that were further looked into in this interview. Photo: Marcus Melgar

JN: Why does disharmony dwell at the homes of so many families these days?

Rev. Francisco: We are very worried about the homes’ situation. That’s in a worldwide scope, because many are deteriorating and families are getting lost. In truth, we have a freedom of choice: if we cultivate love and gratitude within our homes, happiness will certainly emerge and they will become paradisiacal. On the other hand, if we cultivate selfishness and attachment, we will constantly live in disharmony. Every person, independently of religion, color or any other characteristic, has within a seed of Paradise. Being so, it doesn’t matter if he/she is white, black, yellow, rich poor, young, old, illiterate or intellectual. However, not knowing this truth, these seeds, which should naturally bloom and become splendorous paradisiacal trees, (harmonious families), are becoming trees full of illnesses, conflicts, poverty and hunger. Our mission is to help people (seeds of Paradise) to bloom and to become paradisiacal trees, that is, healthy trees, beautiful, harmonious, with strong roots (ancestors) and in condition to produce good fruits (descendants). The only way for this transformation to happen is the practice of Altruistic Love. Meishu-Sama orients that “those who want to be happy, must first make those around them happy because the Divine reward that will come from this is true happiness”. To become an altruistic person, however, isn’t an easy task. Each person has his/her time, challenges and mainly difficulties to change certain habits. Even so, everyone can achieve it. After all, that’s what we are finding through countless experiences of faith that happen daily in our Church. JN: How does the Messianic Church manage to develop Altruistic Love in people?

Rev. Francisco: It’s not an easy task and each person has his/ her own time, but everyone can start by the PRACTICE OF SMALL ALTRUISTIC DEEDS. I, myself, began this practice at home. I usually leave home at 7AM and return at 22PM. Beside that, as President of the Church in Africa, Vice President and National Director for the Church’s Expansion in Brazil, President of the Youth Commission in Brazil, Director of the CEDIN for Latin America’s diffusion, and Church’s Counselor in the United States, I must travel a lot. Then I thought: “how will I be able to do small altruistic deeds at home? If I don’t practice, how am I going to orient people to do something I am unable to do myself? I confess that in face of such situation I had to ask the Supreme God, the Messiah Meishu-Sama and my ancestors for help. After all, it isn’t easy to change habits. I

noticed that throughout the years I had been doing small selfish deeds, mainly at home. After a Deep Reflection, I detected that flaw in me. Then I thought: “I must change”. Since we are trained to do small selfish deeds and be totally unaware of this behavior, it’s necessary to follow what Jesus said: “Pray and be watchful”, otherwise we go back to practicing selfish deeds. I made a determination and prayed: “Messiah Meishu-Sama, please use me in these small altruistic deeds I intend to do at home”.

bathroom and she always would wake up together because she has a light sleep. Besides, whenever I got out of bed, it was like a soccer player: the whole house would rise with me. I thought: “I will have to train myself to change that habit. It won’t be easy, but I’ll do as Jesus taught: “”Pray and be watchful”.

JN: What kind of small altruistic deeds you noticed you could practice at home?

Rev. Francisco: Every day, when the alarm clock sounded, my wife would get up, prepare the breakfast table, I would shower and in the meantime she would straighten the bed. When we went to South Africa I used to do the bed. One day, she commented that I did the bed in South Africa but not in Brazil. I detected that that would make her happy and decided to begin straightening the bed. The first day I did that, she came back to the bedroom, saw the bed done and said nothing. I believe she must have thought: “I want to see if he will continue doing it”. Next day I did the same. The third day, again. Then, as we sat for breakfast, she asked: “Why are you doing this?” As a daughter of German parents, she always wants to know the reason for everything; she wanted to know why I was straightening the bed. I explained it with another question: “How can I morally tell other people to practice altruistic deeds at home if I don’t do it, if I’m not an example? As I said it, I saw tears running from her eyes. She held my hand and said: “Thank you very much, you are helping me a lot”. I noticed that a small deed touched her heart. Encouraged, I asked: “What else can I do to make you happy?” Usually I wake up during the night to go to the

