Life as Mission, Farming as Mission

All this time later, and I thought it should do us well to plant.

We had traveled over oceans, deserts and desires and have now refined our love; life as mission. Life as mission answers so many things, but the one thing it answers is: how can I make a massive impact, right here, right now, and feel fulfilled doing it?

Life as Mission is the answer.

How does one perform it? Is foreign missions forsaken? Not for a minute. Is local missions the locus of my attention? Yes and no.

Life as mission is not a method. It is not a technique, tactic, or transition to something greater.

Life as mission is simple. It is life intentionally. It is looking at each day, totally and completely, as an abundant ministry opportunity.

• Do you find yourself at the espresso machine serving coffee to customers? Gusto is far better fraternization than a frown.
• Do you find yourself on the foreign mission field? Smile, enjoy the distance from the pace of mankind and enjoy the pace of the world; then serve.
• Do you find yourself returning, oh returning, from the mission field? Accept the blessings you find, and turn them, turn them!, into something grand.

We find ourselves in the middle of discovering a new level of Life as Mission. We have astounding opportunities both here and in Haiti (and some elsewhere we still have yet to have time to chase down.)

For us, Life as Mission is becoming Farming as Mission (you heard it here first. I am trademarking it, and writing a book about it now!)

+Nate Mundell & +Adam Whelchel,
community, setting up raised beds.

Planting seed. 
Sowing seed.
Tending the sprouts.
Weeding the choking weeds.
Waiting and tending.
Watering, but not too much.
Chasing away the crows that may eat up the seed.

The metaphors are endless, with Farming as Mission. I dare tell you that it is only now, as I plant, water, weed, wait, and harvest, that I understand anything at all about the hidden messages of our messiah; written in an Agrarian Age for those who would farm their meanings.

Our budding blueberry bush!

Our foreign mission is moving forward. But only as I see our life lived as mission. I plant and water and grow our food, and we harvest self-reliance. In so doing, our soil is better and better, in fact a total re-invigoration of the land, for the next season; which will certainly be a season for the foreign mission.

And the pace! The pace! Hardly the hours. We choose to live our life in seasons, not in minutes.

Life as Missions lends itself to all of this. Farming as Mission ever more so.

#farmingasmission #growufarms #rookiemissionary

My MANIFESTO, At Last & Things That Wake Me Up At Night

I woke up at 3:00 a.m. It is not often that I do, so when I do, I take notice.

This was not the typical "myeh, I rolled over, noticed the time, and fell back to sleep." This was a full blown wake up call; get dressed, pack up the computer, and head to Starbucks for a coffee press.

I have been fully convicted about writing.

Dabbling in a variety of things, seeing some success in a few of them, and receiving massive breakthroughs in our Grow University (farming as mission, the stateside version of our Haiti work, PhilanTropics), I have consciously been avoiding the thing I really want to do most; Write and Launch a Generation of Mission-Minded Individuals Through My Writing.

You see, while on the mission field, I spent massive amounts of time writing one particular piece. This is the project that I am most proud of to date. I believe that it is a powder keg, full of explosive, powerful content. This piece has been on my mind. It has actually been finished for some time. And I am here to give it to you.

This is that piece, and it is my gift to you.

I went through the normal procrastination.

• "My site is not perfect."
• "The links do not go where I want them to go."
• "Do I have enough content to serve people if the masses arrive?"
• "Marissa, could you read it again?"

Enough! I have to ship it. I cannot hold onto it any more.

Thus, my wake up call this morning and my total conviction to return to writing about missions and let the rest of the pieces fall where they may.

 Get The Rookie Missionary Manifesto
at RookieMissionary.com.

Without further ado, here is the Rookie Missionary Manifesto.

I wanted to have a massive launch party. I wanted to get all of my network to help me spread the word on it. I wanted to have back-room deals to make it a sizzling Manifesto-of-the-hour. ENOUGH!

I am just shipping it. Let those who love it, love it. Let those who don't continue sleeping.

What you will learn from this powerful and passionately written manifesto:

• The Wake Up Call For All Of Us
• The Single Most Important Thing For You To Know
• Your Most Crucial Moment in History
• Actions To Take Right Now To Make An Impact & Save The World
• 7 Gifts From Our Mission To Yours

Please, keep a few things in mind:

It is not for everyone.

I sincerely believe that some of you may be irritated by some of the things I write. Others may be bored with it. But, for those who are ready to launch into a life of missions, I think it will make you tingle.

It will challenge a few of our beliefs.

The mission field challenges the missionaries core beliefs. That's because most of the things a rookie missionary believes are, well, rubbish. That is what we found. So The Manifesto reflects this.

It is full of passion and, thus, could chap a little.

I cannot tell you how pumped I was in every minute I wrote the Manifesto. Sparkles ripple through my skin. Lightning shoots through me. When I get excited like this, I get a little pushy. Do not take it personally. Passion makes me lose sight a little bit, admittedly.

It is not about theology.

