God’s Green Resourceful Earth was born in 2016 of a partnership between Bishop Tom Ochuka of Kisumu, Kenya and the Rev. Dr. Patricia Tull of Indiana. Over the years it has grown from a small tree nursery on the grounds of the bishop’s office in Kisumu to encompass an acre and a half of vegetables and, as of 2024, a 6-acre plot leased through a grant from the Power of One in Indianapolis, a trees, bees, and hens operation, and environmental education for school children, church members, and farmers in the Nyanza province of western Kenya.

Power of One Grant and 6-Acre Plot

In January 2024 we were awarded a grant from The Power of One in Indianapolis to lease five acres to plant in sugar cane and maize for economic and nutritional sustainability. However, we did not find five cultivable acres–we found six acres instead, half of which were already growing sugar cane. We have installed an irrigation system, weeded and cultivated the sugar cane, and plowed and planted maize and beans. Here are some photos of the field.

Friendship Tour in Kenya

As part of the grant, and because the Americans involved have not yet seen all the work in person since Trisha’s initial visit in January 2016, six people are traveling in September from the U.S. to Kenya. We have been preparing since the spring.

From left to right and top to bottom we are:

• Mindy Hidenfelter from Wake Forest, NC, coordinator for the Presbyterians for Earth Care, which has been supporting our efforts over the years;
• Trisha Tull, environmental theologian and GGRE partner in Henryville, Indiana;
• Dr. Sajal Sthapit, plant pathologist from Pokhara, Nepal living in Lawrence, Kansas;
• Jo Randolph, treasurer for Presbyterians for Earth Care, and Dr. Rick Randolph, a physician retired from Heart to Heart International, both living in Leawood, Kansas;
• The Rev. Mark Lynch, executive director of our fiscal partner Basic Needs, Simple Solutions of Indianapolis, Indiana;
• Bishop Tom Ochuka of the Africa Inland Church in Kisumu, Kenya, and leader of God’s Green Resourceful Earth.

We will fly into Nairobi the first weekend in September, where Tom and his spouse Damar will meet us. After breakfast and devotions each morning, we will spend three days getting to know Kenyan culture and meeting with some of the environmental organizations that partner with GGRE, in particular CIFOR-ICRAF (The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry), which supplies GGRE with tree seeds. We will then enjoy an all-day safari at Masai Mara, which is contiguous with Tanzania’s Serengeti.

From there we will travel to Kisumu, where we will meet with the presiding bishop Philip Osenya, worship with a boys’ high school and two congregations of the Africa Inland Church, visit Nyakach Dispensary, which the Presbyterian Women renovated in 2017 with a $50,000 Thank Offering grant, and see the various sites where GGRE has trees, vegetables, bees, hens (which are just now starting to lay eggs), and maize and sugarcane, and do a little bit of sightseeing. We will be bringing used computers to donate as well as supplies for some of the schools we are visiting.

Call to Action

Geometry sets are needed for high school students. We can buy them in Kenya for $2.70 each. If you would like to contribute toward some sets or toward the fall planting season for God’s Green Resourceful Earth, please mail tax-deductible donations to:

• God’s Green Resourceful Earth @ Basic and Simple
• 2116 West Washington St., Indianapolis, IN  46222

To donate through PayPal or a credit or debit card, follow this link.

To learn more about God’s Green Resourceful Earth, go here.

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