Last Saturday I joined Bisani is trying out the new V-Tractor that has been sent to us for free.  The tractor arrived with a shipment of other supplies sent by the Malawi Project a few weeks ago.  We met the manufacturer of the tractor, Tom Rich of Indianapolis, IN, on a farm so that he could show us and the recipients of another tractor just like it how to operate them.

This model, which Tom himself designed and put together, is specially designed for rural contexts in the developing world.  The "V" in the name stands for "village," so this is a "Village Tractor," simple to operate and versatile in function.  Applications such as a water tank and a plow are easily attached or detached in a matter of a few minutes, allowing this tractor to function as plow, water pump, generator, and several other applications.  It is so easy to operate that during the demonstration several people who had never been behind the wheel of any vehicle learned to use this tractor within minutes.

Such ease of operation and versatility gives us a whole new range of opportunities for service at Namikango.  We look forward to planning ways to use this tractor to serve some of the poorest and hungriest in our community.

Once again we see a demonstration of the sacrificial love that motivates people to give without expecting anything in return.  Tom Rich provided this tractor free of charge, sacrificing thousands of dollars of his own money and giving up many days of his time to put it together so that he could serve people that he didn't know in a country he had never been to before.  Dick and Suzi Stephens of the Malawi Project made sure that Namikango was one of the first recipients of these tractors and arranged shipment free of charge to us.  We see the Lord continuing to use His people to serve others here in Malawi and are amazed at His work in them.