{"id":397,"date":"2021-10-22T15:22:11","date_gmt":"2021-10-22T20:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/?p=397"},"modified":"2021-11-08T15:23:26","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T21:23:26","slug":"a-community-grows-its-way-out-of-poverty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/a-community-grows-its-way-out-of-poverty\/","title":{"rendered":"A Community Grows Its Way Out Of Poverty"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"vce-row-container\" data-vce-boxed-width=\"true\"><div class=\"vce-row vce-row--col-gap-30 posthead vce-row-equal-height vce-row-content--middle\" id=\"el-0559630d\" data-vce-do-apply=\"all el-0559630d\"><div class=\"vce-content-background-container\"><\/div><div class=\"vce-row-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\"><div class=\"vce-col vce-col--md-auto vce-col--xs-1 vce-col--xs-last vce-col--xs-first vce-col--sm-last vce-col--sm-first vce-col--md-first vce-col--lg-first vce-col--xl-first\" id=\"el-0080f22f\"><div class=\"vce-col-inner\" data-vce-do-apply=\"border margin background  el-0080f22f\"><div class=\"vce-col-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\" data-vce-do-apply=\"padding el-0080f22f\"><div class=\"vce-text-block\"><div class=\"vce-text-block-wrapper vce\" id=\"el-a4568c9f\" data-vce-do-apply=\"all el-a4568c9f\"><h1 style=\"text-align: center;\">A Community Grows Its Way Out Of Poverty<\/h1><h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A pastor in North Carolina has developed a farming and beekeeping operation that improves local health and helps train young people.<\/span><\/h3><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>By Bridgette A. Lacy<\/strong><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vce-col vce-col--md-auto vce-col--xs-1 vce-col--xs-last vce-col--xs-first vce-col--sm-last vce-col--sm-first vce-col--md-last vce-col--lg-last vce-col--xl-last\" id=\"el-ff853a9a\"><div class=\"vce-col-inner\" data-vce-do-apply=\"border margin background  el-ff853a9a\"><div class=\"vce-col-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\" data-vce-do-apply=\"padding el-ff853a9a\"><div class=\"vce-single-image-container vce-single-image--align-center\"><div class=\"vce vce-single-image-wrapper\" id=\"el-a603b4b3\" data-vce-do-apply=\"all el-a603b4b3\"><figure><div class=\"vce-single-image-inner vce-single-image--absolute\" style=\"padding-bottom: 100%; width: 800px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"vce-single-image vcv-lozad\" data-src=\"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bees.jpg\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"\" data-img-src=\"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bees.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"bees\" \/><noscript>\n        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"vce-single-image\" src=\"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/bees.jpg\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" alt=\"\" title=\"bees\" \/>\n      <\/noscript><\/div><figcaption hidden=\"\"><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vce-row-container\" data-vce-boxed-width=\"true\"><div class=\"vce-row vce-row--col-gap-30 vce-row-equal-height vce-row-content--top\" id=\"el-1ac33e9e\" data-vce-do-apply=\"all el-1ac33e9e\"><div class=\"vce-content-background-container\"><\/div><div class=\"vce-row-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\"><div class=\"vce-col vce-col--md-18p vce-col--xs-1 vce-col--xs-last vce-col--xs-first vce-col--sm-last vce-col--sm-first vce-col--md-first vce-col--lg-first vce-col--xl-first\" id=\"el-cb317ed9\"><div class=\"vce-col-inner\" data-vce-do-apply=\"border margin background  el-cb317ed9\"><div class=\"vce-col-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\" data-vce-do-apply=\"padding el-cb317ed9\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vce-col vce-col--md-64p vce-col--xs-1 vce-col--xs-last vce-col--xs-first vce-col--sm-last vce-col--sm-first\" id=\"el-a3aa9dcf\"><div class=\"vce-col-inner\" data-vce-do-apply=\"border margin background  el-a3aa9dcf\"><div class=\"vce-content-background-container\"><\/div><div class=\"vce-col-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\" data-vce-do-apply=\"padding el-a3aa9dcf\"><div class=\"vce-text-block bodytext\"><div class=\"vce-text-block-wrapper vce\" id=\"el-dabe1dc9\" data-vce-do-apply=\"all el-dabe1dc9\"><p>The Rev. Richard Joyner prefers delivering his sermons in the garden. Dressed in jeans and boots and armed with gloves, Joyner is surrounded by rows of collards, peppers, eggplants and okra.<\/p><p>\u201cThis is the sermon,\u201d he said, gesturing toward a field where youth from the impoverished rural North Carolina community of Conetoe are working, laughing and playing.<\/p><p>\u201cThis sermon out here -- you can experience it here. You can experience it immediately in your kitchen, and you can experience it on your table, and you can experience it in your health.<\/p><p>\u201cThat\u2019s real.