Directors were moved by the orientation about the Practice of Altruistic Love

I knew that if I weren’t determinate, I would go back to practicing these small selfish deeds. However, I decided and prayed: “Messiah Meishu-Sama, please use me in this small altruistic deed because I can’t wake my wife up, she needs her sleep”. I managed it: I woke up late at night, went to the bathroom and she didn’t wake up. The second and third days, the same. Then, she wanted to know: “Aren’t you going to the bathroom during the night anymore?” When I told her that I was still doing it she couldn’t stand it and asked how I managed to do it noiselessly. “Simple, ninja training to make you happy”, I said. I noticed that five minutes of altruistic deeds are worthier than physically staying home the whole day, but to be spiritually absent, unconcerned with the happiness of your family. JN: Why do people find it so difficult to change their selfish habits and begin to practice altruism?

Benguela province caravan participants attended the 49th Salvation Network Congress

Rev. Francisco: Besides having a Divine nature, the Divine Essence, the seed of Paradise arising from the Supreme God, we also have a human nature that binds us to our ancestors. After all, we received from them the genetics, our physical body, which has already been proven by science. However, it isn’t just that. We also receive from them their thoughts and feelings, such as: prejudices, ingratitude, sorrows, distress, worries, hatred, resentments, envy, revenge, jealousy, fears, impositions from your own

Experience of Faith

will, shame, guilt, omissions, betrayals, stubbornness, precipitation, anxieties, humiliations, insensitivities, lack of confidence, disbelief, judgments, presumptions, vanity, disunity, hopelessness, sadness, disloyalty, revolt, an attitude of not listening with your heart to people who suffer, feeling like garbage, being disrespected, wanting to justify everything, to show yourself as a know-it-all, to hide weaknesses and flaws, attachment to your own viewpoint, doing witchcraft to others, being unforgiving, persecuting, hiding your true feelings, insincerity, fooling people, speaking evil of others, not reflecting about your own mistakes and many others. In truth, we are imprisoned, together with our ancestors, to these thoughts, feelings and habits that reveal our own present life. That’s why we have to know the issues we have to change. We have to face the true situation of our hearts, to know at which level it stands. Each person must analyze his/ her own interior, do a deep reflection. This practice allows us to see our ancestors’ situation, as well as our lives’ true situation. JN: How can we know what has to be changed?

Rev. Francisco: By listening to the ancestors’ voice through the family members and through the people around us. Ask people around you. Ask your wife, your husband, your children, your parents, your boss, your subordinates... They will certainly tell you. It’s necessary to have the courage for that. The people around us are the ones who know what we must change. Some people look at me and think I am a paradisiacal being. After all, being a Reverend of the Messianic Church, creates an illusion. When people begin to live close to me, they begin to see my flaws. That’s why the people who really know me are the people who live close to me. That’s why I began to ask them, first of all, what I needed to change. We must understand that the problem isn’t in the seed. The seed is pure; it is God’s essence. We all have it. We all have the seed of happiness within. The problem is in the soil where this seed was planted. For example: if we put a pure seed in the desert, will it sprout? What if we plant a pure avocado seed on soil full of weeds? Won’t it compromise the avocado tree? That’s why we have to clean the soil. Clean our body, our spirit and our hearts. That same pure seed has been given to each one of us. Now, if the soil hasn’t been well taken care of, that’s our responsibility. God has already done His part. Now is the time for Man to do his part. That’s why Johrei, Natural Agriculture and Food, Beauty and the Practice of Sonen exist. These practices purify the body and the spirit and allow the seed of Paradise to bloom and become a paradisiacal tree. It’s not enough to think that just by being religious people we will change our home. Much less force a situation so that our family members adopt our religion. This way we will be practicing small deeds of selfishness and attachment, which will only generate more conflicts and disharmony. Therefore, we must start the Practice of Small Altruistic Deeds with the people closer to us, the ones who live with us – those with whom we get along as well as those with whom we find difficult to live with. Our mission is to sow love and gratitude and we can begin through the Practice of Small Altruistic Deeds. Then we will be able to feel within ourselves the happiness from the Supreme God, from the Messiah Meishu-Sama and from our ancestors. Besides, this way, we will be acting as true children of God.

