What will be the Outcome?

MaozIsrael
Founded by Ari & Shira Sorko-Ram
November 2007
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Another International Peace Conference:
What will be the Outcome?
Israel
Albania
Tunisia
Morocco
Libya
Algeria
Mauritania
Chad
Gambia
Burkina Faso
Sierra Leone
Syria
Iraq
Egypt
Sudan
Turkmenistan
Kuwait
Saudi
Arabia
Eritrea
Pakistan
Qatar
United Arab Emirates
Oman
Yemen
Djibouti
Nigeria
Somalia
Arab Muslim countries
Non-Arab Muslim countries (from 50% to 99%)
By Shira Sorko-Ram
A
re you ready for it? Another Middle East peace conference is about to be held at Annapolis Naval Academy in the middle to late November – or there about. Nobody
knows who is going to attend. The Palestinians claim that at
least 36 countries will be attending. On the other hand, they
Tajikistan
Afghanistan
Iran
Niger
Mali
Guinea
Lebanon
Jordan
Western
Sahara
Senegal
Azerbaijan
Turkey
Kyrgyzstan
Uzbekistan
Tiny Israel lies in a
sea of Arab Muslim
states which in turn
are neighbors to many
more non-Arab Muslim
countries. This map
does not include Asian
countries such as
Indonesia, the most
populous Islamic country in the world.
are not sure they will be there – unless Israel agrees before
hand to a long list of concessions that are existential issues
with the State of Israel.
As one Israeli journalist said, “If peace breaks out between
the Israelis and Palestinians at the Annapolis summit, I’ll eat
my hat.” (Haaretz 9Oct07)
It is good to remind oneself of the core issues – issues that
will be at the center of the conference – if, indeed, it takes
place. No doubt, God will be looking for His people to bathe
that conference in prayer.
What does Israel want to get out of this conference? That
the Palestinians stop the terrorism and recognize Israel’s
right to exist as a Jewish state.
And the Palestinians? What are they
demanding? There are three main issues. They are insisting on a Palestinian state that will include:
1. Full control over East Jerusalem, the Old City including the
Temple Mount and the Western
Wall to be under Palestinian
Muslim rule.
2. Right of return
of all Palestinian refugees to live within the
State of Israel.
3. Israel’s return to
her pre-1967 borders
(before the Six Day
War), and a hand-over
of all the land of Judea
and Samaria (the West
Bank) and Gaza to the
Palestinians as their
homeland.
Now let’s analyze
the Palestinian demands one at a time.
DEMAND ONE:
SOVEREIGNTY
OVER JERUSALEM
Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud
Olmert
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Since the days of Arafat, Palestinian politicians have maintained that
the Old City of Jerusalem is
100% Arab, always has been
and always will be. However,
since 1967, the Old City and
East Jerusalem have been under the sovereignty of Israel,
although Israel has given
over the day-to-day administration of the Temple Mount
to the Islamic Trust Wakf to
maintain peace.
In advance of the hopedfor Arab victory at the conference, the Palestinian Minister
for Jerusalem Affairs postures
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that “a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict necessarily requires the establishment of a Palestinian State with its
capital in all of east Jerusalem and any accord short of that
will not work.” (Jerusalem Post, 8Oct07)
However, the Israeli public will never permit handing
over the Western Wall to the Muslims.
Last year, a study by a liberal Israeli think tank came up
with five possible solutions for Jerusalem:
1. Israel would have sovereignty. (But the Palestinians
will not agree to that.)
2. The Palestinians would have sovereignty. (The Israelis
will not agree to that.)
3. The Old City be physically split into Arab/Jewish sections with international supervision to help monitor and settle disputes. (Very difficult to map out)
4. An Israeli/Palestinian sharing of power over the Old
City with international (U.N.) backing. (Impossibly difficult)
5. Giving the sovereignty of the historical sites to an “international body,” which would have the authority to delegate powers to both sides as it wished.
