Threads – Faith and Farming Bring Communities Together to End Hunger

Episode transcript:

Kyle Rudge (00:02): 
It begins with a single thread woven through other thread, and then another and another until we have a single piece of fabric. That fabric is stretched, cut, and stitched together with another, just like it. This process is repeated over and over and over until we have a beautiful tapestry that all began with a single thread. Welcome to an MCC Threads, where we look closely at how our stories in Manitoba weave together with the stories of MCC and its partners around the world. Several weeks back, myself and two others from MCC Manitoba got into a car and headed northeast of Winnipeg. Driving past Birds Hill Park and Selkirk, we found ourselves at a place called Greenwald Colony. The Greenwald Colony is a Hutterite colony founded in 1955 and one of this year's farming participants for Grow Hope. In addition to some interviews, my hope was to capture some fun farming audio for the background of this episode. And this is where my not growing up on a farm really shows, as we're at a time between planting and harvest. So what you're hearing is distant birds, distant traffic, and a bug that wouldn't leave me alone. However, it's also the perfect time to talk to a farmer before they're very busy with harvest.

Josef Hofer (01:31): 
My name is Josef Hofer. I'm part of Greenwald Colony. I guess we're a community of maybe 30 families. We farm and live and run our social life together as a community. What we've decided to do the past five years is take a field and allocate that for Foodgrains Bank. So we started with Foodgrains Bank, MCC, and we've since been able to get on the Grow Hope program, which we're very happy about.

Kyle Rudge (02:01):
We were graciously invited into the colony for a conversation, for lunch, and for an opportunity to see Grow Hope farming in action.

Josef Hofer (02:08): 
You have a relationship with the land. You have a relationship with the local farming community. It's good for community, we feel. You have a relationship with your Creator, with God who blesses the work that you do. You're dependent on your Creator, on our Lord, to provide and watch things grow, create relationships along the way, and create the things necessary to make it work. So we love everything about farming—watching crops grow.

Kyle Rudge (02:41): 
Grow Hope is a rather simple fundraising concept. You, me, well anyone sponsors an acre for $350. We give financially, the upfront costs of what it takes to plant the acre of a particular crop. The farmer, in this case, Greenwald Colony, donates their land, their time to care for the crop. Once harvested, it's sold, plus government matches, ends up multiplying your initial donation by up to four times. And this is all to help families displaced from their homes, receive food or the tools and seeds needed for their own garden.

Josef Hofer (03:12): 
That, I would say, is everything—certainly the biggest thing—because our faith life is who we are as a community. Our belief is that the Creator created everything for the benefit of all creation. There's a togetherness in creation, in people, creation, food, crops.

Kyle Rudge (03:39): 
Grow Hope isn't just about farmers donating their land and time to growing the crops, but also individuals, groups, and churches that are sponsoring those acres.

Aaron Thiessen (03:47): 
Hi, my name is Aaron Thiessen. I am one of the pastors here at River East Church. I have my finger in kind of every pie here, plus or minus, and that includes a bit of Grow Hope.

Willie Reimer (03:57): 
My name is Willie Reimer. I go to River East Church. I'm a member there and I am the MCC representative for River East Church. So I promote MCC at our church. Before retirement, I worked at MCC for a total of 33 years. So I am very happy to promote Grow Hope and other MCC programs at our church.

Kyle Rudge (04:26): 
The roots of River East Church run deep, especially when it comes to Grow Hope. They've been supporting for upwards of 10 years. But why?

Willie Reimer (04:36): 
Grow Hope just has so many dynamics to it, as we said, because a lot of organizations, connecting the rural folk to the urban folk, is key to this one. And that's how we can be involved. Supporting farmers who are donating their time, and their land, and their resources, and getting together in the winter and planning it all out, and so on, you feel that you're part of a bigger picture. You feel that you're part of something really dynamic. And I think that resonates with people sitting in the pews at River East Church.

Aaron Thiessen (05:17): 
On the one hand, it's a very understandable thing, right? Like MCC does lots of projects and I hear about a lot of them through my wife. Sponsoring an acre? I think, I might be wrong about this, but I think River East Church property, if you include the parking lot is one acre or just under, it's something like that. So you kind of get a visual of it right away of what this is, and you can feel like you're there. All of us eat every day, right? We all understand that eating is a really important part of our daily life. And so when you take your money and you send it to MCC to sponsor an acre, this is like a really, it interlaces with my story in a way that I've don't—I pet a goat in a petting zoo once I think. I sponsor an MCC goat. I have a very vague sense, but it doesn't touch into my, like, daily life in the same way. And if you add on that, it's an efficient program, like the government matching and that kind of stuff, you get a sense for how it grows <laugh>. Like you get a sense for how you are able to, with this seed money, you are able to have it produced into something larger that has benefits that you feel every time you're hungry, right? So I think it sticks here because it's so tangible, honestly.

Kyle Rudge (06:41): 
Sure, it's easy to start to fathom the connection between those that are sponsoring an acre and the impact that it has for those that are hungry. But what about the connection between those that are sponsoring, whether individual or church, and the farmer or in this case farming colony?

