You reap what you sow, right?
You’ve heard the expression, I’m sure. It comes right out of Scripture– several times.
Galatians 6:7 reads, "Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows."
2 Corinthians explains that the point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
Even in the Old Testament, Proverbs 22:8 tells us, “Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity, and the rod of his fury will fail.”
This simple way of nature is a deeply ingrained part of the way God designed our world. And yet, when we neglect to care for creation, we start to see this process fall apart.
This is something that Gernita experienced firsthand living in Haiti. “We are in a country where everything is in disorder,” she told us. “When you work, you can’t reap what you sow and we are poor people. This is just how life works.”
Haiti, Post-Hurricane Matthew. Photo from WilderUtopia.com
Haiti suffers from a variety of environmental problems.
Haiti is both the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the most deforested. These two issues are deeply interlinked.
Many of the problems manifest themselves in the soil. Deforestation leaves soil vulnerable. Haiti is a frequent site of hurricanes and natural disasters, and without the protection of trees, those events rob the soil of their nutrients.
Gernita recalls the last time this happened a little too vividly. “Yes, I do. When the hurricane passed through the land it destroyed all of our plantations—all of our seeds.”
Other environmental issues challenge Haiti at the same time, and this includes drought. “Sometimes you work and the dry season comes and it kills everything. Sometimes it’s the rainy season and it kills everything.”
Plant With Purpose started working in Haiti many years ago to help communities overcome these issues. Since Gernita joined our program, she’s noticed a significant difference.
“When I decided to join Plant With Purpose,” she mentioned, “it was because I received an invitation from the leaders. They told us that, “the group would be very helpful to us.”
Gernita and many others see their harvests increase as a result of working with Plant With Purpose.
Since participating, Gernita has seen her harvest drastically improve.
Through Plant With Purpose’s environmental program, Gernita began planting trees, creating soil conservation barriers, and adopting a variety of other sustainable farming practices. These paid off and her harvests started to grow.
Through Plant With Purpose’s financial programs, she also gained the ability to save money and take out loans that she could further invest into her farm. “I use the loans for business and with the profits I can purchase seeds. I can sell these things and pay off any debts,” she says.
All this has paid off in the form of broader environmental restoration: “The environment has changed a lot,” she says, “because they trained us how to use compost, ramps, building barriers, and graphs. The water used to wash my soil away, now I can protect it so it doesn’t. I can plant seeds easily.”
As she grows food more easily, she has even more resources to invest.
On average, participating farmers like Gernita see a 44% increase in crop yieds, and reduce their poverty levels by about two thirds.
“I learned that God is faithful – God is great,” she notes. “Before we didn’t have anything and now with Plant With Purpose we can improve our lives.”
You can help create change for a farmer like Gernita for just $22 a month. Learn more about how to become a Purpose Partner.
