Joy Kauffman and FARM STEW

Joy Kauffman launched FARM STEW in 2015, after witnessing the nutritional needs of many in Africa.

“I found out that farmers in Uganda were growing soybeans, but they wouldn’t give them to their children, who were dying for lack of protein,” says Kauffman, explaining the rationale of her ministry. “The truth is, they did not know how to process them.”

After launching FARM STEW—which stands for farming, attitude, rest, meals, sanitation, temperance, enterprise, and water—Kauffman and her Ugandan assistants moved fast to teach them how to incorporate soybeans into their diet in ways that were tasty and healthful while providing them opportunities to start small businesses.

“We started teaching them about soaking the beans, making tofu and soy milk, and adding the by-product of the soymilk right back into the porridge that everyone ate for breakfast,” she says. “We also told them the difference it would make to their health.”

Despite her initial success, it did not take long for Kauffman to realize that in order to make a real difference, she needed to go a step further. “So I trained people, and I hired them to start training others,” she shares. Last count, they have provided abundant-life training to more than 49,000 people.

Kauffman and her team have also developed training materials, and eventually expanded to Zimbabwe and recently to South Sudan. The ministry has worked in rural villages and urban centers, in schools and prisons. They even operate a vegan restaurant. “There’s so much we can do if we make an effort,” she says. “And we are open to see what God has still in store for us.”