Emus in India
Connecting Broetje Employees and Partners to the Fruits of their Labor...One Fruit at a Time.
Starting an Emu Farm in West Godavari, India
As you may recall, this January we visited Living Sacrifices Ministries in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh to learn more about their dream of starting an emu farm. Eliezer and Prema Devasahayam started their ministry in 1997 to respond to people's physical and spiritual needs through direct aid, community development, and sharing the love of Christ. Today, they host a congregation of 100 people in their home, 500 children in summer bible school, and 24 children in Little Lamps Children's Home. They also provide direct aid and micro-loans to area families, free literacy classes to children, and support to pastors planting churches in rural communities.
The idea of an emu farm was born out of a desire to establish a steady revenue stream for the ministry to sustainably support their ongoing services to children and families. We met with the local emu distributor to learn more about their operations. Then Vista Hermosa agreed to provide the start-up capital for year one of the project.
We are happy to report that Eliezer and Prema have prepared the land and 100 baby birds have been purchased and moved into their new home. Because they will eat nearly anything in their path, all of the soil has been carefully sifted by hand and cleared of debris.
Now the birds will be tended until October, when they begin laying eggs. Revenue from the first two years is expected to cover operational costs for subsequent years. After the third year, net revenue will increase sufficiently to support ongoing operations as well as 12 pastor families, 24 orphans/children and 24 widows associated with Living Sacrifices Ministries.
Pray for the health and safety of these new baby emus, so they may grow into a sustainable social enterprise in India!
