Equipped to Serve

Past ECHO intern, Mike Fennema, reflects on his year spent working on the ECHO Florida farm and how that has influenced the past 30 years of his life and his work.

Growing up on a dairy farm in Canada, Mike Fennema’s father had hoped he would take over the farm one day, but the lifelong calling to serve others sent him in a different direction.

 “God had always put it on my heart to be involved in development work overseas,” Fennema said.

While studying temperate agriculture at Dordt University in Iowa, a staff member from ECHO came to speak at the university. Fennema was immediately interested in learning more about an organization that was combining agriculture and missions. The desire to be involved in what ECHO was doing grew after speaking with the staff member. In 1990, Fennema became the first Canadian to ever intern at ECHO Global Demonstration and Research Farm in Florida. 

“God had always put it on my heart to be involved in development work overseas”
Mike Fennema

When he arrived at ECHO Florida, Fennema did not have a lot of experience with tropical agriculture. The process of learning how to work in this new environment was foreign yet exciting. 

“One of the most important things of my time at ECHO was getting a deeper understanding of tropical agriculture,” Fennema said. “It was a good experience of getting exposure to a wide variety of innovations.” 

 In addition to the knowledge of tropical agriculture, the connections and relationships built were an influential legacy of his year with ECHO. For years, ECHO has helped farmers all over the world by answering the agricultural questions that they submit. It wasn’t until after leaving ECHO that he fully realized just how important those connections are... and would be for years to come. 

Fennema began to work with World Renew, an organization dedicated to ending global poverty. Upon meeting his colleagues, one of the names sounded familiar: Tom Post. Fennema realized that Post was someone who had submitted a question he and other ECHO colleagues had answered. Now years later, Post was Fennema’s boss. 

“It was one of those full circle moments,” Fennema said. “A reminder that one of the really neat things about working with ECHO is being exposed to such a wide variety of different people, working and doing different things with agriculture around the world.”

Fennema continues to put his heart into what God has called him to do. He will always be grateful for the experience he gained in tropical agriculture and the connections made with people all over the world because of ECHO. Since his ECHO internship, Fennema has served for more than 30 years with farming families around the world.

Since his ECHO internship, Fennema has served for more than 30 years with farming families around the world.

Go to: http://www.echonet.org/give
to learn more!

Next Story

Extraordinary Plants: Tamarind

While bearing large quantities of delicious fruit, the tamarind still remains one of the lesser known tropical fruit trees in Florida.
Feature

Planting Seeds of God’s Love

For many school children in rural Thailand, the Kid Farmers Club at school provides them with an introduction to God’s love, a sense of purpose, and delicious fresh vegetables.

From David Erickson, President/CEO

There’s a LOT going on! As I previewed this issue of<i>ECHO News</i>, I came away with a fresh awareness of the many needs, challenges, and opportunities facing small-scale farming families — all of which give rise to many options and considerations.

First Intern Cohort Earns Graduate Certificate

The first cohort of ECHO Interns in the newly accredited program complete their program this month and receive Graduate Certificates in Tropical Agricultural Development.
In Their Own Words

In Their Own Words: Ruth Charles Kirimbai

In 2018, ECHO was looking for collaborators to test biogas technologies in Tanzanian homes. Ruth Charles Kirimbai was a willing innovator, eager to try a digester on her farm. Four years have passed since her biogas system was installed. In March 2022, the ECHO team visited her and learned about her experience in using the biogas system.
Feature

Seed Saving: Not Just a Tradition

In 1981, Dr. Martin Price saw that there was a lack of access to seeds of underutilized tropical food plants, a need that was already felt all over the world by small-scale farmers. To meet this need, the first ECHO Seed Bank was born.

Equipped to Serve

Past ECHO intern, Mike Fennema, reflects on his year spent working on the ECHO Florida farm and how that has influenced the past 30 years of his life and his work.

Extraordinary Plants: Tamarind

While bearing large quantities of delicious fruit, the tamarind still remains one of the lesser known tropical fruit trees in Florida.
Feature

Meet the Hard Working Animals of ECHO Florida

If it has been a while since you visited the ECHO Global Farm in Florida, you may not have met our local residents and “workhorses”. Animals are integral to small-scale farming systems worldwide and help interns gain valuable husbandry experience at ECHO Florida.
Intern Spotlight

Intern Spotlight: Grace Brinsfield

My time here at ECHO Florida has been marked by sweet friendship within the intern cohort, challenging conversations with people from different backgrounds, and great growth in how I relate to God and his people.

Pruning for Future Growth

In January, we practiced Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) on three Apple Ring Acacia trees here at our Florida campus.