INFORMATION CIRCLE
A. Teaching syllabus.
This will lay a solid foundation for the vision of Project Genesis itself. It will look at various aspects of godly self-sufficiency from a solid biblical standpoint. Because it will be based on biblical principles it will naturally uphold the vision of Project Genesis itself. (Issues that either directly or indirectly, spiritual or practical, that have an effect upon this whole area of godly self-sufficiency within the church will be looked at.) I will be trying to paint a picture that will motivate and encourage individual Christians and churches to take this whole area of godly self-sufficiency, seed conservation and feeding people seriously. This step needs to be taken before the next step of practical application can take place.
What I have found is that there is a huge amount of literature on every topic of general self-sufficiency and likewise on spiritual topics. The problem is they are not linked together as they should be. I get a strong impression that many Christians who are practical people and enjoy gardening do not believe that their skills and gifts are of any value in their Christian service. There tends to be a distinct division between spiritual and practical Christianity, which should not be so. Each in reality, is one side of the same coin.
The Project Genesis teaching syllabus will incorporate the spiritual and practical issues involved in godly self sufficiency together as one and draw out the many Christians who would like to be involved in the vision.
It is very interesting how the new age movement has really got the jump on the church in this whole area of self sufficiency. The organic movement around the world is growing at an incredible rate and taking its philosophy and doctrine with it. The many types of gardening methods that have sprung from the organic movement such as perma-culture, bio-dynamics etc. all have one thing in common, they glorify the creation rather than the Creator. They contain many truths within the methods such as conservation sustainability, healthy chemical free food etc. These truths mean that people are attracted to them and they unwittingly become worshipers of the creation rather than the Creator who is God. (Roman 1:18-25)
I believe that this is another reason why Christians are not very self-sufficient in food production because there is a stigma attached to the whole self-sufficient movement. Satan has hijacked this important area and discouraged and stopped many Christians from being involved in the call of Jesus to feed the multitudes.
The foundation for godly self-sufficiency has been corrupted and weakened which is extremely serious. Satan is attempting to destroy the foundations for any form of godly self-sufficiency within the church. Psalm 11:3 "If the foundations are destroyed what can the righteous do."
Satan is currently manipulating the financial, political and food systems of the world in preparation for the revealing of his man, Anti-Christ to burst onto the world stage to conquer and rule the nations. Control the energy resources and you control the nations, control the food resource and you control individuals. The food resource is primarily founded on money, if you have money you eat, if you don't have money you starve. The church has an unhealthy obsession with money to solve all types of problems, this may work to some degree whilst the world has a stable financial system. We are now starting to see the folly in this thinking as currencies, especially in Asia are being devalued and starting to crumble. This is leaving more and more people, mainly children without the basic necessities of life like food. Revelation 13:16-18 indicates that Satan will manipulate the entire currency markets of the world while waiting to bring his own monetary system in and therefore bring the world to its knees before him.
Now more than ever is the time to be looking at godly self-sufficiency in every nook and cranny of the world. Whilst it is true that the Christian is not to look for the prophetic unveiling of Satan's plans but to look for that blessed hope every believer has that Jesus will descend from heaven with a shout to take his people home.
We will be translated and changed in an instant from corruptible to incorruptible, from temporal to eternal, raptured to eternal bliss to be with our Lord forever. We all look forward to this great event expectantly, but we also need to balance this wonderful hope with the truth that God gives us his prophetic plan as we read in the Bible as a warning for us to take heed which will then lead us to take positive action.
For example God gave Noah a prophetic warning that a great flood was coming, Noah responded by building the ark. When the flood came Noah and his families were saved because he heeded God's warning and took action. Likewise God also gave Joseph a prophetic warning that a great famine was coming. Joseph heeded the warning and stored grain and seed for the times of famine. Joseph and his family were saved because he heeded God's warning and took action. The same is true in this day in which we live, we see the signs of God's warnings that calamity is about to come upon the world. The signs can only be seen by his church, and only the church can heed and take action for the days to come. It's interesting to note that Jesus reserved his greatest anger for scribes and Pharisee of his day. They were supposed to be lights for the nation of Israel, instead they became dark stumbling blocks. Jesus described them as hypocrites because they could discern the face of the sky and predict the weather, but they could not discern the signs of the times and therefore be the light to the nation in a dark age that Jesus desired them to be.
The aim of Project Genesis' teaching syllabus is therefore to start to rebuild those foundational walls of godly self sufficiency, to promote seed conservation and for us, God's people, to feed the multitudes of hungry people in the world today. It's a task that can only be accomplished by God's people, applying God's principles for food production and allowing God's power to flow through us. Satan knows if Christians can be kept in the dark about God's ways then he has won a temporary victory over us. Conversely if God sheds light and revelation to his people, the darkness flees and his purpose to feed the multitudes of hungry people both spiritually and physically can proceed towards fulfilment.