The think tank concluded that number five is the preferable and the most realistic option. (Ibid., 8Oct07) In my
thinking the only way that any of these solutions could be
enforced would be by military power.
Who cannot help but think of Zechariah’s prophetic warning 2500 years ago: And it shall happen in that day that I
will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples;
all who would heave it away will surely be cut in pieces,
though all the nations of the earth are gathered against
it. Zech. 12:3
At this juncture, the Palestinians will not agree for anyone
but themselves to rule the Old City, and Israel will not give
up the rights to the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter. So
no agreement will be made. The only chance for some kind
of forward move, says former U.S. Ambassador to Israel
Martin Indyk, is that the thorny issue of sovereignty be left
untouched since there is no solution that will be agreeable to
both sides. (Ibid.)
DEMAND TWO: RIGHTS OF
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES
Palestinians claim about 750,000 Arabs fled Israel during
the Independence War in 1948 (although there are well-documented books on how the U.N. fed and counted any Arab
who entered the U.N-run refugee camps from anywhere,
stating that it was difficult to verify where the Arabs had
come from.)
Today, this number has grown to 4.5 million, and the Arab
nations have refused to absorb them into their lands, even
though they have the same culture, religion and language
and are of the same ethnic group. Today, the Palestinians are
claiming the right for all children of such refugees to move
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into Israel proper (not just the West Bank or Gaza.)
The right of return of these Muslims into Israel is a euphemism for flooding the nation with Muslim citizens. Through
democratic means of voting in Muslim leaders – just as
Hamas was democratically voted into leadership in Gaza
– they would be able to eradicate Israel as a Jewish state. It
is a nightmare beyond comprehension, as terrorists would
overcome the state in a flash.
Determined to promote this plan, a prominent spokesman
for Palestinian refugees, Salman Abu Sitta, has sent a letter
to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas who will
be representing the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference,
saying, “What has drawn our attention more than anything is
Israel’s attempt to redefine the two-state solution. Israel now
wants mutual recognition – Israel as the national homeland
for the Jews and, on what’s left of the land, Palestine as the
national homeland of the Palestinians.” (Ibid.)
Abu Sitta called on all Arabs to reject this “new formula”
since it would mean abandoning the Arab right to all of Palestine and accepting Jewish historical and biblical claims to
the land.
Says the Jerusalem Post, “This letter is revealing because
it suggests that, for all the previous Palestinian talk of recognizing Israel and the previous ostensible embrace of the
‘two-state solution,’ this never meant either an acceptance of
the Jewish right to sovereignty in its ancient land, or even to
accepting Israel’s right not to be overwhelmed demographically by Palestinians. (Ibid.)
In short, the Palestinians’ concept of making peace is
completely different than that of Israelis, Europeans and
Americans, as they understand the word. What Sittu is saying is under the two-state arrangement Palestinians would
have their state, and Israel would have its state under the
condition that all the Palestinian refugees could come and
live there. Any way you read it, it is a formula to destroy the
Jewish state.
WHAT ABOUT ISRAELI REFUGEES?
But there is another incredibly important issue that is rarely heard – and rarely brought up, even by the government of
Israel. When the U.N. gave its approval for Israel to become
a nation, the wrath of the Arab nations was turned against
its own Jewish citizens. The New York Times on May 16,
1948 printed a banner headline, “Jews in Grave Danger in
All Moslem Lands. Nine Hundred Thousand in Africa and
Asia Face Wrath of Their Foes.”
