In the world of international development, economic indicators often dominate the conversation. How much has household income increased? How many small businesses were launched? These metrics are important, but they’re only part of the story.
What about trust between neighbors? Spiritual renewal? The return of birds and pollinators to a once-barren field? Or a parent no longer fearing whether the land will provide for their children?
True abundance is a whole-life transformation. It’s what happens when economic empowerment is paired with ecological restoration and spiritual renewal. Plant With Purpose’s work is rooted in this integrated model – one that refuses to treat poverty as just a matter of money, and instead addresses the full complexity of life.
The Abundance of Creation
Junior, a Purpose Group participant from Haiti, sees this connection clearly.
“When I plant a tree or take care of my soil, I am obeying God,” Junior explains. “I am an obedient steward of nature every time I do anything to take care of creation.”
In Junior’s community, reforestation isn’t just a project, it’s an act of worship. Every seedling planted is a spiritual statement that God’s creation is good, worth protecting, and full of potential.
“Nature reminds me of God’s power,” he says. “All of them are incredible. Nobody else could have created them the way God did.”
Junior's Purpose Group not only restores land and livelihoods, it nurtures faith and fellowship. When a member of their group passed away, the community came together. They practiced offering support to the family, organizing memorials, and attending the funeral as one.
“We are building solidarity amongst ourselves,” he shares. “Ever since I’ve joined my Purpose Group, I’ve seen us form better relationships and healthier attitudes.”
This is abundance: the richness of relationships, reverence for creation, and the assurance that no one stands alone.
Abundance on Fragile Land
In Burundi, Juvenal knows what it means to live on the edge of survival.
“We tried to survive through farming and raising animals, but we had very little,” he remembers. “The land was infertile. I had no animals to help fertilize the fields. We had no access to credit. I worried we would die of hunger.”
Like many rural farmers, Juvenal once faced an impossible equation: exhausted land, few resources, and no safety net. The cycle of poverty seemed inescapable. But when Purpose Groups came to his village, things began to shift.
“With the little I could save, I took a small loan and started selling banana juice. In six months, our capital had multiplied. My wife took charge of the juice sales, and I began buying and selling goats and sheep.”
The animals provided more than income. They enriched the soil, transforming barren fields into productive farms. Juvenal and his wife built a life full of opportunity, not desperation.
But Juvenal also reminds us that transformation must go beyond the physical.
“You cannot separate the earth from the people who live on it.”
Abundance in a Hopeful Future
Salima, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, began her journey with Plant With Purpose at a moment of great uncertainty.
“I entered the group with nothing,” she says. “All the money I earned, I spent without thinking about tomorrow.”
The Purpose Group gave her a place to start. It offered more than access to savings. It provided training, encouragement, and community. For the first time, Salima learned to save and to plan ahead.
Today, she’s no longer just thinking about her own future. She’s investing in others.
“Being a member of a Purpose Group gives hope,” Salima says. “It shows that one day, through savings and small loans, it’s possible to become secure.”
She now advocates for her neighbors to join, telling them, in essence, “There’s more available to you than you think. You can live with dignity, security, and hope.”
A Theology of Abundance
Throughout Scripture, abundance is not portrayed as luxury or excess. It’s shown as completeness. The kind of flourishing that allows people to share freely, worship openly, and live without fear.
Jesus offers an abundant life. He multiplied loaves and fish. He praised the widow who gave all she had. He reminded His followers that they were worth more than many sparrows, and that their needs were known by a God who provides. In John 10:10, He says outright, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
This is the spirit of Plant With Purpose’s work. In Purpose Groups, communities gather to steward land, grow food, build livelihoods, and strengthen their faith. But more than anything, they discover they are not poor in potential. The resources they need, including each other, the land, and their faith, are already available. They just need to be cultivated.
Abundance is the end goal. And it opens the path to generosity, resilience, and legacy.
Let’s redefine abundance together.
Let’s invest in wholeness. Let’s believe in transformation—not just of income, but of ecosystems, relationships, and faith.
Because when we plant for abundance, the harvest is always greater than we imagined.
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Planting the Seeds of Abundance
Abundance takes time. It begins small. A seed, a savings deposit, a gathering under a tree. And with the right tools and trust, it grows.
Today, you can be part of that growth. A gift of $122 helps one person begin their journey through a Purpose Group. That includes training in sustainable farming, access to savings, and the chance to grow spiritually and relationally alongside others.
It’s a small investment. But in time, it can grow into a forest, a harvest, or a legacy that outlives any single gift.
