# Our Sheep farm: Not to Be



## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

What to do after retirement?

It is the question everyone asks, and while my wife and I have decided to work within our church to help people recovering from divorce, and with a local Christian camp on several levels; those are local Christian Outreaches. The Pastor of our church wants his congregation to act "Glocally" which is Local AND Globally. After talking at length today with Leslie and Suzanne Yoder; founder and CEO of Ag Connect Ministries in Pennsylvania, as well as a lot of prayer these past few weeks; we know God wants us to take the knowledge that we have in raising sheep and bring it to the people of Moldova.

If you do not know where Moldova is, do not feel bad, no one does.

It is tucked between Romania and the Ukraine and is the poorest nation in Europe. The average worker makes $5 a day, and a great paying job will net a Moldovian $300 a month, though the cost of living is the highest in Europe so filling up your car will consume 1/3 of it. The unemployment rate alone is at 60% making it more poor than most African Nations. However they have the best soil in the world, yet due to socialist ways for decades, do not know how to farm it. A case in point is that they dump their animal manure into the municipal dump because they do not know it can help them raise their crops. I did not feel qualified to help in this endeavor until I was told that.

However serving God in Moldova will be a sacrifice upon our end as our dream has always been to have a larger sheep farm. However I know for now that is not what God wants. I wanted to do a local adult education class on sheep farming, but God said no rather plainly. Upon reflection I see that the people in the US have ample resources for information; the Moldovan people...not so much. Katie and I want to help people, locally and globally, and while there is nothing inherently wrong with having a large farm, we would much rather help others across the world who are struggling with their flocks of sheep thrive; with a profitable sheep farm, and with the understanding that Jesus loves them.

Les suggested we go and visit Moldova in May when the country is at its spring prime and when lambing season has begun. At first we were disappointed the date to go was so far out, but upon reflection also know that times passes quickly and we need to get a lot of stuff done before any of this can happen. It will only be a 2 week trip then, and the Lord willing, after that, perhaps 3-5 times a year. It is a lot of commitment, however Katie and I are committed to being "Glocal" Christians, at our home church, at Fair Haven Camps, and soon for the people of Moldova.

Please pray for us as we prepare to combine our love of agriculture, of sheep, and the love of Jesus and intertwine it with the Gospel message.


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## RockyHill (Apr 24, 2013)

RuttedField said:


> What to do after retirement?
> 
> It is the question everyone asks, and while my wife and I have decided to work within our church to help people recovering from divorce, and with a local Christian camp on several levels; those are local Christian Outreaches. The Pastor of our church wants his congregation to act "Glocally" which is Local AND Globally. After talking at length today with Leslie and Suzanne Yoder; founder and CEO of Ag Connect Ministries in Pennsylvania, as well as a lot of prayer these past few weeks; we know God wants us to take the knowledge that we have in raising sheep and bring it to the people of Moldova.
> 
> ...


sound to me like that dream is being fulfilled, an entire country of sheep -- both the four legged ones and the Biblical ones

Shelia


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## Tim/South (Dec 12, 2011)

Gutsy move. Takes a big man to follow his heart away from what he knows.


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

For the record, I've never heard of it.....but I'm sure they will be glad to hear of you! Spread the Word.....


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

I've actually heard of Moldova, we try to visit the wife's family in the UK every couple of years, once at Heathrow the rest of Europe is just a hop skip and jump away. Have talked about hopping on a jet and doing New years in Moscow. Anyways, can't remember why, but Moldova came up along with Slovenia.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

As Americans our answer to just about everything is to spend more money on it. This does not work; but that is a topic unto itself.

The Moldovan Mission is to help them in agriculture which is about all they have. By ensuring that orphanages and senior homes thrive because they now have food. Orphaned kids are a huge issue, not because their parents die, but because they leave their kids behind to find better work out of the country. Once they are gone however, they seldom come back.

We have also agreed to be a host farm for Moldovan people here in Maine too though, so they can see how we farm and realize that they too can get greater yields. Like this one guy who had a egg farm but fed only whole corn. Once he was shown how to mill down the grain, add other grains he doubled his egg production, but let the eggs rot because his village had more eggs than it needed. Because of former socialist rule, he never once considered selling his eggs in a nearby village that did not have enough. They lack that marketing skill. They are not dumb, it is just that in a socialist world, that was done for them. They have no concept of marketing and fear a very corrupt government.

