6 Weeks In

Oooohhhh my goodness. We are in Africa!!! Ok, first of all, we love it here. It's hard not to love it here. But beyond that, it feels like home. God has really been so gracious to us in this transition. I mean, there are times I could really go for a Walmart run, an Amazon delivery, and a sleepover at Grammy's for my kids. But I don't really feel homesick. Nick pretty much misses Poptarts… Maybe I should let him write his own post! Anyway, we've all settled in well with relatively few hiccups.

Where to begin… Well, let's start with the people. The people living and working on the farm are lovely. The ministry team is awesome. My girls can be heard screaming "sawubona Uncle Tulani!!!!! Sawubona!!! Ngiyaphila! Unjani?" or "Mom, it's Auntie Lindiwe! Hi Auntie Lindiwe!!!" at any time on any day...repeatedly haha and everyone just smiles and says "yebo, unjani?" without seeming bothered at all that they've said hi to these children 10 times already today while they're trying to work. It's been wonderful to find that the continent or culture you're raised in doesn't limit God's ability to bring you together with people who share the same desires, struggles, and joys, and to use you to encourage one another. I'm learning people's stories bit by bit, but I find that in just about every story, there is something to relate to and something to learn from.

The ministry: Since we have only just bought a car, we actually haven't been able to go to church yet, but the girls and I have been to kids' club on Thursday afternoons. It's a time of playing, dancing, singing, and a Bible lesson. Sometimes 100 kids will show up. Sometimes they walk from far away because their friends at school invited them. I'm trying to learn their names but it's not like memorizing the faces that go with Sarah, William, Emma, and David. These are all completely new names to me. It'll come eventually. I'm trying to learn some siSwati too because most of them don't speak English, but so far I can greet them, ask for bread, and say I'm running...so we have a ways to go! Kids' Camp at the farm will be in July and there is also a Ministry Leaders' Training coming up. Nick often leads morning devotion with the team.

The farm: Darryl and Nick have had some really great meetings with other farmers about running a healthy and successful farm. They discussed restoring the soil to grow healthy trees through multiple systems including (but not limited to) ground cover, compost tea, and animals such as sheep and chickens. So, the Priscos have now got a dog for security and pest control and 2 cats to hunt the rats in the nut shed. The problem for this Momma is that these fierce hunters are currently babies, so now I have doubled the number of children in my house. I feel that there was a flaw in this plan! Why does God keep filling my house with tiny, potty-training, night-waking creatures?! Anyway, the farmers also discussed, long-, medium-, and short-term profit generation. The macs are the long-term. Next step we're taking is short-term: broiler chickens! Apparently people will buy the chickens live, so we will only need to raise them for 6 weeks, then sell them. My brilliant husband came up with this clever idea to roost the chickens over the compost bins--saves building another structure and adds some great material to the compost! They will also have runs that will slide through the macadamia orchards so they can scratch for bugs and such and add directly to the soil. They can't be 100% free range because they will all die. There are lizards and wild cats that have taken out previous flocks, so the sled runs are a great alternative because they can still peck, but we can keep them safe and also direct the general area where they are pecking. It'll be really exciting to see animals start to add to the biodiversity as well as profitability of the farm! On the other side of animals on the farm… Bushpigs have been munching on the harvest! So up went a pig trap, and into the freezer went 4 Bushpigs! Good thinking, Nick! Once the electric fence is running (a work in progress), the pigs shouldn't be such a problem.

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Please comment on our posts or email us at pilgrimpriscos@gmail.com any time! We love comments and questions, even if it's just about where we get our drinking water or what broiler chickens are.