On January 18, 1948, the president of the World Jewish
Congress Dr. Stephen Wise appealed to U.S. Secretary of
State George Marshall: “Between 800,000 and a million
Jews in the Middle East and North Africa, exclusive of Palestine, are in ‘the greatest danger of destruction’ at the hands
of Moslems being incited to holy war over the Partition of
Palestine ... Acts of violence already perpetrated, together
with those contemplated, being clearly aimed at the total
destruction of the Jews, constitute genocide, which under
the resolutions of the General Assembly is a crime against
humanity.” (http://www.spme.net/cgi-bin/facultyforum.cgi?ID=1139)
Most Jews fled with just the clothes on their back, with the
Arab nations appropriating their homes,
land and possessions. In all, 800,000
Jewish refugees fled to Israel from
Muslim countries, and the just-born
nation of about 700,000 Jews absorbed them into the tiny land of
Israel. Not a word of outcry
from any international
body about the injustice
done to these refugees.
All that to say this:
Israel will never agree
to the return of 4.5
million Muslims into
the land of Israel. So
demand number two
will not be accepted
in any way, shape or
form.
DEMAND THREE:
ISRAEL MUST
RETURN TO
PRE-1967
BORDERS
When the U.N.
General Assembly
approved the Partition Plan for creating
two states in Mandatory
Palestine on November 29, 1947, exactly 60
years ago, the Jews greeted
the resolution with singing and dancing. The Arabs
flatly rejected it and went to
war against Israel to abort her
before she was born.
The surrounding Arab
nations continued to war
against Israel and in May
1967 President Gamal Abdel Nassar of Egypt boasted
“The Arab people is firmly
resolved to wipe Israel off
the map and to restore the
honor of the Arabs of Palestine. The battle will
Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas
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be a general one and our basic objective will be to destroy
Israel.” (www.sixdaywar.co.uk)
But Israel made a pre-emptive strike and within six days
found herself in control of all the West Bank, the Golan
Heights and Gaza.
Journalist Yoel Marcus laments that even if moderate
Palestinians are prepared to divide the country today between Muslims and Jews, it is with “the
condition that they don’t pay a penny
for their idiocy, their ineptitude and
their crimes, not to mention the Jewish blood they have spilled. They
demand that we turn the clock
back, that we pay them
restitution, that we
agree to their right
of return, and so on
and so on.” (Haaretz
9Oct07)
Furthermore,
everyone knows
what happened
when
Israel
twice
unilaterally
withdrew
from land (biblically
belonging to Israel)
– southern Lebanon
and Gaza – over the
last few years. Today
both areas are terrorist territories ruled by
Hamas and Hizbullah.
From Gaza, Qassam
rockets are launched
daily into Israel’s
southern towns. This
last week, larger rockets were launched that
hit deeper into Israel’s
heartland.
So what can Israel
do to start building up
trust with her Palestinian neighbors?
The Palestinians say,
“Take away the roadblocks. They make life
very difficult for us.” Israel answers, “But we are
catching many terrorist on
their way to Israeli cities.”
Yet, hoping against hope,
but against the advice of the
President George Bush
Israeli army, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has, as a goodfaith measure, removed several roadblocks.
The Palestinians say, “Release our sons from prison.” Israel responds, “But they are in prison for killing or planning
the deaths of innocent Israeli citizens.” Yet, hoping against
hope, but against the advice of the Israeli army, several hundred prisoners have been let loose in the last few days. Everyone knows they intend to continue their interrupted work.
The Palestinians say, “Tear down the fence/wall that
you have built. It is a great inconvenience for us when we
need to visit Israel or other places in the West Bank.” Israel responds, “But have you noticed suicide bombings have
dropped to zero since terrorists have a difficult time crossing
over to Israel now?”
But have you noticed something? Have you noticed that
the Palestinians make no offers to stop terrorism or make
any kind of concessions? It seems that few do.
The man that the Americans look to for “the solution” is
President Mahmoud Abbas, head of the Fatah militants. Abbas is an extremely weak leader because his government is
incorrigibly corrupt and inept – so much so that Hamas was
able to win the elections in Gaza on the promise that they
would clean up the corruption. So much for that.