Josef Hofer (07:00): 
That means a lot. We got involved by just attending a basic workshop or a presentation in Winnipeg. I think myself, I showed up and heard what you guys do. And we're always engaging in programs like this. To us it's charity work. It's sharing God's abundance with people that otherwise might not have a chance to have food. So for us, it's part of our faith, but it's also sharing the blessings that God gives us. And using folks like you, like these programs that are able to do work that we can't. We're farmers. We're families. We stay at home. We live at home. So I was just on a recent tour with MCC in Nepal. And to see the work up close and in person that's being done is just awesome. So we thank God for these sorts of programs and organization that they're able to do this sort of work where we couldn't. So to just fit into the mold and fit into that plan really, you know, gives us the sense that we're part of something bigger that we like to maybe call God's kingdom at work in our world. There's enough bad things going on. So to be able to contribute is something that we feel is really good, is just a blessing.

Kyle Rudge (08:30): 
Josef had the opportunity this year to visit Nepal and see just where the communities were benefiting from programs like Grow Hope.

Josef Hofer (08:37): 
So one of the stories that stuck to my mind is one that we shared on our trip. Didn't experience this, but I think it's more powerful than what I witnessed in Nepal. So one of the ladies was sharing a story of a trip that she was on. She's been in a previous trip and she showed up in this one community, I forget where it was. And these kids were there jumping, shouting, doing what kids do, doing what kids should be doing. And so all of a sudden their chief comes along and gets them to tries to get 'em to settle down. So tries to control the situation. But you know, MCC's members were [saying] no let kids be kids. But this chief was insisting that no, they have to settle down. We have to get 'em to settle down because they're burning energy and protein that we can't replace. So that story just stuck with me that kids can't even be kids. What kind of a world do we live in when we can have war, we can practice war and violence. There's lots to go around. There's not less, there's lots more that go around and ever before, but kids can't even be kids and do their thing. So it's these stories one after the other that we shared and experienced. That would be one that I would just, you know, that's a drum that I would bang on and people need to hear what's going on.

Kyle Rudge (10:04): So why get involved with MCC? Why has River East been doing it for so many years? What is it about the fabric of MCC that really speaks to that River East congregation?

Aaron Thiessen (10:17): 
River East's values are like wisdom, prophecy, and compassion. And that sets us apart a little from all churches. I think every church embodies that to some extent, but we really lean into those things, like the complexity of the world and trying to navigate that well is something that I really resonate with and part of why I've been here so long at River East, and I see MCC embodying those values as well. They lean into that too. So I get the inside scoop with my wife who works there. Just the creativity that MCC has demonstrated over, and again, to try to bring about like just food security in this case, or if it's like jobs training, if it's relocation of people. My understanding is that governments are now paying attention to what MCC has been doing for almost a hundred years now. And it's pretty fascinating to have as part of like this family culture, my grandparents, my parents, now me, like the work that collectively these Mennonite churches and beyond have been doing over time for that to get this kind of international recognition that, yeah, the way you guys have been doing things is something we want to model going forward. I think there, I'm thinking of specifically like our refugee sponsorship program through MCC is something that the Canadian government is modeling after. I might be wrong about that, but that's—

Kyle Rudge (11:51): 
Aaron isn't wrong in this part, he's just missing a few details. What he's referring to is MCC being the first nonprofit organization to sign a private refugee sponsorship agreement with the government of Canada in 1979, in direct response to the plight of the "boat" people, those forced to flee following the Vietnam War. This allowed for thousands of refugees to be resettled and set a precedent for other sponsor groups.

Aaron Thiessen (12:13): 
MCC has paid a lot of attention to that over the years and has really, I think, designed ways to avoid the pitfalls that can so easily come with international aid and instead really bring about something different and new. And so I wish MCC was more well known, like it's really well known here because of the family connections, but it's something that I think if people were to pay attention to, closely, the type of work and the creativity that's done here, it's really something to be proud of, I think.

Josef Hofer (12:46): 
I would say get started today. There's lots of resources on their website. Check that out. Attend a workshop or a presentation wherever there is one. There's lots to choose from. You know, take the leap of faith, take 10 acres, start with 10 acres, do more. Do what you can. Like the Lord says he who has plenty to give, give plenty. If you have little, give little, little with an open heart. That's what it's about. So do what you can. I would encourage anyone to get into the program. We've done it for like five or six years now and we're gonna expand it. We're not gonna take away from it.

Kyle Rudge (13:27): 
By sponsoring an acre of Manitoba farmland, you can help provide essential food to displaced families worldwide. Your support helps distribute food to vulnerable families and equips farmers with the tools and seeds needed for sustainable farming. To learn more and make a donation, visit mcc.org/manitoba/growhope. MCC Threads is produced by KR Words with story assistance from Jessica Burtnick. Thanks to Joseph and Greenwald Colony for your hospitality, and also Aaron and Willie from River East Church for your generosity of time. I usually sign off here, which I will do, but I'll offer a small bit of wisdom from Josef to conclude.

Josef Hofer (14:03): 
Harvest is one of the best times on a farm. When you're maybe driving by a field, you see a combine going, stop, watch maybe for city folk. I would say maybe just take a pause and watch the grain come off. Yeah, there's a lot of blessings living and growing up on a farm.

Kyle Rudge (14:22): 
I'm Kyle Rudge, and this is MCC Threads.