{"id":1011373,"date":"2019-07-22T00:00:16","date_gmt":"2019-07-22T06:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awmi1.flywheelsites.com\/?p=1011373"},"modified":"2019-09-24T08:07:08","modified_gmt":"2019-09-24T14:07:08","slug":"a-fishy-tale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.awmi.net\/blog\/a-fishy-tale\/","title":{"rendered":"A Fishy Tale"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Some\nyears ago, my wife, Lesley, and I were passing through the U.S. on a journey of\nfaith after pastoring a church in the UK. The Lord had told us both\nindependently to give away what He had built through us and wait in faith for\nthe next chapter of our lives. This meant giving up a church that we had planted\nand led, a fair-trade business, and oversight of an international worship\ntraining academy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our mid-fifties, we gave almost everything away and decided to head for Australia to visit family and wait for God\u2019s direction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s when longtime friends Paul Milligan, now CEO of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM) and his wife, Patsy, invited us to the U.S. to \u201chang out\u201d with them in the interim. This act of kindness led us to encounter Andrew and Jamie Wommack at an informal cookout one night. At this gathering, Andrew asked what we were doing in the States, and after listening approvingly to our tale of faith, he exclaimed: \u201cMan, that\u2019s awesome! You guys really are living by faith,\u201d followed shortly after by the unexpected request, \u201cWill you go to Karamoja for me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Karamoja is the region between Uganda and Kenya and is famous for its cross-border tribal conflicts. AWM had recently started discipling pastors there, and Andrew wanted to assess what the practical needs of the people were and to know how well the ministry was discipling people using the Discipleship Evangelism program. To say we were surprised at his request is an understatement. I was just grateful I knew where Karamoja was!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To make a long (miracle-filled) story short, I made the journey, carrying out a fact-finding mission for Andrew. Consequently, I was employed to start DEMO\u2014D<\/strong>iscipleship E<\/strong>vangelism M<\/strong>issional O<\/strong>utreach. Essentially, our mission is to \u201cgive people the Word and teach them to fish.\u201d DEMO shows the love of Christ by helping in practical ways and teaching people useful skills that will enable them to be effective \u201cfishers of men\u201d (Matt. 4:19). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our goal is to make disciples using the Discipleship Evangelism program, which is freely available to download in multiple languages at our DEMO page<\/a> and is having a huge global impact. However, teaching people to \u201cfish\u201d\u2014to become self-sustaining\u2014is the greater challenge. This has required expertise that we did not possess, so we have partnered with those who do. We discovered the greatest need in Karamoja was for clean water. And after many challenges, we drilled ten boreholes in two regions there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, we realized that even with access to water, the Karamoja environment is not conducive to growing plants in some locations. This set me to thinking, Our ministry headquarters in Colorado is similar to the Karamoja environment in various ways. Growing plants in Woodland Park, Colorado\u2014located at nearly 9,000 feet\u2014could also be challenging. We need somehow to create a good environment within a poor one!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\ndid some research and came upon aquaponics\u2014a process using fish and their waste\nin enclosed, independent systems to grow organic food and conserve water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I spoke with Andrew and asked if I could use an old cabin on the Charis Bible College Woodland Park property to experiment and learn more. Andrew agreed, and a partner generously funded us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Our aquaponics research unit at 9000 ft in Woodland Park, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In no time, we were raising fish and growing healthy, organic plants in our Woodland Park research unit. However, there is much complexity surrounding aquaponics, and every environment is different as you would see from the pictures below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Organic Swiss chard grown in our aquaponics unit in Woodland Park, Colorado<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n