The American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice believes that because Abbas is so weak, the best thing is for Israel to make as many concessions as possible so that he can
be propped up. Ironically, this is exactly the same approach
that Arafat used.
“In fact,” says commentator Amir Oren, “Abbas is a continuation of Arafat in his exploitation of the power of weakness. The more Abbas is weakened, the more Condoleezza
Rice is willing to give him, at Israel’s expense, so he won’t
get lost entirely. (Indeed, there is fear in Israel that Hamas
will take over the West Bank, just as it did Gaza).
“The result is a shelving of the staged approach at the
heart of the [defunct] “road map,” and an agreement to Abbas’ pleas to ignore the milestones [the various phases of the
Palestinians proving they are keeping their word] and to skip
verbally to the third and last stage [when the Palestinian state
will be established].”
“The road map is actually a game of truth or consequences,” says Oren. “Each side in its turn will reveal its position
and will carry out moves on the ground to advance the bargaining toward its final aim…
“It would be encouraging, were it not for the dangerous
gap between the great expectations and the helplessness of
Abbas and of his prime minister, Salam Fayad, a good guy
and a talented economist…[but] not a national leader for a
crucial period.” (Haaretz, 25Sept07)
“I find it hard,” says columnist Yoel Marcus, “ to imagine
Abu Mazen [Abbas] putting his foot down in Gaza, halting
terror, dissolving the terrorist organizations and ending the
Qassam rocket fire.” (Haaretz 9Oct07)
Then too, Prime Minister Olmert is himself in a very weak
position and must pacify his right-wing parties in his coalition to stay in power. To protect his own rear guard, he has
duly promised them that he will not withdraw from any West
Bank land (Judea and Samaria) unless Palestinian terrorism is
stopped. (Ibid.) But terror hasn’t stopped in forty years, and
none of the terrorists are promising they’re going to stop now.
But let’s imagine that terrorism did stop. Can you imagine Olmert moving 250,000 Israelis out of the West Bank?
Even if somehow he were to make an agreement with the
Palestinians to keep the larger towns in the West Bank and
exchange them for land in Galilee where there are Arab
towns, he would still have to move many thousands of Israelis out of their homes spread across mountains of Judea and
Samaria in small villages.
Here is the reality. The nation was traumatized when
16,000 Israelis were forced out of Gaza, and most of those
who were evacuated a year and a half ago are still in temporary housing, without jobs, and don’t know if they will ever
have the chance to regain their livelihood. I can’t imagine
how any prime minister in Israel could pull that off in the
West Bank and stay in office. Israel, they say, is a bone in
their throat.
So why is Israel still so keen to create a Palestinian state?
Israel’s leaders feel that the longer the world sees the Jewish state as occupiers, the more the western world will turn
against her. Today there is no other democratic country that
rules another people except Israel.
Do you want to know how the majority of Israeli people really feel? They wish –“if only the Arabs would stop the terrorism and recognize Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state…
we would give them a state on a silver platter.” And if Israelis
really thought there would be genuine peace, then the whole
nation would rise up and make incredible sacrifices….
But the Israeli people have little hope that Arab Muslims
will make peace with Israel no matter what she does. Israel understands that is simply “against their religion.” The
Jewish people know that Muslims believe they will one day
conquer the world – and that can’t be done without first disposing of Israel.
Senior Defense Ministry officials said it is likely that Israel would not be able to deliver what the Palestinians are
demanding and, as a result, the summit could fail even before it begins.
According to journalist Yaakov Katz, the Europeans have
also begun to acknowledge this possibility and are pressuring the U.S. to hold the summit “no matter what” so as not to
appear to fail in the face of the world and particularly Hamas
in the Gaza Strip. (Ibid., 5Oct07) No doubt, the U.S. and Europe will use every persuasive tool available to them to get
Israel and the Palestinians to the negotiating table where
arms will be twisted.
Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu, who is completely
against the conference and the concessions Olmert says he is
planning to offer, has lashed out at the government’s policy.
