Cindi Courbat

Counterculture farm’s organic community a rich soil for God’s love

Three couples. One vision. And a 40-acre farm. That’s the genesis of Nomad’s Land, a cooperative community that aims to give road-weary travelers a place to rest and find fellowship with like-minded believers—and offer a new beginning to hippies, gutter punks, train hoppers and societal outcasts.

Joshua Hanson and his wife, Shallyn, along with Beau and Ashley Armistead, founders of Lone Sheep Ministries, and evangelists Al and Tina Nord, purchased the Alabama farm to fulfill a common vision: bringing together nomadic ministers and counterculture youth for an organic experience sprinkled with the love of God.

Physical, spiritual and emotional healing are occurring where Voodoo and poverty have been the norm

Eighteen months after a horrific earthquake left a path of death and destruction, Haiti has emerged from the rubble a new nation. Pastor Rene Joseph, founder of Loving Hands Ministry of Haiti, believes wholeheartedly that Haiti’s healing is underway—and the spiritual awakening that began after the earthquake is rapidly spreading.

Loving Hands Ministry is a Christian, international, nonprofit relief organization with headquarters in Florida and Haiti. Founded in 1987, the ministry delivers food, medicine, clothing and other necessities to those who lack these essentials due to famine, poverty or natural disaster. Last year the ministry shipped more than 6,000 meals each month to children and families in Haiti.

In his 25 years of ministry, Joseph has also planted 35 churches and three orphanages. He and his wife, Dorentia, pastor a large church in downtown Port-au-Prince. The church holds 2,500 people but has outgrown its capacity since the earthquake. Plans are under way to repair quake damage and construct a larger sanctuary.

Located 55 miles outside Port-au-Prince, the Love a Child Orphanage became a place of refuge for more than just children immediately after the earthquake. For several days, founders Bobby and Sherry Burnette transported the injured from the streets to a small hospital adjacent to their property, then opened their school classrooms for more additional patients when the hospital’s capacity overflowed.

Love a Child continues to grow as a refuge of hope. Plans now include creating a prototype sustainable community called Miracle Village with 500 new homes, a church, marketplace, chicken farm, clinic, some microbusinesses and more.