\u201d<\/p><p>For the last decade, Joyner, the pastor of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Conetoe-Chapel-Missionary-Baptist-Church\/343525295674152?sk=wall\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Conetoe Chapel Missionary Baptist Church<\/a>, has been toiling in the field, providing a gracious bounty for his congregation and community.<\/p><p>He founded the&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.conetoelife.org\/description\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Conetoe Family Life Center<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that encourages gardening, healthy eating habits and exercise for men, women and children suffering from chronic diseases and malnutrition. He\u2019s also teaching the next generation of Conetoe residents how to feed themselves.<\/p><p>The 62-year-old Joyner had eulogized too many congregants who died from complications from diabetes, high blood pressure and other chronic ailments, he said. Many were men and women in their prime, folks in their 30s, 40s and 50s. He had watched their physical demise both as a pastor and as the director of pastoral care at a nearby hospital.<\/p><p>\u201cWe may not be able to afford medicine, but we can grow food,\u201d he said. \u201cThe garden is a beautiful, spiritual sanctuary that we play in, eat in, educate in and change our lives in.\u201d<\/p><p>He\u2019s won several awards for his work, including the 2014 Purpose Prize, which recognizes social innovators older than 60.<\/p><p>Joyner is a scrappy preacher, willing to roll up his sleeves and help people with their immediate problems. He keeps a change of clothes in his car, prepared for whatever work that needs to be done.<\/p><p>\u201cHe\u2019s sort of everywhere,\u201d said the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.faithandleadership.com\/allen-t-stanton-community-engagement-and-rural-church\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\">Rev. Allen T. Stanton, the rural church fellow at the Institute for Emerging Issues<\/a>. In the late 1990s, Stanton\u2019s father, Joe Stanton, worked with Joyner in homeless ministries in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.<\/p><p>\u201cRev. Joyner is at the hospital attending meetings, in downtown Rocky Mount working on community development -- I don\u2019t think he understands the profoundness of what he does. I have never met someone who embodies discipleship so selflessly,\u201d the younger Stanton said.<\/p><p>Joyner\u2019s mission right now is to feed the hungry -- physically and spiritually. Conetoe (pronounced koh-NEE-tah) is a tiny community of 300 that has been designated a \u201cfood desert.\u201d It\u2019s about 25 miles from Rocky Mount, and 8 miles from the nearest grocery store -- a long distance, especially if you don\u2019t have a car.<\/p><p>Joyner says his mandate comes from Mathew 15:32: \u201cThen Jesus called his disciples unto him, and said, I have compassion on the multitude, because they continue with me now three days, and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way\u201d (KJV).<\/p><p>His ministry isn\u2019t just about health; it\u2019s also about empowerment.<\/p><p>\u201cSpirituality is not complete until it reaches the whole person. \u2026 I think this community is wealthier than they think they are,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to reframe poverty. When the system talks about poverty, they start from what you don\u2019t have. If you start from what I don\u2019t have, you can\u2019t help me build on what I do have.\u201d<\/p><h3>Identifying abundance<\/h3><p>Joyner has a knack for identifying abundance in every form.<\/p><p>He has turned a bounty of borrowed land and a mostly youthful workforce into a small farm that harvests 50,000 pounds of produce per year, as well as 5,000 pounds of honey.<\/p><p>Conetoe residents are welcome to carry home as many sweet potatoes, eggplants and collards as they can harvest. Meanwhile, the operation also sells to local restaurants and stores. The produce is sold in Piggly Wiggly grocery stores in Edgecombe County, where Conetoe is located, and the honey in Lowes Foods stores as far away as the Research Triangle area.<\/p><p>With money from foundations and in-kind donations from businesses, Joyner gets seeds, supplies and equipment for the garden. Next, he recruits youth and retirees looking for something productive to do in the small town. The pastor knows his community on a first-name basis, along with their resources and skills. The organization has grown to the point that Joyner -- who works at Nash Health Care hosital -- needed help. Garrie Moore, a former administrator at East Carolina University, now serves as the executive director.<\/p><p>\u201cHe uses volunteers to do everything,\u201d said Michele Cherry, the manager of grants and special projects for Vidant Edgecombe Hospital. Cherry has worked with the Conetoe Family Life Center for the past five years through Vidant\u2019s grant program.