Giving Hamas half of Jerusalem will make the rest of Jerusalem unlivable, “ Netanyahu said. “Giving up Judea and Samaria will transfer the areas controlling the coastal plain into
the hands of Hamas, leading to Qassams…on Tel Aviv.”
Netanyahu claims that Israel is placing all its cards on the
table, a move that only causes the Palestinians to pressure
Israel to continue making more concessions. “Olmert will
place Hamas men on the walls of Jerusalem,” he warned.
“Jerusalem will fast become a pilgrimage site for terrorists from all
over the world.” (Ibid., 8Oct07)
There is now much talk by Palestinians and Israelis about a third
intifada if the conference fails.
Hopefully, we are not in for another round of war and terror.
But for sure we are not going
to have a peace agreement.
Yet... all the Palestinians
have to do is just stop the
terror! But, say the Palestinians, “Why should we?
We are winning.”
I will gather all nations…
There I will enter into judgment
against them
Concerning my
inheritance, my
people Israel,
For
they
scattered my
people among
the nations
And divided up my land.
Joel 3:2
Yes, this is a dangerous time
for the U.S. God has made his
will known concerning the Land
belonging to Israel:
Surely I have spoken in My
burning jealousy against the
rest of the nations and against
all Edom, who gave My land
to themselves as a possession, with wholehearted joy
and spiteful minds, in order
to plunder its open country.
Ezekiel 36:5
Prayer is a powerful weapon
against the intentions of the evil
one. Keep alert to the unfolding of this conference.
Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice
Africa: What’s
the Problem?
By Shira Sorko-Ram
Burkina Faso. Here we go again! Praying and working toward seeing the “impossible” – believing that God has planted deep in our hearts the vision to help pull the third poorest country in the whole world out of its poverty!
Across the middle of Africa are many of the world’s poorest
nations. Twenty-five nations below the Sahara desert have
the curse of stagnated economies – with their people getting
poorer and hungrier every year.
a
The land in Burkina Faso lies fallow during the dry season – seven or eight months of the year.
This reality must be integrated with the fact that over the
last two decades so many billions in aid have been given to
Africa that no one seems to know just how much – the low
estimates are $200 billion! Western countries have promised $25 billion, each year over the next ten years.
Yet, of the approximate billion people on earth that suffer
from malnutrition, half live in the sub-Sahara nations. And,
according to the 2005 U.N. Human Development Report, 15
of the 31 countries at the bottom of economic development,
and which the U.N. labels “Low Human Development,” are
French-speaking African countries.
Burkina Faso, French speaking, land locked, with few
natural resources, is third from the bottom – just above
Sierra Leon which was destroyed by an unimaginable 10year war fought by thousands of child soldiers. The poorest of all countries is Burkina’s French-speaking neighbor,
Niger.
The world famous economist, Jeffrey Sachs, states, “The
idea that African failure is due to African poor governance
is one of the great myths of our time. They can’t get out
of the hole on their own. If we don’t take a different approach, we will not only see certain collapse; we will see a
catastrophic downward spiral of violence.” (New York Times
7Nov.04)
While the great thinkers try to figure out what to do, we
believe God has given us a practical plan to help the country
of Burkina Faso out of their poverty! Perhaps this sounds
like “chutzpah,” but there is a key that Sachs and the world
thinkers have never thought of. Let me explain.
DEVELOPING THE PLAN
We sat down during the High Holidays in Israel with Ram
Zango, a strong and respected spiritual leader in Burkina
Faso and Shlomo Sasson, our Israeli agriculture expert, an
Orthodox Jew, who has already spent one year in Burkina
working on the project now called West Africa Initiative.
(check the website www.westafricainitiative.org!)
Shlomo outlined the challenges and the opportunities in
this land of 13,500,000 souls living in an area the size of
Colorado. According to the same U.N. report the average
Burkinabe makes $345.00 per year, slightly less than $1.00
a day, though his estimated buying power is about $3.20 per
day. About 86% of the population are farmers. This kind of
wage equals poverty, poverty, poverty.
