Browning's in Balfate: May 2011

NEWS FLASH!!!

***The new Hospital Loma de Luz web page is up and running!***
Check it out at http://www.crstone.org.

Finca Loma de Luz: The Farm
It’s been awhile since we’ve talked about Finca Loma de Luz, the agricultural component of the Hospital Loma de Luz ministry. The tract of land on which the hospital sits encompasses over 120 acres of varied terrain that is blessed with good soils and over 130 inches of rain per year. Farm manager Brad Ward and several Honduran guys are very creatively carrying out the multifaceted vision God has given for the farm. First, the farm’s harvests can provide significant financial resources for the operation of Hospital Loma de Luz and it’s associated ministries. Second, the farm serves as a resource to the wider community through the production of healthy foods, the opportunity for valued and respectable employment, and finally as a source of community pride. Third, the farm is a place of learning –a place where better agricultural practices can be demonstrated, leading to better food security and resource conservation for our entire region.


Below are broiler chickens in a "chicken tractor," which is a portable cage that allows the birds to graze new pasture every few days.
The farm’s diversified crops include:
*Over 40 acres of African Oil Palm trees-almost to production stage
*Pastured broiler chickens - currently slaughtering about 100 every 3 weeks
*Meat sheep and dairy goats - just getting started
*Greenhouse production of palm seedlings, decorative plants and vegetable crops
*On-farm composting
*Rice, bananas, and plantains


Crops still on the docket:
*Pastured eggs
*Agro-forestry – mahogany and exotic hardwoods
*Cocoa - a shade crop planted below the hardwoods
*Moringa leaf powder - an incredibly nutritious tree native to Africa

Josh’s Jobs: The List
With less spending money for big projects, we’ve had some time to whack away at “The List”, which is everyone’s maintenance and improvement list, household or otherwise. So you think your Honey-Do list is long? Keeping up with 14 households, an orphanage, staff housing, a farm, and a hospital has four of us running! Sometimes it feels like we will never get it done. And if your project is waiting on that list, it really can feel like it will never get done! Mike Yost (the head of maintenance, who as of late is sporting mutton chops) and I spend about half our time doing missionary auto repair. We would like God to call an auto mechanic down here. We have broken ground on a house in the east farm because we need the housing and to deter theft now that the palms are nearing production. In the near-ish future, we would like to build five more houses for incoming personnel with families. With all this dirt work recently, the backhoe is showing it’s age. It’s a 1978 Ford 550 with something like half a million hours on it. The last time I used it, we had to replace three hoses, and the last hose broke and soaked me from head to foot. So, if you think God is moving you to send down a backhoe, it would be much appreciated and go far to advance His kingdom work.


Check out the Loma de Luz Blue Collar Blog for a list of projects available for teams to tackle:
http://www.lomadeluzconstruction.blogspot.com/.


Summer Plans
We are leaving June 2nd for a 3-month stint in the States. We are planning to spend most of that time in California, where Josh will be working between visits to churches and individual supporters. Josh’s mom, Linda, is planning a fund raiser for the hospital in late August, so we will be helping prepare for that. We plan to do a trip to Montana during the first 3 weeks of August. We’re looking forward to seeing as many of you as we can!


Please Pray
*That our time in the States would be well-spent.
*Josh’s left knee has been bothering him.
*Our little Talby is very healthy and happy, but also quite scrawny. Please pray for weight gain!
*Staff needs at Loma de Luz: auto mechanic, surgeon, anesthesiologist, family doctors, nurses.
*Hospital finances.
*Safety and protection for the missionaries here and for us as we travel.


Thank You
Thanks so much for all the ways you support us and Hospital Loma de Luz!
Blessings,
Josh, Linzy, Guildy, Hadley, and Talby