<\/p><p>\u201cHe says the magic words, \u2018I really need your help. This is what I am trying to do, and I know you have the skills and the talent to help us with that.\u2019 When he approaches you like that, it\u2019s hard to say no.\u201d<\/p><p>The project began in 2005, when Joyner found three property owners willing to let him use their land for community gardens, which range in size from a quarter of an acre to 25 acres.<\/p><p>The first garden was on two acres located a quarter mile from the church. It belonged to someone who\u2019d inherited it but now lived up North, Joyner said. Instead of paying someone to mow the property, the owner turned it over to Joyner\u2019s operation.<\/p><p>\u201cI find out about opportunities, and we collaborate with each other and make it work,\u201d Joyner said.<\/p><h3>Persuading the congregation<\/h3><p>It took hard work -- and not all of it in the garden. Church members initially opposed Joyner\u2019s idea about starting a garden, Cherry said. \u201cThey are used to the pastor focusing on saving their souls, not what they are doing physically with their bodies,\u201d she said.<\/p><p>Joyner had to persuade the elders of the church that their children needed to learn how to grow produce.<\/p><p>\u201cHe had to convince the parents and grandparents that their children needed to go and work in the fields,\u201d Cherry said, explaining that the history of slave labor and sharecropping made many in the African-American community leery of the idea.<\/p><p>Joyner himself had to overcome his childhood memories of sharecropping. He grew up in Greenville, North Carolina, where his parents were sharecroppers. But he saw this as something different from the exploitative labor of the past. What he was proposing was not working for someone else. His congregation and the community would benefit by having locally grown produce to eat, he argued.<\/p><p>He also kept pointing out the harsh reality: \u201cWe\u2019re not going to get a grocery store.\u201d<\/p><p>To a congregation accustomed to serving up fried chicken, sugary drinks and collards cooked with ham hocks, Joyner kept emphasizing the same message after each funeral: church members needed to change their cooking practices and eating habits.<\/p><p>For a year, every third Sunday, a nutritionist from East Carolina University took over the pulpit and preached about eating better to change the health outcomes.<\/p><p>\u201cNow -- in a local Baptist church -- we do not serve fried foods as part of our dietary plan as a congregation and church,\u201d Joyner said. \u201cAbout 90 percent of the food served in our church comes from the garden.\u201d<\/p><p>The children embraced the message first, and today more than 60 boys and girls of all ages plant vegetables and harvest honey.<\/p><p>They roam free among the rows of earth, planting and picking, running and playing and changing the trajectory of their lives. Some are motivated by personal loss.<\/p><p>Tationa Hyman got involved in Conetoe Family Life Center because she saw it as a way to save her 37-year-old father, who suffers from Type 2 diabetes. She especially loves working in the renovated school bus that houses the beehives.<\/p><p>Tobias Hopkins, 17, came to the garden for some of the same reasons. His two uncles and a cousin, at age 50 and younger, died of strokes. Joyner\u2019s preaching has made the youth understand that these deaths might have been prevented by lifestyle changes.<\/p><p>\u201cI eat all types of vegetables, including squash, cabbage and zucchini. I\u2019ve learned how to prepare locally grown, fresh food,\u201d Hopkins said.<\/p><p>He attended a summer program at the Conetoe Family Life Center, where culinary artists teach the youth how to cook flavorful food without adding fats and sodium. Throughout the church, handouts are available on topics ranging from portion size to green tea to sodium-free herbs and spices.<\/p><p>It\u2019s all part of a ministry that has grown beyond a small church garden.<\/p><p>\u201cHe\u2019s not just growing plants; he\u2019s developing people,\u201d Cherry said.<\/p><h3>Entrepreneurship beyond the garden<\/h3><p>Joyner has been working with youth programs for years. The Rev. Roy Gray of Cedar Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Williamston, North Carolina, has worked with Joyner for more than 25 years to give youth something productive to do.<\/p><p>Gray, a former Tarboro City Council member, recalls when Joyner was a Tarboro minister recruiting business owners to use their abandoned buildings for youth-run car washes.<\/p><p>\u201cHe keeps trying to make an impact for the youth,\u201d Gray said.<\/p><p>This entrepreneurial streak has helped Joyner find and leverage partnerships all across eastern North Carolina.<\/p><p>\u201cWe don\u2019t have everything we need,\u201d Joyner said. But the blessings keep coming. \u201cPeople keep telling us where more land is, where more equipment is. They keep coming out and helping us.