In practical terms this means during the rainy season (if
there is not drought) they grow food for about four months.
They store what they grow in make-shift mud huts, and hope
that the food will last until the next rainy season. Only three
out of four children make it past their fifth birthday.
So what is the root problem?
Are the Burkinabe people lazy? Actually Burkinabe have
the reputation in Africa of being hard workers. Other countries like to hire them because of their industrious nature.
Is there not enough water? Believe it or not, different
nations around the world have funded a number of dams
throughout the country, thereby making available considerable amounts of water for farming.
Local Burkinabe pastors in Northern Burkina asked Ari, together with Ram Zango, to pray that a Christian agriculture community would be established there. A new dam has been built by foreign government funds, but the adjacent land has not been
cultivated because of lack of irrigation know-how. The government has offered free land for an Agriculture Training Center.
Is there a lack of arable land? There is much undeveloped
land which could be used for agriculture, but now lies dormant.
Then, if there is land, water and people who are industrious and willing to work, what is the problem?
One word. Knowledge. There is an extreme lack of agriculture know-how on the most basic level. We asked Shlomo to give us examples of ineffective farming and here are
his comments.
Today, except for very few exceptions, Burkina Faso has
two methods of irrigation. The first is with a bucket. The
second is “flooding” where the water runs by gravity from
one of the dams and actually floods the land. Those living
near a lake can thus “irrigate” their crops. But this method
is devastating to the land and over time will literally destroy
its capacity to produce.
The type of soil in Burkina is predominately clay and has
a very slow rate of water absorption. So when the soil is
flooded and fertilizers have been applied, most of the water
evaporates leaving the majority of the fertilizer on the top
soil in the form of salts. (Almost all year around there is
extreme heat 95° – 100°, which can even reach 115°). This
leaves the soils increasingly unusable and crop productivity
decreases by the year.
As the land becomes less fertile, the farmers, not knowing
why, try, if possible, to add extra land to keep their productivity up, but continue to use the same methods. Of course
they are simply creating more saline soils. But what can
they do? Up until now they have known no other alternative
to water their fields.
Shlomo explained to us that the Burkinabe farmers (and
farmers of other surrounding French-speaking countries) do
not know…
-
how much water to use for different crops
-
which type of fertilizer to use for which crop
-
when to apply the fertilizer
-
how to identify diseases or insects
-
how to prepare the soil according to the requirements of a specific plant.
they have no expertise in modern irrigation methods –
even the most basic techniques are unknown to them.
Has the Burkinabe government not tried to help its farmers? The answer is, as much as they could. But a number of
Israeli agriculture experts have told us that all over the developing countries, when governments try to develop a project, it
fails as soon as the experts leave. Employees paid by the government to farm, whether they are local overseers or workers,
lack the resourcefulness to produce maximally; they are paid
the same amount regardless of the productivity. And government agencies everywhere inherently have deep pockets that
gobble up the funds no matter how good their intentions are.
There is an Answer!
But here is the key to bring agriculture success to Burkina
Faso, so obvious, but so hidden from the world! According
to pastors in Burkina Faso, the number of Evangelicals there
has reached about 10% of the population – around 1,300,000
believers. Charisma magazine in the January 2005 issue
Ram Zango
dreams a
dream
noted that Burkina has one of the fastest growing churches
on the globe.
The work ethic and character of born-again Christians as
a whole is on a completely different level than that of those
without a relationship with the God of the Bible.
It is for these evangelical farmers that Ram Zango and
Shlomo Sasson are creating a model Agriculture Training
Farm near the capital of Ouagadougou.