A missionary replaces fear and insecurity by altruistic love I came to know the Worldwide Messianic Church in Angola on September 20, 2007, through my sister who is a member of this Church. At the time I was going through illness and financial difficulties. As I came to the Church, the member on duty oriented me to do the following basic practices of the messianic faith: receive 10 Johrei a day, keep the Flower-of-Light at home and to participate in the cleaning of the nave. As I received Johrei, my difficulties were overcome and later I became a member. After moving to my present home at the Cassequel district, I found out that there was much trouble, such as armed robberies, a fact that led my neighbors to advise me: “Neighbor, you must be very careful because of the gangsters here at the district” As I became aware of the true situation, I regretted having bought the house in that district, but then I thought: “If I ended up in this district it’s because Meishu-Sama allowed me to fulfill my mission here.” I began to clean the district, following with a distribution of flowers and the Practice of the Sonen of Altruism, to lead all the ancestors bound to those practices. A week later my son went out for purchases. As he came back carrying many articles, he asked for help from some young men from the district, one of them was a gang member. The night of that same day, the gang gathered and jumped over my house wall to steal the products that were at the backyard. Next morning we were surprised with what had happened. However, as we checked the products, we found that everything was correct and nothing was missing. The only things they took were a spoiled bag of cement, a solidified can of paint and a garbage bag. Three days later, talking to some friends, my son learned that the people involved in that act were

Julieta Pinto, 48 years old, lives at the Cassequel district and dedicates as the Catambor Johrei Center’s Moon Group assistant, in Luanda, Angola.

the same who helped him carry the purchases. One of them dared to come to my house and demand explanations: “Lady, I came to know if you do treatments, pray or if you do magic?” When I told him that I was a faithful of the Worldwide Messianic Church, he became excited and asked me to take him there. I did so. I must emphasize that he was registered together with one of his sisters and led all his friends and still comes to the Church till today. His mother was happy to see the change in her son and began to come to the Church, having led ten other people. He and his sister are candidates to become members at the next awarding. Besides that, this young man has already done a pilgrimage to the future site of the Sacred Grounds in Africa, in Cacuaco and when he returned home he invited his friends to come to my home and told them the wonders he saw at the Sacred Grounds. After he began to dedicate, significant changes happened in his life and in his family’s, which began to live in harmony. He, who was jobless, got a job, as well as his two sisters. Today, he and his friends, before going to work, first go to the Johrei Nucleus to pray and to offer gratitude donations. Through this experience I learned that MeishuSama acts through us even in the small deeds of altruistic love. I understood that the Practice of Sonen and the distribution of flowers open the way to the fulfillment of our mission. In retribution for this and other blessings, a desire to open a Johrei Nucleus at home emerged in me, so that I can save other people. I have a Homegrown Vegetable Garden, I offer regularly and correctly donations and I take care of four homes with a total of ten visitors. By God and the Messiah Meishu-Sama’s permission, I’ve led 243 people, of which sixty are members. I thank God, the Messiah Meishu-Sama and my Ancestors for the permission to join this path of salvation.

