A nutritious meal is more than food—it can represent a family learning how to grow, prepare, and provide healthy food for themselves. In addition, natural materials can become simple remedies for debilitating health problems when families learn how to use them.
Thanks to your support for Panama, FARM STEW is equipping more than 500 vulnerable families with practical skills in farming, nutrition, sanitation, healthy living, savings, and small-business development.
I have seen the impact first-hand. During a visit to Chácara village in Panama, I noticed a three-year-old girl whose head, neck, and back were covered in a rash. Since I had taught her mother how to use charcoal through FARM STEW training, I gave her instructions for a simple charcoal paste. She prepared it that same day and applied it to her daughter’s skin for five days. Thank God, the girl improved tremendously, and within a few days the rash disappeared!
I was so happy to see the change. It reminded me that simple, practical knowledge shared with the love of Jesus can make a big difference in families’ lives.
17 FARM STEW Panama participants have also chosen to be baptized, discovering that abundant life includes both healthier families and hope in Christ. Thank you for sharing Jesus’ practical love.
For years, families in Akola A Village walked 25 minutes to collect unsafe water. But now, 580 households have access to clean, safe water through a new borehole provided by FARM STEW donors like you. And through FARM STEW trainers whom you sent, they are gaining access to something even greater: Jesus, the Water of Life. Visit farmstew.link/3Q2026water to watch their story and see how clean water—and the hope of Christ—are changing lives in Akola A Village.
For many years Bella Lithiane, a mother from Rusuguti, Burundi, relied on a traditional three-stone fire stove that was difficult and dangerous to use. Bella longed for a better way to prepare meals for her family.
“I used to live with constant worry,” Bella says. “Whenever it was time to cook, I dreaded going into the kitchen because of the heavy smoke. It made me cough and brought tears to my eyes. I also used a lot of firewood, which was becoming very difficult to obtain.”
When FARM STEW began working in Rusuguti, Bella attended the training sessions and learned how to build an improved cookstove.
“FARM STEW became the solution to my problem,” she says. “I learned how to build an improved cookstove with mud and bricks, and cured with the juice of sweet potato leaves that produces very little smoke and uses much less firewood. Cooking is no longer a burden, and I now save both time and fuel.”
Bella is deeply grateful to FARM STEW for the practical and biblical skills she received.
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Bella’s family is being transformed through the generosity of a donor like you who chose to sponsor the entire village of Rusuguti. This donor’s investment is making a difference not just in Bella’s life, but throughout the entire village as families learn practical, Biblical skills for healthier, more abundant lives.
Your gifts can transform another village like Rusuguti. Learn more about village sponsorship at farmstew.org/village
Because of you, families in Mguntha Village, Malawi, are turning small steps into lasting change. What began in 2025 with 18 active FARM STEW members is now a community saving money, growing more food, praying together, and investing in a goat enterprise that benefits every member.
Through FARM STEW’s wholistic training, members learned financial literacy, farming, and enterprise skills. After training on the Crown Money Map and Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA), they began saving and planting “Irish” potatoes and sweet potatoes.
The group created a VSLA fund to purchase goats together, making the business cost-effective and allowing members to benefit equally. Crop sales and VSLA loans helped them purchase 10 female goats for 10 households.
Through the goat pass-on system, each recipient passes a young female goat (when it is born) to one of the eight members who has not yet received one. The process will continue until everyone has benefited.
Goats make families more resilient. They provide milk, manure for composting crops, and, when needed, can be sold for cash during economic hardship.
Without the Bible-based lessons brought by the FARM STEW trainers you sent, these changes would not have happened in Mguntha Village. Thank you for making this transformation possible!
Because you choose to support FARM STEW, people like Antonio Amador are gaining practical skills that can help transform their families’ lives. In the remote community of Caña Brava, Panama, you are helping families learn to make better use of the land God has given them while discovering His principles for a healthy, abundant life.
Surrounded by beautiful landscapes, Caña Brava is home to people who live humbly and sustain themselves on small plots of crops such as yucca and plantains.
Among them is Antonio, a hardworking and determined leader committed to working and moving forward. He has participated in FARM STEW classes for almost a year, enjoying the program and learning from each lesson.
Antonio compares his experience to that of a child going to school for the first time—learning new things step by step.
Thanks to you, Antonio is learning how to care for his land and grow food in better ways. He has already created raised beds in his garden and hopes to see success from his hard work this year.
