SEEDS OF HOPE
FEBRUARY 2017
“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater.” [Isaiah 55:10, NRSV]
A STARTER-PACK OF SEEDS COSTS $50 About seven years ago, in order to meet the critical need of providing a nutritious diet for families, Mission Without Borders launched it’s first Seeds of Hope campaign. Since then it has become one of our more successful annual projects which reaps tremendous rewards for our beneficiaries. Although snow and ice and cold weather blanket our field countries (as well as here in Canada), I can assure you that many are already dreaming of warmer weather, and for planting season to begin! A simple box of seeds can make a great difference to a family living in poverty. In the years since this campaign first began, we have had the privilege of supplying thousands of individuals & families with boxes of seeds, gardening tools, and the expertise on food growing in order to help them plant their own vegetable gardens and fields.
The seeds are all sourced locally in each field country, with the parcel varying in size depending on the size of the families, their land and what is best grown in the regions they are located. This campaign works both for the urban as well as the rural resident. City dwellers can plant gardens beneath the windows of their apartment blocks, or sometimes they have access to land that isn’t currently being used. Those in rural areas are surrounded by empty land that is begging to be used, if only they had the seeds and know-how! In some cases, Seeds of Hope has become the difference between having quality healthy food, or scrounging through dumpsters or the garbage dump for waste food just to keep themselves and their children alive.
NIKOLA’S STORY Nikola still remembers riding his bike through the rural outskirts of Mostar as grenades fell all around him. He was five-years-old at the time, and the bloodiest war in Europe since World War Two had just begun. “I remember the grenades and the chaos and knowing that we had to leave,” Nikola says.
His family fled for a refugee town in what is today Bosnia-Herzegovina. When the war finished they returned to Mostar, most of which had been
damaged or destroyed. Nikola’s father abandoned them, and as a Serbian family now in the minority, they struggled to find any employment. Nikola eventually got married and had a family, but over two years ago his wife left him with their two young children. Desperate and helpless, he approached the local Mission Without Borders office looking for some assistance.
ALL THEY NEEDED WAS A HELPING HAND TO GET STARTED. The impact the project has had for Nikola and his family is plain to see, as their garden is now full of salad, peas, spinach, potatoes, onions, carrots, and parsley. The products help them provide for themselves while also giving the opportunity to make a profit at market in the city. “We always have hope,” Nikola says holding his two shy children closely. “We are getting there.”
“It means a lot to us,” Branka, grandmother of the family (pictured above) says. “We didn’t expect help from anybody, as we are often rejected here, but you are different. Apart from having peace, day -to-day living here is as difficult as it was 20 years ago. Your help is one of the only changes.” In their rural setting, once the family was enrolled with MWB, our local coordinator saw they had potential to launch an agriculture project, as they have some land and some goats. MISSION WITHOUT BORDERS CANADA MAILING: Box 2007, Abbotsford, BC V2T 3T8 OFFICE: #4-30465 Progressive Way, Abbotsford
By supporting families through Seeds of Hope, you can provide them with the chance to take the first step towards self-sufficiency. Often families are so successful with this project, they grow more food than what is needed for themselves so they sell off the excess, generating much needed income. The Seeds of Hope program not only puts food on the table but gives the dignity of work, the hope for a better future, and comfort in knowing that you can feed and care for your own children and family. As always, your donation in any amount will be gratefully received, and we thank you for your generous support! If you can’t support us financially this time, please know that we always covet your support in prayer, for the work we are doing in Eastern Europe. Blessings on your day,
TOLL FREE 1-800-494-4454 Local (Abbotsford) 604-855-9126 EMAIL WEB
mwbcanada@mwbi.org www.mwbca.org
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Bonnie Borowetz SPONSORSHIP COORDINATOR MISSION WITHOUT BORDERS CANADA EMAIL: bborowetz@mwbi.org