The beginnings: Brian and Cath Oldreive's story

ISAIAH 58- THE LORD’S REBUILDING PLANS

On the 1st of October 1982, Brian and Cath Oldreive arrived at Hinton Estate with their five children to begin their new lives and Brian’s new role as manager of the estate. They had just come through two years of fiery testing that had begun with Brian’s promise to the Lord that they would never again grow another leaf of tobacco. They had embarked on growing only food crops on our sand veld tobacco farm in Tengwe, 227 kilometres North West of Harare.

Instead of the anticipated blessing they thought they would receive from following their conscience and obeying God, the Oldreive family had experienced two very severe droughts, which had resulted in them losing almost everything they owned. Looking back on it now, they see that it was a very important preparation in their lives for what was to come.

As they began unpacking their belongings in their new home, they noticed a welcoming card on our bed. It was from Lyn and Judy Everswick, who pastored a church 45 kilometres away in the nearest town, Bindura. The Everswick’s very kind welcoming message ended with Isaiah 58:Lo11 “The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” This was a remarkably prophetic word for the years to come.
Ever since, the whole message of Isaiah 58 has been intricately used by the Lord to guide the Oldreive’s in the vision to which He was calling them. God would soon show them the depths of the poverty of the people of Africa, and would reveal to them His plan to remove this yoke of oppression, and then His blueprint for the rebuilding of a continent in ruination. God would show us the age-old foundations on which the rebuilding would happen, and how this adventure would all begin by teaching them to farm in His way with a faithful, humble and unselfish heart.
This method and process would largely be based on how to preserve and enhance His soil and capture the rain He sends us, to hold it in the soil and to transfer this moisture and His nutrients more efficiently to the plants.

Through this foundational faithfulness, God would also show us a very simple, yet profoundly effective, implementation management system, which would also apply to all other endeavours of production and intent, and which would be so instrumental in His plan to bring Africa out of poverty.