For several months now, a group of young people from Lux Church in Richmond have been coming out once a week on Tuesday mornings for mentoring and training in practical skills while volunteering on the farm. The goal of this work is to equip these young people with confidence-building life skills and to deepen their faith in the Lord in
Mentoring and training is one of our three main areas of activity. Skills training workshops are where the farm really shines. A working farm requires expertise in so many different areas, which means the necessary personnel and equipment are always on hand. Consequently, a farm makes a perfect living classroom—or natural learning center—for hands-on skills training on real, working infrastructure.
Our vision is to build TEAMS marked by true intertwining: weaving together believers from different races, churches, and denominations, while linking the farm’s five activity areas so each one connects to and circles back to the others. We’ve been praying for racial diversity to become a hallmark of our events. Charles City County is known for its three main groups—White,
This fall, we’re expanding our impact with the launch of Heaven’s Warmth, a new subsidiary of Promise Land Pastures focused on growing the Firewood Ministry. Created through prayer and a clear goal to increase our reach, Heaven’s Warmth will coordinate firewood collection, processing, and distribution while partnering with local ministries to keep families warm through winter. The core work is
When Debra and I were in the youth group at Mechanicsville Christian Center in the mid-80s, long before we were married, our youth pastor, Carter Goolsby, took the teens on a cross-country adventure to a youth rally called Youth America in Oklahoma. It was a 30-hour charter bus ride that our church co-chartered with the youth group from Lighthouse Christian
Pastor Chris Luck from the ROC and the River churches reached out to us for an opportunity to partner together on a one-day mission project for a lady who needed some help with brush clearing around her mother’s property. She is Native American and lives on the Pamunkey Reservation. Our mutual friend, Lucia Lucas. Was the person who advocated for
Our ministry’s flocks of egg-laying Australorp chickens are a vital part of our farm’s community outreach programs. Through the generous, ongoing support of Mechanicsville Christian Center, we are able to donate nearly 18,000 eggs each year to shut-ins, food-insecure individuals, and people with disabilities in our community. We provide 30 dozen eggs every week during the laying season (March–November). Our
Promise Land’s Firewood Ministry has doubled its deliveries and activity every year since we began officially operating. We have grown in the amount of firewood we’ve been able to provide, but just as importantly, we have seen significant growth in teamwork with local churches. We’ve been hosting regular men’s campfire breakfasts on the farm, where 20 or more men from
The Chickahominy Indian Tribe plays a vital role in Charles City County. As a deeply Christian community, they embody strong family bonds and a commitment to caring for one another and their neighbors. From the outset of our presence here, we’ve recognized God’s call to honor and partner with the Chickahominy people. Troy Adkins has been a steadfast ally and
We have been teaming up with Samaria Baptist Church’s “Worship on Wheels” kids’ outreach team to create sweet, delightful expressions of love for elderly shut-ins who receive our farm-fresh eggs. These children regularly visit the homes of elderly community members to encourage them. They perform worship songs, waving banners, dancing, and singing. We set up tables with art supplies for
The Sol-a-Carte is our own invention, born out of a need for backup power on the farm. We were particularly concerned about powering the well pump to support our animals during a prolonged power outage. We wanted a sustainable, quiet power source that could run indefinitely without fuel. The well is deep and requires a 240-volt (two-phase) power source, so
11 churches joined together at the Charles City High school athletic grounds to praise the Lord together in an annual event known as “Church In The Park. “ –An amazing extravaganza of fun, fellowship and joy. The brainchild of Pastor Danny Patterson of Little Elam Baptist Church, this event has had tremendous support in the community that has been steadily
We We met Helen Graham at the River Outreach Center cookout, held at the Ruthville gym complex in March. Promise Land Pastures was teaming up with the ROC crew as part of the volunteer prayer team. We introduced ourselves to Mrs. Helen and spent time talking with her about her life and needs. We learned that she had been widowed
Promise, Land Pastures Has had another successful Firewood, ministry season. We have had men from men’s ministry groups from several different area churches Help us split stack and deliver over 30 truckloads of firewood to folks in need! The firewood ministry events are really fun! Through the cooler months we have a Saturday morning event once a month.We have as
Tractor Team–6 young people from the community joined with us with a project to rebuild a 1969 Ford tractor. This was a much more challenging project than previous ones because we not only completely remanufactured the engine, we restored every aspect of the entire tractor. Rewired the electrical, repaired and repainted the body, restored the hydraulics and serviced the transmission.
It was a monumental task, but it was worth it to provide so much training to young people who got to have so much hands-on experience.
The Shepherd’s Walk Experience is a leadership and team-building activity that we offer church, ministry, or corporate groups in the setting of a real sheep farm.
Last fall and this spring, we welcomed Leadership teams from three churches and two Chick-fil-A locations for our distinctive farm-based team-building experience.
David Foeckler, had just graduated high school, and was considering working as an intern on a farm for a temporary first experience away from home before starting college.
After school classes open up a vast potential of student impact. The idea is to bring in volunteer experts who will be instructors in a class on their field of expertise once a week for four to six weeks. Then we open up these opportunities to students to come and gain valuable experience and knowledge. There is no limit to what we may be able to teach with this new system.