\u201d<\/p><p>Joyner is also able to capture the young people\u2019s attention by introducing them to the world of entrepreneurship through the farm. The Conetoe children not only work in the fields; they also act as a sales force.<\/p><p>\u201cAll of the contracts were negotiated by the youth,\u201d Joyner said. \u201cThey contact the store owners or managers and restock the shelves. \u2026 Kids learn how to do plant identification, soil testing. They are learning how to work together.\u201d<\/p><p>For the children of Conetoe, this experience gives them a glimpse into the larger world, and exposes them to a more diverse group of people than they might otherwise meet.<\/p><p>\u201cI don\u2019t want them to be afraid of people who don\u2019t look like them and talk like them,\u201d Joyner said.<\/p><p>This work helps them develop leadership and social skills, as well as real-world experience in science, math and financial planning, he said. As they take part in running the business of the farm, Joyner hopes they\u2019re preparing for life beyond it.<\/p><p>\u201cHe\u2019s a visionary,\u201d said Kahla Hall, the director of the Community Benefit Grants Program at Vidant Health. \u201cHe can see the big picture. As he goes along, it gets bigger for him. He gets started with one thing, and then he sees what that can lead to.\u201d<\/p><p>Hopkins, a high school senior, thinks of Joyner as a father figure. \u201cWhen my father stepped out, he stepped in financially and spiritually.\u201d<\/p><p>Hopkins is just one of the many youth in the Conetoe community who see Joyner as someone who is willing to go to battle for them on every front.<\/p><p>\u201cIt\u2019s about what he does. I\u2019ve seen ministers say a lot of things but don\u2019t follow up,\u201d he said. \u201cRev. Joyner gets out of his suit on Sundays and gets out there in the garden and chops weeds.\u201d<\/p><p>That\u2019s his sermon -- working in the garden with a new generation of healthy, active, hardworking youth.<\/p><p>\u201cYou have a whole community willing to grow itself out of poverty,\u201d Joyner said. \u201cIt really makes sense to me. I\u2019ve been a pastor a long time, and this is as spiritual as it gets.\u201d<\/p><h3>Questions to consider<\/h3><ul><li>Joyner says the garden \"is the sermon.\" What does that mean to you? Are there places in your ministry -- besides preaching -- that function as \"the sermon\"?<\/li><li>In what ways is your community or organization wealthier than it thinks it is? How can your leaders and members discern where their wealth lies? How can they build on it?<\/li><li>At Joyner's church, a nutritionist literally preached once a month for a year. Who else besides the pastor or the leadership could be preaching a new message to your congregation, staff or organization?<\/li><li>Part of the Conetoe Family Life Center's mission is to teach young people to live healthier lives than their elders do. What investments could your organization make to improve the lives of the younger generation?<\/li><li>One of the youth said he respects Joyner because he \"gets out of his suit on Sundays and gets out there in the garden and chops weeds.\" Do you lead solely \"from above?\" How willing are you to be involved in the difficult, mundane day-to-day tasks of your church or organization?<\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vce vce-separator-container vce-separator--align-center vce-separator--style-solid\" id=\"el-589c0bd8\" data-vce-do-apply=\"margin el-589c0bd8\"><div class=\"vce-separator vce-separator--color-bfc0c1 vce-separator--width-60 vce-separator--thickness-1\" data-vce-do-apply=\"border padding background  el-589c0bd8\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vce-text-block bodytext\"><div class=\"vce-text-block-wrapper vce\" id=\"el-f3e8d4e1\" data-vce-do-apply=\"all el-f3e8d4e1\"><p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;\">This article orginally appeared on Faith and Leadership. Used with permission.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"vce-col vce-col--md-18p vce-col--xs-1 vce-col--xs-last vce-col--xs-first vce-col--sm-last vce-col--sm-first vce-col--md-last vce-col--lg-last vce-col--xl-last\" id=\"el-bda44034\"><div class=\"vce-col-inner\" data-vce-do-apply=\"border margin background  el-bda44034\"><div class=\"vce-col-content\" data-vce-element-content=\"true\" data-vce-do-apply=\"padding el-bda44034\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Community Grows Its Way Out Of PovertyA pastor in North Carolina has developed a farming and beekeeping operation that improves local health and helps train young people.By Bridgette A. Lacy The Rev. Richard Joyner prefers delivering his sermons in the garden. Dressed in jeans and boots and armed with gloves, Joyner is surrounded by [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=397"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":460,"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/397\/revisions\/460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testimonyhq.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}