Promising Practices!!

Below you will find another sample of something I have been working on this summer during my internship at Partners Worldwide! This is part of a series of profiles of people or organizations who do great things in their work with Partners! Not only do they do great things, we think the things they do are universally applicable! We are publishing these "promising practices" to encourage others to adapt similar strategies!

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Partners Worldwide
Promising Practices
The Farmer to Farmer (F2F) E-mail Family

What Terry Hubers is a farmer based in Iowa. He is involved in the Farmer to Farmer program in Nicaragua through Partners Worldwide. Terry has been sending detailed and enthusiastic emails to his supporters ever since he began volunteering with Farmer to Farmer. These emails explain in detail the progress of the Farmer to Farmer program in Nicaragua. They serve as a recruitment tool for new volunteers, an information portal for existing donors, and a way to voice the joys and concerns that are associated with serving God and others in Nicaragua. His email contact list had 104 people as of February 24, 2006! I am sure many more have been added since!

How According to reliable sources, Terry types with one finger using what he calls “the one finger letter search” technique. His emails usually range from 1 to 3 pages and go into great detail about the unfolding of God’s plan for Farmer to Farmer in Nicaragua. Terry notes that “it is very exciting as I sit and contemplate an email and even if it always seems to take me a long time to get it done it always seems that the Holy Spirit had something to do with it!”

Why According to Terry, “without [the emails] there would be no mutual encouragement and motivation for all those involved in F2F. F2F is not just one person helping another person! It involves many people and a number of organizations.”

Benefits Partners Worldwide prides itself in keeping its donors connected and involved in the projects they are giving to. The F2F E-mail Family facilitates this involvement and creates a lasting relationship between the donor and the project. Terry Hubers says it perfectly. “It is my hope that even if [the donors] do not ever have the opportunity to visit our partner farm families, …through the emails they are able to feel connected to our brothers and sisters in Christ in Nicaragua.”