BAHAMAS

Karazim Ministries serves the people of the Grand Bahamas through clothing, toiletry, home supply, and food distribution. Their primary ministry consists of the daily feeding of children and impoverished individuals and families. Karazim trains residents for economic empowerment and evangelism, but most importantly they bring the love of Jesus to the lost and disenfranchised.

For more information:
karazim.com
Raoul and Karen Armbrister
954.234.2411

THIRD WORLD AGRICULTURE – OUR PROTOTYPE

The Agricultural Development Project currently underway in the Bahamas is an effort to enable the people of the Bahamas to provide themselves with fresh vegetables as a way of providing essential vitamins and minerals that are seriously lacking in the typical starch and fat-heavy diet found in this country; this pattern of consumption is indicative of impoverished conditions, since starch and fat-based foods are cheap and readily available.

Since all imported produce is heavily taxed, most individuals cannot afford to purchase fresh produce; as an example, the cost of a single sweet pepper is roughly equal to the average daily wages of a typical worker.

This situation has become even more dire, with the downturn in tourism in the Bahamas.

Through our association with Karazim Ministries, and expertise in our congregation – Dr. David Lane who has a doctorate in plant breeding & genetics, vegetable crops, and plant pathology. We have developed a system by which vegetable transplants are produced and distributed to individuals to plant in their own small dooryard gardens. Vegetables such as pepper, squash, swiss chard, cabbage and tomato have been selected to provide the greatest amount of nutritional benefit per unit of growing space. Appropriate varieties of each crop have been grown and selected in the Bahamas for the last several years, for efficacy under their growing conditions. Water-soluble fertilizer is also distributed to individuals to use, once their plants are in the ground, since the soil itself is nutrient poor, and fertilizer is a very expensive commodity to buy. All seeds, fertilizer and misc. equipment is imported into the Bahamas duty-free.

Another facet of this project is the construction and development of a small-scale farm several acres in size, where vegetables will be grown on a much larger scale than is presently possible. Other agricultural endeavors that will be incorporated here include fruit trees, poultry, beekeeping and small livestock. This is a very labor-intense effort, as the donated land is literally being reclaimed from swamp and marsh. As additional funds become available, additional portions of the 9-acre parcel will be developed. One long-term goal of the farm is to produce more than is consumed, with the excess being sold to area restaurants and hotels, thus providing the funds needed to sustain the operation.