04 Sep Taking the Farm to Sierra Leone

The Oliver 1850: Before, after, and the guys who made it happen (Randy Fennig is third from the right).

Randy Fennig grew up on a farm, and earned a degree in Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. So don’t be surprised that in Sierra Leone, he’ll work in agricultural development.

You may be interested in some of the farm equipment Randy Fennig is taking to Sierra Leone.

Like the Oliver 1850 tractor. “I pretty much grew up with this tractor, and spent hundreds of hours on it. My brother hadn’t used it for probably ten years. I asked him if could renovate it and take it to Africa  with me. The guys at my home church in Portland, Ind., a United Methodist Church, made it a project and financed the renovation. They have a couple of really good mechanics. They pulled the engine, repainted the tractor, and it’s ready to go.”

He’s also taking:

• A disc, donated by the pastor’s wife at his home church.
• A chisel plow, which Randy bought at a farm auction.
• A grain drill he won on eBay.
• Corn planter units from a neighboring farmer.

“It’s mostly experimental,” Randy says. “I’m not sure where ministry will take us, but since we were sending a container, it was a good opportunity to send some machinery which might be useful. We’ll see where it goes.”