Do not come seeking any new theological revelations. I am not interested in theology. I think much of it is bunk. (Much, not all.) I am more interested in theoginosko (yeah, I just made that up; you heard it here first); the revelation of knowing WHO God is.

If you can accept these things, then I would love for you to read this awesome manifesto and tell me what you think. Be sure to download it and print it off. I think you will get a ton more out of it that way.

If the Manifesto is of any value to you, please comment on the page you downloaded it and share the page with a friend or two who you think needs to hear about it to launch their rookie missionary journey.

Gratefully,

Grant!

Starting a Farm, Community Blessings, & God's Training Business

So, we set out on starting a farm.

Well, not exactly that simply, and not exactly that way.

Marissa and I have been on the path to sustainability for some time. We have explored our lives here in the U.S., launching a life of mission. We took our new skills and knowledge of building homes out of recycled materials to the island of Hispaniola. We explored if we could help there and we found that we could.

You see, this last week, it was confirmed by our friends, Sadrac and Leenn Innocent, that we could obtain at least 12 acres in Haiti around Sadrac's village, north of Port-au-Prince. The mayor affirmed her commitment to us being there and will give us clear title to the land. This is huge for us and the first major step of a life of builsing sustainable living solutions for the poor.

Sadrac & Leeann working
at Monkey Jungle
 in Sosua, Dominican Republic.

In short, the homes we build:

• Provide water for those that lack clean water,
• Provide food for the starving and hungry,
• Provide solid shelter for the homeless, and
• Clean waste on site for the cholera-ridden.

We love this solution. It is simple. It hits the major areas of poverty with one solution. It leverages donor dollars and actually solves poverty with one action.

So, Marissa and I returned to the U.S. to build up the State-side part of our organization, PhilanTropics Foundation. We returned to a renewed vigor for our cause and refreshing thing we did not expect; an active community and desirous team.

You see, we connected with Nate and Ida Mundell who were thrilled in their own lives for sustainable living solutions; simple ways to save money, live on less, to take back more of their free time for the things they love. Their family, their children, and their friends discussed a passion to experience more of the same, including benefiting from our solutions for the development field.

• Marissa and I wanted to build a demonstration model here, in the U.S., to show potential donors what we were doing in Haiti.
• The community wanted to live the innovations and solutions themselves.
• Marissa and I wanted a community to live these principles out with.
• The community here needed someone to pioneer the way.
• Marissa and I wanted it to have a truly Glocal ethos; helping local communities WHILE enabling more help for the foreign mission field.
• The community here, Nate and Ida, Jeff and Kim Hanshaw, Adam Whelchel, and so many more had done ministry or missions, saw the value, AND wanted to make a massive difference right here at home.

It is a perfect fit. So, we are launching a farm.

We briefly put "Pick U: Where You Pick" out there and quickly decided that did not say what we wanted to say. We landed on Grow University Farms; "Grow U".

More to come on this, but it is the natural evolution of the ministry mentality; serve where you are at. It is truly "Think Global, Act Local."

As All This Grows

Marissa doin' what she loves.

I am astounded at what God has done, truly. Marissa and I traveled for what seems like forever, found where we can make a difference (Hispaniola), and have returned to be as prosperous as ever.

• God granted that Marissa could work at her passion; teaching dive instructing. 
• This allows me to stay home, build up the non-profit, and find partners such as the Mundells, the Hanshaws, Adam, land partners and financial partners.
• God has granted that, out of the blue, my training business is exploding. People want to know about Customer Service, I guess, and I have a proprietary way to do that.

Me training at a MOPS meeting.

We are blessed and prosperous all around. God's word is coming to pass.

We are excited to be on this path. Please let us know if you want to partner. Stay tuned for more updates. And watch for our "Rookie Missionary Manifesto" coming out in the next few days!

Be Blessed,

Grant R. Nieddu

A Paradigm of Paralysis 2: Dirt Diggin'

You see, there was another guy standing on the shore. He watched the old man set out and fade to a speck on the shore. He wondered what the other shore looked like. He saw all the interesting unique trinkets the first man would return with. He didn't want the trinkets himself; he wanted to see the world that created such unique interesting things.

This is a lesson in itself. People in general do not want the trinkets; the latest gadgets, the run-way model clothes, the Bughatti Veyron. They are more intrigued with the life that was able to obtain them.

This second man, decided that he too would set off and follow the man. So, he hopped in a boat, grabbed the oars, and dug in.

He drove the oars hard; they resisted with every stroke. The first man had made it look so easy. The second manwatched the shore; it refused to fade. It was the same as when he first started. The first man had drifted to the horizon so quickly.

The man's sweat soaked his shirt. He would glance furtively over his shoulder to see if he was catching up with the first man. He would glance at the shore and see that he was not making any progress.

This would certainly be frustrating for any of us. 

But it was especially frustrating for the man when his neighbor sauntered by and mocked, "When are you going to put that boat in the water?"

Though this could be a lesson on choosing a career, putting your efforts to the right work, it is, for now, merely a lesson on paradigm.

[Continued...]