Messianic Practices

. channel and receive Johrei . do the Deep Reflection . do the Practice of Sonen . keep the Flower of Light at home . grow a Natural Garden at home . practice Meishu-Sama´s Teachings . offer gratitude and building funds donation

Lifestyle “As we have said, if the three basic elements – Fire (oxygen), Water (hydrogen) and Soil (nitrogen) are the driving forces for developing agricultural products, it will suffice that they are planted on pure earth, exposed to the soil and fed enough water to achieve a great success, never seen to these days. It’s not known since when, but man made a huge mistake when he used fertilizers, because he completely ignored the soil’s nature”. Meishu-Sama South

africa

Homegrown Vegetable Gardens

A contribution to food safety The messianic in Africa are aware of the importance of natural products’ consumption and their positive effect in human health, generating a strong endeavor in their production in agricultural properties, where a great quantity and variety of food is obtained, as Angola

well as, through a simple way, the Homegrown Vegetable Garden, which can be implemented on small spaces in a backyard, in planting pots or in any recipient found in a home. Most of the Messianic Church believers joined this latter way of production as also did those who sympathize with the messianic philosophy who, after receiving classes on how to implement a Natural Garden, produce food, not only at their homes, but also teach this method to their friends and neighbors. At present, there are over

Mozambique

20 thousand natural gardens throughout Angola, Mozambique, São Tomé e Príncipe, Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. Johrei News went to some provinces in Angola’s interior and reported the Natural Garden work that is being done by the Messianic Church believers and the experience that many of those

The Natural Garden bike riders At the Huambo province, several believers started and kept Natural Gardens at their homes; we highlight the story of a brother who, living in a rented house couldn’t get permission from his landlord to start a vegetable plot in his backyard, got hold of two wheelbarrows, filled them with soil and planted lettuce, onion, parsley and collard greens. Another highlighted story was the hiring of several bike riders to circulate through many of Huambo’s arteries, transporting those devoted to the Natural Gardens. Surprised, people would ask where so many bike riders, loaded with flowers, lettuce and collard green and plantlets, could be going to.

are having with the consumption of natural products. One of them is Mr. Neves Boa Pendy’s who, through the dedication of Natural Gardens at home and at his neighbors’ homes, managed to understand that, in order to be happy, it’s necessary to make your peers happy. He also understood that when he stopped judging and abusing his children, they stopped being rebellious and practicing harmful acts. In turn, Mrs. Luisa Afonso received at home a young couple whose wife suffered with constant and strong abdominal pains. As she fed the patient collard green’s juice harvested from her backyard, Príncipe omé e São T

she healed immediately and today she is in good health (report at the end of pg. 7).

A thousand arms collard green Back at the Uije province, brother Simão de Jesus Kianvu, a Young Charge at the Uije Johrei Center, in that province, has been cultivating at his Natural Garden corn, papaya, gimboa, yucca, banana, flowers and collard greens for the last two years. The brothers at that province call them ‘a thousand arms collard greens’.

A “Homegrown Plantation” Sister Belita João dos Santos, in turn, made her Natural Garden in front of her home. The neighbors, following her example, also made their vegetable gardens in the spaces they owned and, as a result, these gardens are so extensive that people call them a “Homegrown Plantation”.

The miraculous watermelon Our report about Natural Gardens continues at the province of North Kwanza and, as we arrived at the Lucala Johrei Nucleus, we found the person in charge of liturgy, sister Inês Magalhães, purifying with strong back pains. She had slipped at the bathroom and had serious difficulties trying to do any movement and had spent the last two days laying down or seating. We needed to photograph someone at the Natural Garden and she indicated her daughter for that. As we finished taking pictures, she bent down to reach for a watermelon that was ripe. We were quite surprised because of her health problem! Next day she called us to know how was our trip back and informed us that that morning she was doing very well, she had cleaned the Church and had fulfilled her workload.

Domingos Sebastião Álvaro, director of an Intermediate Polytechnic Institute, tilled a garden at his institution with the purpose of making his subordinates and students aware of the necessity of producing natural food and their healthy effects upon the human body. The practical effect didn’t wait to happen because, in order to prepare their meals, the watchmen in his institution, since long, stopped buying collard greens and tomatoes at the market.

Brazilian citizens enchanted with the garden at the IMPS The concept of workplace garden has already produced positive results. Indeed, a group of Brazilian citizens working in Angola for the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Milene Fárias and Cátia Santos, as well as Mr. Flávio Santos, when visiting the Workplace Garden at the Intermediate Polytechnic Institute of Sambizanga – IMPS, were so enchanted with the products’ quality and by the initiative’s simplicity that they requested the implementation of a natural garden at their home, which was promptly done by dedicating members of Johrei News.

