When Mustafa Njoloi looks at the patch of arid land he owns in Kenya’s Kinango district, he doesn’t see the cracked patches of red soil, nor does he notice the whirlwinds of dust that sweep by as he labors.

Instead, as he gazes across this dry expanse, his squinted eyes see life—three irrigated acres filled with rows of kale, onions, maize, tomatoes, gourds, and other vegetables. They’re just not there yet; right now, everything he has lies within half an acre. But he can imagine it expanding and knows there are days of work ahead of him. It’s a challenge his calloused hands don’t dread.

Mustafa is a man who hasn’t always known this kind of work ethic. He used to be lazy, he says, living in a lean-to with a roof made of rotting grass. His marriage was falling apart, and there was no peace in his home.

He spent his days teaching Arabic at a local primary school. But in the evenings, Mustafa never bothered to help his wife in the garden or care for the family’s animals.

When Samaritan’s Purse staff members came to his village—now deeply affected by drought—Mustafa was skeptical of their intentions. The team brought bio-sand water filters, dug a well, and constructed latrines to keep villagers from sickness. They also planted trees and showed the people how irrigation systems could make their dry dirt bountiful.

At first, Mustafa didn’t want the staff’s help.

“I had hatred in my heart and didn’t want to have anything to do with Christ,” he said.

But the more Mustafa interacted with the staff, the more he began to like them. He saw their love for one another and his community. He saw how they freely gave their time and resources to help bring clean water, irrigation systems, and agricultural training to improve small-scale farming practices.

After a year had passed, Mustafa began to help them and was trained as a bio-sand water filter technician. Then he started asking questions about Jesus and the Bible.

“He came to Christ by himself,” Samaritan’s Purse staff member Robinson Masongo said. “We knew he was sincere in his faith because when his neighbors would no longer give him food because he was a Christian, he told them, ‘Give the food to someone else, because I will not go hungry.’”

Mustafa was the village’s first Christian.

“In Christ, there is love,” he said. “That’s what made me change.”

His wife began noticing differences in his behavior.

“I learned it was important for my wife and me to share things, like income,” he said. “My changed behavior made my wife change, too. There had been problems in our home, now we have solved them through Christ.”

Samaritan’s Purse is continuing to work with Mustafa, helping him to expand his farm and providing one-on-one discipleship.

Their labor is already bearing fruit.

Mustafa’s farm is yielding crops, which have supplied his wife and six children with food and enough additional income to build a better home and purchase a cow. Mustafa’s passion for the Gospel has also led many of his friends to accept Christ as their Savior.

And once he’s able to expand the farm, Mustafa will use the extra food to support a pastor and small congregation in a nearby village, to help the poor, and to feed students at a local secondary school.

“Jesus said that when you receive me, nothing is impossible,” he said. “I am very grateful that Jesus has done something in my life. I now share Christ with my village.”

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Samaritan's Purse , Kenya , Food and Water , Agricultural Projects Bear Spiritual Fruit