On this farm selected Christian farmers will be taught in
a one-year program to grow fine quality produce and much
higher yields. They will learn how to…
- grow and transplant seedlings to the field
- fertilize properly
- treat plant diseases and pests
- know when to plant and know what to plant
- market their produce and package it
- incorporate modern techniques for rain-fed farming
- use irrigation techniques, and much more
Their time of study and work in the Agriculture Training
Center will give them two and a half cycles of planting and
harvesting experience.
The farmer will then be able to cultivate his own property
In 2002, Maoz Israel Ministries received an
incredible offering of over $4,000 from believers
in the West African country of Burkina Faso, the
third poorest country in the world, according to
U.N. Human Development Report of 2005. The
believers sent the offering after being taught by
local Minister Ram Zango that if they would bless
Israel God had promised to bless them.
After traveling to Burkina Faso, we, in cooperation with Gateway Church in Southlake,
Texas, began a program that would create a
model Agriculture Training Center where the
Christian farmers of Burkina Faso would be
taught Israeli agriculture technology for desert
and semi-desert farming.
This year Maoz contributors have enabled us
to send $5,000 per month for the project, plus we
were able to purchase a badly needed pickup
truck. Though the beginning of this program is
small, it ultimately has the possibility of raising
the standard of living for the farmers that would
be revolutionary. It has caught the attention
of Burkina’s Prime Minister who told Gateway
representatives that he is behind us because of
our vision to serve and empower the people of
Burkina Faso to become self sufficient.
The model Agriculture Training Center with its
first 45 acres is located in an ideal area (for marketing purposes) near Ouagadougou the capital.
We are now edging closer to getting the Center
up and running in the next couple of months.
with his new skills. A trainer working under the supervision
of Shlomo will be overseeing the farmer for five years. After
that, he will be on his own and will be producing up to four
or five times (depending on the crop) what he was able to do
without the know-how. And the crops will be of a quality
not yet seen in Burkina Faso!
To enable the farmer to use his new technology, he will
receive an interest-free loan to buy basic irrigation equipment and farming tools; he will pay back 20% of the loan
a year, over a five year period. The Agriculture Training
Center will market the crops and deduct the loan repayment
from his profits.
Since farmers usually own only an acre or two, the cost
of outfitting them in irrigation equipment will not be impossible to fund as organizations see what these farmers are able
to produce.
Shlomo estimates that for each acre a farmer could make
a profit of around $4,000 a year! Instead of $345! That is
a revolution!
Already there are secular funding organizations that have
shown interest in the program, but we must get the first crops
planted and harvested so they can see the viability of investcon’t on page 12
Preparations for the
Agriculture Training Center
What has already been done over the last 12 months?
1. Ram Zango, together with Maoz and Gateway Church,
commissioned Shlomo Sasson to prepare a master plan for
creating a model Agriculture Training Center in Burkina
Faso to train Christian farmers the techniques necessary for
modern farming.
2. Shlomo visited many areas in Burkina, spoke with
farmers, met with Ministry of Agriculture officials and research workers, and visited market places and local distributors of agriculture produce.
3. After gathering all the required information, Ram and
Shlomo met together with Ari and Shira and Maoz’ Israeli
accountant, Itsik Issan, and brainstormed, detecting and dissecting the core problems in Burkina and crystallizing the
ideas that would be the appropriate solutions in the formulation of the project.
4. Shlomo drew up a master plan, and again there was
another meeting in Israel to discuss every aspect of the program, sharpening and refining the plan.
6. Meanwhile Ram and Shlomo met often with the Burkinabe Agriculture Minister and other government officials,
and a delegation from Gateway met together with Prime
Minister Tertius Zongo. The Agriculture Training Center
was made an official project with approval and backing of
the Burkinabe government with many benefits such as free
land and tax free imports.
7. The Israeli government has also extended its hand to
help with the project and will be sending Israeli farming experts in specific areas to give seminars to the farmers selected for training.