A jungle Karen village that are trying to become self-sufficient in food production
Some of the subjects that will be looked at in the teaching syllabus are :-
a. Practical issues.
Plant structure and function.
Soil structure and types.
Re-forestation and land management.
Seed collection and storage [seed banking].
Plant identification.
Crop rotation.
Tools and their uses.
Cross-pollination.
Organic potting mixes.
Production techniques [e.g. raised beds, mulching, thinning etc.].
Water and irrigation.
Worm farming.
Composting.
Propagation and transplanting.
Organic sprays.
Garden structures [e.g. tunnel houses, cold frames etc.].
Companion planting.
Nutritional content of plants and their healing properties.
Weed control.
Harvest and storage methods.
b. Spiritual issues.
- The Christian response to hunger.
Perspectives from the Old Testament.
Care for the hungry in the New Testament.
Guiding principles for Christians.
Evaluating our responsibility.
God's prophetic plan.
c. Other important issues.
Population.
Climate.
Food storage and security.
Land availability.
Food distribution.
Foreign aid.
The new international economic order, globalisation.
World financial systems.
War and social unrest.
Bio-diversity in food crops.
Hybridisation
Genetic engineering.
Millennium seed.
Mono-cultures.
Green Revolution.
All these issues will be looked at from a biblical perspective. Many Christians are interested in self-sufficiency, conserving the seed resource and feeding hungry people etc. but there is a very real lack of united vision to direct and inspire these people. So the aim of Project Genesis is to supply this vision and direction that has been lacking so as to see many Christian release into practical Christian Service where they can find godly fulfilment.
Training is important to help people attain a good level of self sufficiency (Asian Tribal ministry base).
The Project Genesis teaching syllabus can be used by individuals or groups. It will be sent to places that we are working in. The syllabus will contain many pictures and illustrations making it adaptable to other cultures.
B. Project Genesis Newsletter.
The following areas are some of the roles that the Project Genesis newsletter will play.
To encourage and motivate Christians to be involved in the vision of Project Genesis whether in prayer or on a practical basis.
To propagate and expand the vision of Project Genesis on a permanent basis. For example if I personally tell someone about the vision of Project Genesis it will be forgotten about within weeks, but if people get a newsletter the vision is constantly before them.
To link individual Christians and groups together, so they feel they are part of the overall vision. For example someone in Darwin may be growing a certain type of seed, another in Tasmania may be doing likewise, a group of Karen villagers in Thailand might be planting a village garden and developing a local seed bank etc. The newsletter through pictures, stories, articles, information, and testimonies etc. will link all these people together into the broader vision. People will be able to see for themselves how they are working as a global team.
The Project Genesis newsletter can be seen as the mortar that joins the bricks together. The bricks are the building blocks, individual Christians and groups that are combining to see the practical outworking of Project Genesis. These building blocks are laid upon the foundation of Project Genesis, which is the vision itself. If you try to build a house without a strong foundation it will fall, likewise if you place brick upon brick without the binding strength of mortar they will crumble and fall. So the Project Genesis newsletter will act as mortar in the sense that it constantly upholds the vision of Project Genesis itself and points people to God as creator, provider, sustainer and redeemer.
Some of the areas that the Project Genesis newsletter will focus on are:
Progress reports on individual and community gardens which have been started.
A letter section where people can write in and give updates and testimonies of how they are going on the road to godly self sufficiency e.g. saving seed, helping neighbours, feeding themselves and friends etc. The sending of photographs to us will be encouraged for this section, because it puts a face on what people are doing.
Planting guides and information on seed worth collecting, general information on the state of the seed resource.
Any self-sufficiency related topics.
Seed exchange network amongst home gardeners and updated seed catalogue.
Helpful garden hints and regular articles on home gardening self-sufficiency.
Cheap, healthy recipes section.
I see the Project Genesis newsletter as starting out as a quarterly publication, but hopefully it can develop as a monthly issue. It will become a lifestyle type magazine promoting the vision of Project Genesis and pointing the way to God to all who read it.
C. Project Genesis Internet Site.
A home page on the Internet for Project Genesis is the third main arm that completes the information circle. This home page will be a reproduction of Project Genesis newsletter and all the aims that have been outlined for the newsletter apply with the Internet site.
The vision of Project Genesis can then literally reach to the ends of the earth using this technology that is available to us now. In addition we can also place the Project Genesis teaching syllabus on line as a permanent witness for the church to be involved in godly self-sufficiently, seed conservation and feeding the multitudes of hungry people. The aims and roles of the Project Genesis newsletter will be multiplied significantly by using the Internet resource.
David Mahawon who runs the Shan orphanage in Chang Mai and myself digging a well so that they can become self-sufficient. The orphanage now has 45 boys to feed.
Crusoe (A Karen villager) displaying a tray of corn grown from our own collected seed. The propagation house was built in 1997 on the Asia Tribal Ministry base.