RELeASE

The effects of the workplace garden

The Novos Tempos (New Times) book is already available to all who wish to understand the philosophy principle of the Worldwide Messianic Church. It contains the Messiah Meishu-Sama’s (it’s founder) Teachings and its reading is indispensable for a better understanding of spirituality’s importance on a day-to-day routine and also of a life posture consistent with the new times. SERVICE Available in Portuguese English and French.

and soon in

An eagerness for natural products Fernando Pascoal da Silva, a faculty member of the Superior Polytechnic School and of the Superior Pedagogic School of North Kwanza, in Ndalatando, the province’s seat, was awarded a new home at the city’s center. Johrei News found him together with his wife, Mrs. Domingas Maria Francisca Nhanga, preparing a plot in their backyard for the production of natural food. “We left behind a natural garden with several products at our previous home. Good! It stays for those who are living there now. We are implementing a new natural garden here and within a few weeks we will have produce”, stated Fernando Pascoal.

The strength of natural food produced at the Homegrown Natural Garden

Luisa Afonso, 39 years of age, dedicates at the Uije Johrei Center and lives at the Papelão District, Zone 02

On September 10, 2009 a couple of visitors arrived at the Uije Johrei Center, around 6PM. The wife was suffering with strong abdominal pains for some days. We were sorry for her just by listening to her moans. Since the Johrei Center was already closed and they were unable to go back home due to her strong pain, I welcomed them to my home where three of us were members. We chanelled Johrei to the couple and did the Practice of Sonen. Min. Jeremias Kifuta oriented us to give natural food to the purifying sister. Being so, we harvested some collard green leaves from our natural garden, prepared a juice and gave her to drink. We kept channeling Johrei to her and after a while she slept peacefully. Around 6AM next morning, she woke up cured from the terrible stomach pain that had afflicted her for some days and participated in the Morning Service without any problem, telling me afterwards that she felt such an inner strength as never before and went back home feeling happy. Thankful, they materialized a special donation and, moved by the miracle, three members of that family became members: the couple and their uncle. I learned that natural food contains spiritual energy that gives life to Man. Despite having spent a watchful night we felt deeply grateful to God for having used us in the spiritual elevation of our ancestors. Because of that, my commitment is to form at least one member a month, a valuable contribution in building Paradise on Earth. I’ve already led thirty people to the Messianic Church; I take care of two members’ homes and also of the same amount of visitors’ homes.

Step by step

Guidelines*

How to grow a homegrown vegetable garden in a simple and practical way *Material organized by Agronomic Engineer Adriana Tamie Otutumi

1. The choice of a site

•Choose illuminated sites that catch at least the morning sun (in dark or badly lit sites the plant can’t perform photosynthesis and doesn’t grow adequately); •Places near water sources; •Places 15 meters (45 ft) away from septic tanks – in the case of tanks lined with bitumen, the distance can be smaller; •Sites protected from strong winds.

• •In the case of beds or boxes, place 2 or 3 seeds and leave a space of 3 fingers between the plants and of 4 fingers between the sowing lines, closing the lines Open small sowing lines and sow the seeds at a depth of 3 times their size. Place 2 or 3 seeds in each space on the tray and/or cup to ensure germination;

afterwards;

•Cover with a fine layer of dried grass; •When the plantlets show 3 to 4 permanent leaves, they can be transplanted to their final destination.

2. Planting pots

•Pierce small holes at the bottom of the pots to ease excess water drainage; •Cover the bottom of the pot with gravel or pebbles; • Pour soil; •Add the organic material – vegetable matter such as ground grass, dry leaves and vegetable produce leftovers: corn, beans, peanut and so on;

Rem: Use preferably big pots with a depthof at least 40 cm (16in), which allow to plant a greater diversity of cultures.

