From Illinois to Africa: A Farmer’s Story of Change

For Illinois farmer Ron Miller, farming has taken him far beyond the fields of Illinois.

Ron made his first mission trip to Africa in 2001, traveling to Kenya with a group of farmers from his church. They brought tractors, farm equipment and irrigation supplies to a Bible college near Lake Victoria, where access to water and productive farmland could help the school grow more of its own food.

Later, Ron returned to Africa nearly every year from 2008 through 2018, working with Foundations for Farming International in Zimbabwe. There, he taught farmers how to grow food on incredibly small plots using simple tools, mulch and locally available manure.

One experience, however, stands out above the rest.

In 2016, Ron met a young man named Elton during a farming training in a remote Zimbabwe village. Elton didn't participate much, and Ron didn't think much more about their brief meeting.

When Ron returned the following year, a young man came running toward him and gave him a big hug.

It was Elton but Ron almost didn't recognize him.

Elton had changed his appearance, gotten married, welcomed a son and was proudly caring for an immaculate little farm. Ron later learned that Elton had been struggling with drug addiction and theft before the training. The lessons he received helped him see a different path. He began farming, turned his life around and became a leader in his village.

For Ron, seeing that transformation was one of the most humbling parts of his years in Africa.

"It was encouraging to see a life which I'd been gone for a year, so I didn't see the process of his life turning around. But I saw the results," Ron says.

For a farmer, the harvest isn't always measured in bushels. Sometimes, it's measured in a life changed.