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Stories from around the synod Harvest
of hope By ANNIE NELSON
of the Tribune’s staff FRB is a coalition of 16 Christian denominations that works to solve world hunger by supplying those in need with sustainable agricultural solutions, according to its Web site, www.foodresourcebank.org. Members of St. Andrew’s presented the church with a check for 5,500 on Sunday, which provided seed money for a crop that could triple their donation, if the crop does well. Last year, the
same investment produced $19,000, said Peace United Church
of Christ member Orion Beckmeyer first Beckmeyer, a retired farmer, said Braksick talked about the difference between being hungry and starving. Americans often say "I’m starving, let’s eat," Beckmeyer said, but they don’t understand the true meaning of that word. "We’ve never been starving, none of us," he said. This is the fifth year a crop has been planted. The first year his church partnered with a church in Illinois, Beckmeyer said. Farmers in the Hartsburg and Ashland region will plant about 65 acres with soybeans this year on land they donate for the project’s use. Soybeans are cheaper to plant than corn, Beckmeyer said. Soybeans cost about $50 an acre compared to corn’s $200 an acre price. There is a risk with planting the donations and hoping it will bear fruit, he said. "Markets are volatile, and so is Mother Nature," he said. Beckmeyer plants 30 acres for FRB in the Missouri River flood plain, which is risky, but it’s rich, fertile land, said Sherie Roder, a regional director with RFB. But members said there hasn’t been a losing year yet, despite recent dry growing seasons. Besides blessing the seeds, like members did Sunday, they also bless the fields, Roder said. She told the story of a farmer who said God had placed it in his heart to plant 50 acres of corn. "Well, people thought he was crazy," she said, because the county had been sustaining a drought. His own 80 acres withered and died in the drought, but across the street, she said, the 40 acres thrived and brought in $16,000 to FRB. "Farmers have a faith like no one else," Roder said. "Every time they put that seed in the ground they are trusting God." FRB is in its eighth year and has 200 growing projects in 19 states, Roder said. The group has 60 projects in 13 countries operating around the world, ranging from providing people with animals to tools to building dams so that farmers don’t have to walk 10 miles one way for water. "Whatever can be done to help hungry villagers produce their own food," according to the Web site. Roder said the group decided not to do emergency food drops because other groups out there are already doing it and doing it well. The soybean crop hasn’t been planted yet. Joel Bullard, another farmer contributing acreage to the project, said the fields have been too wet for planting. The soybean seeds need to go in by June 1, he said, to have enough time to produce a good yield. "There are 6 billion people in the world," Bullard said. "Two hundred million live like us. Two hundred million live with unsafe electricity and marginal amounts of food. Two hundred million live without electricity and no food. We just have so much, so many things to be thankful for that it is our duty to be part of FRB." Bullard said he just hopes the farmers can keep on growing. During the benediction, members recited a litany of sharing, Malachi 3: 8-12 and John 21: 15-17 and a prayer of confession that spoke of the plenty that Americans horde, as well as their dieting while the world starves. As Bullard and Beckmeyer read from the Scriptures, jars of soil, water and soybeans passed through each member’s hands, and a prayer was said over them to bring a bounty. "This is my mantra: Every seven seconds, a child dies because they don’t have enough to eat," said Ann Mericle, an organizer of the project. "That should be enough to strike passion into anyone’s heart." Reach Annie Nelson at (573) 815-1731 or anelson@tribmail.com. Article used by permission of Jim Roberts, Managing Editor of the Columbia Tribune, November 5, 2007. To view the article online, go to: http://archive.columbiatribune.com/2007/may/20070512feat001.asp G.J. McCarthy photos
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On
Sunday, members of two Boone County churches gathered in Hartsburg to
bless the seeds for a crop they hope will help ease world hunger. 
In
the fall, the crop will be harvested and sold with all proceeds going
to FRB.