At 8 years old, Godfrey found himself alone and homeless in Uganda.  Badly beaten, he had barely escaped with his life.  His father was killed and his mother had disappeared.  He was alone.  He would say that only the grace and mercy of God kept him over the next years as he struggled through life, drifting from families to the streets to friends that gave him temporary shelter.   The generosity of those he would meet along the way literally kept him alive.  He was a hard worker and learned to work even harder as he faced the challenges of life.  An English couple saw his heart, his work ethic and his need and invested into him sponsoring him to attend the Sustainable Agriculture School in 2014.  

 

Because he had little formal schooling, he initially was quiet and reserved in the class. However, it didn’t take long for us to recognize that Godfrey was a GIFTED farmer and carried a big heart for people, particularly those who struggled. He understood nature and growing things and when he was empowered with knowledge in soils, plant science, regenerative techniques, plant uses and human nutrition, he implemented .  Whatever he grew, thrived and produced. He grew in leadership and people followed. He especially thrived when working  alongside his team and with the villagers in their collaborating community.  As his confidence in communication and food growing skills grew, people followed and were eager to succeed too.

 

He returned to his village and became known as an excellent farmer. As he proved the new, non-traditional ways to farm successfully,  demand grew as a seminar speaker to transfer his farming excellence to others.  His heart remained sensitive for  those who were without, especially the widows and orphans.  He farmed for the English family and with their blessing set aside a portion of the land for the widows and coached them to succeed.  

 

Seasonally, he returned to help us staff schools and became invaluable to us with not only his farming experience but his ability to understand tribal issues and worldview and help us with cultural context.  He became like a son to us and calls us Mom Gretchen and Dad Gene.  The close of the 2017 school brought his season of helping us staff schools to an end.  He had found his mother, bought a piece of land, built a small home and adopted 2 orphaned boys from the streets.  It was time for him to create a home and future for them.  Not only did he do that, but this past August he married a beautiful girl and is helping to establish a church in their village.  

 

We cannot even begin to count the number of people’s lives that Godfrey has impacted.  From a life of barely surviving to being a huge blessing to so many.