•Level the earth; •Cover it with dry grass; Wet it daily to keep the • humidity for 15 days – the soil will then be ready to be sown.

3. Building the garden

•Clean the plot (remove construction leftovers, bottles, cans, trash, bags and so on); •Keep apart, to be incorporated at a later time, leftovers of cultivated vegetables such as corn, beans, and even loose pieces of grass; •Move the soil stirring it to loosen it; •Measure the plots with a measuring tape (1 m wide [3.3 ft] by “X” long); •Place the stakes and the nylon string around the plots; •Raise the plots; •Add vegetable leftovers – loose leaves, grass, corn straw, pieces of beanstalk leaves, peanuts and so on; •Stir the soil; •Level the ground; •Water the soil; •Cover it with dry grass; •Water your plot daily up to the 15th day; a period when the decomposition of organic matter is finished; •After 15 days, if the soil smells good you can sow on it.

Solution for small spaces

Production of plantlets (Styrofoam trays, wooden boxes and newspaper cups)

c. Transplantation When the plantlets are 10 cm (4in) tall or show 3 to 4 permanent leaves, they will be ready to be transplanted;

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Remove them with the transplanting scoop, taking care not to damage the roots and loose soil;

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Plant the plantlet leveling it with the pot/bed’s soil, filling the empty spaces with earth. Press lightly around the plantlet to eliminate air pockets;

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After transplanting the plantlet, cover it with inert matter (dried grass) to protect it from intense solar light and to keep the soil’s humidity longer. Phases of transplanting

5. Choose what to plant

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In order to choose what to plant, it’s necessary to consider what is the best time of the year for planting it because each culture adapts to a certain condition – cold, warmth, sandy soil, clay soil and so on;

•Check the local conditions and, with the help of a technician, choose the culture

that should be planted.

6. Gardens maintenance

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Try to keep the pots lightly humid without ever drenching them, since it can kill the plant and cause diseases;

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Try to water the plants at the coolest times of the day because water evaporates less in those periods and the plants make better use of it due to it remaining longer in the soil;

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Check thoroughly the water used to water the plants – avoid water contaminated with feces, sewers, soap and other chemical products (cleaning fluids, pesticides and so on);

4. How to plant and transplant Some vegetables are planted directly on the beds; there are others, however, whose seeds must be planted on sowing recipients (nurseries) to be transplanted at a later date to the final bed. Planting in nurseries offers greater protection and better conditions for the seed’s germination as well as for the plantlets development. a. Sowing directly

• •Open the sowing lines and sow the desired culture, respecting the guideline; •Cover it with a fine layer of dry grass, mainly at the intervals between the lines; •If after sprouting, the plantlets are too close together, remove some carefully so as not to damage the roots of the remaining plants.

After the soil preparation period, remove the dry grass and stir the soil again. Consult the table with the guideline indication (space between the plants);

b. Producing plantlets

• 8 •The soil can be prepared the same way as indicated for the direct sowing;

The plantlet nursery can be done on a small bed, on Styrofoam trays, inside wooden boxes or in disposable newspaper cups;

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Don’t use strong jets of water on the soil or on the plant – adjust the water pressure using your finger, reducing it to a fine mist over the plants and the soil (when a jet of water is directed to the soil, its surface hardens as it dries up, preventing the penetration of water). Besides that, the strong jet can cause the leaves to break and damages the plant;

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Use a covering fertilization, that is, put new organic materials or bokashi (organic compost) around the plant to help its development (never apply bokashi over the leaves because it can burn them);

•Always try to put good feelings in all steps of the plant’s development.

PLANTING CARROTS – When the plants reach a height of 5cm (2 in) they must be hewed – an agricultural procedure that consists in yanking, after sowing, the exceeding plants, leaving only the ones that are apart at convenient distances. PLANTING TOMATOES AND GREEN BEANS – A staking must be done (using poles or stakes to hold and support the bushes, climbers or flexible trees). In the tomato’s special case, do it only when really necessary. Observe attentively all of your plants’ needs.