But Antonio is learning more than farming. He also says he is learning about God’s plan for good health and a healthy lifestyle. As he cultivates his garden, he is also discovering that God cares about every part of his life.
Please pray for Antonio, the families of Caña Brava, and FARM STEW trainers. May God bless their work and the seeds of biblical knowledge they are planting for the future.
When I joined the FARM STEW Virtual Learning Community (VLC), I expected to learn about farming and gardening. I did not expect the lessons to transform how I eat, rest, and care for my health.
Before joining the VLC, I often ate Nsima (white corn porridge) with only one side dish—fish or beans—and very little variety. When college became busy, I sometimes skipped meals altogether.
Two of the FARM STEW lessons especially inspired me. First, learning about compost reminded me that, like healthy soil, our bodies need consistent care. Second, the Rainbow Garden lesson taught me that variety is essential for good health.
Today, I enjoy more colorful, varied meals, eat regularly, and make time for adequate rest. I am also applying FARM STEW principles to my studies, striving to do everything “to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).
I have shared what I have learned with friends and family so they can benefit, too. Growing up here in Malawi, I watched depleted land struggle to feed families around me. FARM STEW has shown me that abundant life does not require expensive inputs or dramatic changes. It begins with the right knowledge, applied consistently.
I am no longer just learning about abundant life. I am living more of it—and sharing it with others.
Would you like to join Bridget in learning the FARM STEW recipe for abundant life? Join the Virtual Learning Community for free anywhere in the world by visiting farmstew.org/learn
In Namundudi, Uganda, you sent FARM STEW trainers to help families meet basic needs, including providing reusable sanitary pads for school girls and their mothers. This is especially impactful because many elderly grandparents, widows, and young single mothers struggle to provide for their families.
When you sent FARM STEW trainers with washable pads to Namundudi, women danced and shed tears of joy. “We had begun to doubt all the people who came here and made promises, but you are truly sent by God,” one woman said.
The pads help girls stay in school and allow mothers to use the money saved on pads for food and medicine.
“It may seem like a simple act, but you may not realize how much it has impacted their lives,” said Majida, a community volunteer. “They will never forget it.”
May God bless you for supporting the future of Namundudi.
I was alone at the busy FARM STEW exhibit at campmeeting in Michigan when I noticed an 11-year-old boy watching our video about hunger and malnutrition. I briefly explained FARM STEW’s message to him. Before I could finish, he asked, “May I donate?”
“Of course,” I smiled.
He opened his billfold, carefully looked at the three dollars inside, and handed me one. “What will my dollar do?” he asked. I explained that $37 helps train a family for a month, so his gift could provide nearly a day of training.
He looked thoughtful. “I’m glad I gave my money.”
As he disappeared into the crowd, I looked at that dollar and thought about what I had just witnessed. I don’t think I can give to someone in need again without remembering that young man and the simple sacrifice he made. He had given a third of everything he had. I wondered if, as an adult, I had forgotten something this child understood so naturally: real giving isn’t about how much you have. It’s about how willing you are to share what you do have.
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Sometimes life in this fallen world feels overwhelming. You hear about people struggling in every possible way, even losing hope for the future.
“But what can one person do when there is so much need in theworld?” you might ask.
FARM STEW answers that question. Together with you, we demonstrate that equipping even one person with the tools to escape extreme poverty is worth the effort. Soon, a whole family— and then a whole village—benefits.
FARM STEW started small 11 years ago, when God told me to hire local people in Uganda. Today, by God’s grace, we have reached more than 372,000 people and provided 120 borehole wells across 25 countries. In the last year alone, more than 23,374 households participated in 10,246 hands-on training sessions, and 37,357 girls and women have received pads. Praise God!
Like the Good Samaritan in Luke 10, Jesus calls us not to look away from suffering, but to show mercy. Through your ongoing generous support, FARM STEW offers practical compassion that equips families and villages for lifelong health and well-being.
Thank you for helping us share the practical, positive, and powerful gospel message of FARM STEW.
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Go and do likewise.’” Luke 10:37
FARM STEW International is a not-for-profit, 501(c)3. Donations are 100% tax-deductible. We are 100% donor-based and do not accept or apply for any government funding.
FARM STEW equips families to exit extreme poverty and embrace abundant life.
