Agros Blog

As we begin the New Year, within the Agros family we join with you in looking back over this past year and ahead to the next. There have been times of great joy, great sorrow, suffering from natural disasters in the villages, celebrations of new project beginnings and quite a few land title ceremonies. It has been a full and rich year.

As a family we have experienced tremendous sorrow as we walked alongside Don Valencia and his family through his profound journey with cancer. We have seen true friendship in action from so many in Don’s community, including the Agros Board of Directors, and specifically current and former Board members Skip, Art, and Wes. So many accompanied Don and his family daily until his passing. We continue to mourn his death and celebrate his life.

There was a outpouring of solidarity within the Agros family as we traced the terrible hurricane winds, learned of the damage, and immediately there was a tremendous response to restore the lost crops, temporary housing and health of the vulnerable villagers. Thank you once again for helping all of the affected villagers make it through this unexpected natural disaster.

In the villages we have celebrated new land-owners through land title ceremonies, we’ve seen graduations for literacy achievements, we’ve cheered as university degrees were handed out to several young students from the first Agros communities in Guatemala, and we’ve seen a class of new carpenters trained at the Ixil Guatemala Training Center.

And the Agros family continues to grow! The family grew in the US through new Journey with a Village partner commitments, and through new supporters giving to the One Seed Gift Catalogue. And perhaps what is most exciting — there are more than a hundred new families in Mexico and Central America that will became part of the Agros family through new village projects soon to be launched!

What lies ahead? Land. Hope. Life! We can already see that in 2008 the growth and pace will increase, many more people will become aware of this work and come alongside to support it, and more importantly — hundreds of families will experience the dream of breaking free from poverty. We know that challenges lie ahead as well, and in the midst of it all we will continue to seek to grow in our understanding of what it takes to restore the many broken relationships that define systemic poverty. We will continue to grow in our understanding of what it takes to empower entire communities in their dreams of leaving poverty behind for good.

Join us in the journey as we seek to follow, to serve and to give thanks in all things.