In no way is this beating them over the head with American Farm Practices or the bible. Its a simple "try our methods and see if you get higher yields" sort of thing, and as far as ministry, the goal is not the conversion of people by American influence, but to allow the Moldovan Pastors to make enough on their farms so that they can stay in Moldova, not leave more orphaned children behind, and have them bring their own countrymen to Jesus. Its not like here where pastors are provided by the collective body of the church...there is not enough money for that. So its the idea of keeping good Christian People in the country to improve it!

I hope that makes sense.

As for financial help; Ag Connect does provide loans, and that is because there are no lending institutions over there for small amounts. They are only for 100,000 loans or more, have a 36% interest rate, with the loan to be repaid on Dec 31st at midnight! Those are pretty steep terms!

Ag Connect does give out microloans, and while very easy terms, they are to be paid back eventually. Yes its so they can lend to others, but mostly so it is NOT a handout. They want the Moldovan people to have investment in what they have.

Katie and I are glad to throw our support behind this. As I said we love Jesus and agriculture, whether showing them here or over there, I am not sure, but "there is a lot of work, and the workers are few"...Jesus said that, not me. Just trying to do our part to be good Christian workers.


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

I've heard of Moldova before, they had a huge wine producing industry. They have a long running dispute with a russian separatist region, its sounds like Translyvannia but isn't that, can't remember exactly and due to that conflict Russia blocked the import of their wines and caused huge damage to the economy.


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

slowzuki said:


> I've heard of Moldova before, they had a huge wine producing industry. They have a long running dispute with a russian separatist region, its sounds like Translyvannia but isn't that, can't remember exactly and due to that conflict Russia blocked the import of their wines and caused huge damage to the economy.


Transitivity is part of Moldova...sort of. They consider themselves a separate nation, but the UN does not recognize them and neither do Moldovans so they are sort of caught in the middle. You are indeed right however, they are well known for their wines.

One surprising thing though, 90% of the dairy products are imported, and in the form of powdered milk at that. Yuck. The CEO and Founder of Ag Connect is a specialist in dairy farming so that area is being addressed, but they don't really have someone for sheep, so maybe that is where I will fit in. ???


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Sort of odd as you would think goats and sheep would have a long history in that area.


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## bluefarmer (Oct 10, 2010)

(Because of former socialist rule, he never once considered selling his eggs in a nearby village that did not have enough. They lack that marketing skill. They are not dumb, it is just that in a socialist world, that was done for them. They have no concept of marketing and fear a very corrupt government.).

And this is where America wants to go.... So sad


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## slowzuki (Mar 8, 2011)

Not to make this political but both trump and hilary are proposing more isolationist policies for trade. Doesn't look great for us Canadians.



bluefarmer said:


> (Because of former socialist rule, he never once considered selling his eggs in a nearby village that did not have enough. They lack that marketing skill. They are not dumb, it is just that in a socialist world, that was done for them. They have no concept of marketing and fear a very corrupt government.).
> 
> And this is where America wants to go.... So sad


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

slowzuki said:


> Not to make this political but both trump and hilary are proposing more isolationist policies for trade. Doesn't look great for us Canadians.


.

Don't worry we will still buy your peat moss.....


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## RuttedField (Apr 24, 2016)

bluefarmer said:


> (Because of former socialist rule, he never once considered selling his eggs in a nearby village that did not have enough. They lack that marketing skill. They are not dumb, it is just that in a socialist world, that was done for them. They have no concept of marketing and fear a very corrupt government.).
> 
> And this is where America wants to go.... So sad


You are absolutely right, this is what teachers are not teaching our youth.

One college professor did a study on his class on economics He told them that that he was going to grade the class by averages since this was fair. At first things went well; the high performers did what they always did and studied and did well, but they quickly realized the lazy people in the class dragged down their grades. At the same time, the low performers realized they were getting their grades pulled up by the ones studying. By the end of the semester everyone was failing because no one had any incentive to study.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)




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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Wish you the best Ruttedfield. I remember when my neighbor a retired Extension agent, was part of a group that went to South America in the early seventies to teach them how to grow soybeans more productively. Their efforts sure made a difference


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## Swv.farmer (Jan 2, 2016)

Great video.
So much truth in it.


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## PaMike (Dec 7, 2013)

endrow said:


> Wish you the best Ruttedfield. I remember when my neighbor a retired Extension agent, was part of a group that went to South America in the early seventies to teach them how to grow soybeans more productively. Their efforts sure made a difference


Information is so freely available here in the US its hard to imagine a place that doesn't have access to information of that type...We are almost on information overload here...


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