8. Several different pieces of property were offered by the
Burkinabe government. A decision was made on the optimal
location for the project site. Land acquisition was made and
the physical planning of the project site undertaken.
9. Meanwhile, Shlomo, who is not only a very experienced technical agriculturalist, but a fantastic teacher, began
Shlomo Sasson teaches his future overseers
training five future trainers (overseers) in Burkina.
10. Maoz provided airfare for several Burkinabe managers/trainees to Israel to take courses of two to four weeks offered by the Israeli government to introduce them to hi-tech
agriculture concepts and the possibilities for much higher productivity.
11. The land was cleared and leveled. An existing small
water reservoir was deepened and inner roads were built. A
“precrop” was sown to create “green manure” (in order to
enrich the soil with nitrogen and organic matter).
13. Shlomo shopped on four continents for the best prices
and products for the project’s needs. He bought drip lines
from Italy, tractor and farm machinery from USA, nursery
structure from Burkina Faso. As money is received for the
last container needed, he will buy pumps, filters, and irrigation main pipes from Israel and Ghana.
14. At this moment, Shlomo is building the nursery installation for the seedlings.
Within the next few weeks, as funds become available,
the following will be done:
A. An electrical power line will be connected to the farm
B. Water connection will be made. C. A pumping station installed. D. The farming equipment in the first two containers will shortly arrive. E. Preliminary storage facilities will
be built using 40 foot containers. F. An elevated water tank
will be installed for the nursery and basic logistical center.
We already have $35,000 of the $108,000 needed for the
above. The program’s last hurdle will be to purchase a container of irrigation equipment. The cost is $181,500. And
then we will be up and running!
Shlomo estimates that in the first year of crops the farm will
clear $300,000 with the sale of the produce! This money will
be used to expand the logistics center, storage space, the fencing, different types of greenhouses – which will enable the
farm to teach further techniques – and the oxygenizers for the
water reservoir that will be used as a commercial fish pond.
Everything that has happened with this farm is a miracle.
Already, close to $300,000 has been invested in the farm!
Now that’s a miracle! And God will continue to use his people with small and large gifts to see this Agriculture Training
Center come to life!
And meets with Agriculture Ministry officials.
from page 10
ing in this program.
Even in Burkina’s great poverty, Ram Zango believes the
blessing of God is already being manifested in his land:
- Unlike so much of Africa, there are no wars in Burkina!
- Even though half of the Burkinabe people are Muslim,
they are not of the aggressive type, and there is no persecution against the Christians.
- The 30% who are pagan are being reached through the
message of salvation and many miracles.
- Many Burkinabe Catholics have been touched by the
Charismatic movement and have heard Reinhardt Bonke
preach and thus understand Biblical salvation.
- The government authorities are benign and the President is Catholic. They are thoroughly behind Ram Zango
and the West Africa Initiative. The government has given
the land for the program, and has promised as much land
throughout the country the program can use for the future.
It has given WAI rights to bring in all the farming equipment needed tax free.
God has prepared this little country, among the poorest
in the world, to be a light. By training the Christians farming techniques perfected in Israel, we see the possibility of
economic revolution in the country – with the Christians
leading the way!
Shlomo exclaims passionately, “Imagine if we are able to
establish 10 centers throughout Burkina, what impact this
will have on the national economy! What it will do to break
the back of the omnipresent poverty!”
But there is more! There are no less than 18 Frenchspeaking countries in Africa. A strengthened and prosperous
French-speaking Christian church in Burkina Faso, a living
example of what the power of the God of Israel can do, has
a vast mission field of Muslims and pagans it can reach. A
mission field that is one of the least reachable by the English-speaking West because of the language barrier!
Who but God could think of such a plan!
For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven,
And do not return there without watering the earth,
And making it bear and sprout,
And furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater;
So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me empty,
Without accomplishing what I desire,
And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.
Isaiah 55:9-11
I will bless those who bless you.
Christians from a local church in Ouagadougou
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