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Walter Bradley,
Distinguished Professor of Engineering,
Baylor University

[Dec.10, 2012]

As I began my career in the university I realized I had the opportunity to be for my students what no one had been for me – a professor known as a follower of Jesus. Midway through the first semester, I prayerfully crafted a short end-of-class speech including several of my personal interests along with my Christian commitment. But time and time again that first year, I failed to follow through with my intention to talk about my faith. Finally, before the final exam, I did it!

I told the students how much I had enjoyed teaching them, that I was a Christian, and that I would like to visit with any of them who might be curious about why.

I had no takers that first time, but it was a faith barrier which, once broken, would never again be so difficult for me. Now for over forty years I have included a simple statement about my faith as part of my classroom introduction – resulting in many opportunities to encourage young believers and clarify the gospel to non-believers.

Now at the other end of my career in the university, I decided to change my research focus:

What could I do to help the poorest of the poor have a better shot at survival?

Today’s students are very conscious of social needs as well as the spiritual needs of our world. I asked God to give me some ideas.

A former doctoral student suggested I help the 11 million extremely poor coconut farmers around the world. We learned that the typical farmer has 6-8 children, owns about 5 acres, and harvests 5,000 coconuts a year.  This brings in only $500 a year.

I prayed, “Please God, let there be something useful and interesting about coconuts.”

My students and I found that the coconut’s components of husk, pith, oil, and shell all have numerous possible applications in gardening, packaging, and for building materials.  We can even craft car parts – trunk liners and door panels – from coconuts.

Coconut fiber is cheaper, greener, and has better mechanical properties than polyester. We could potentially increase the income of poor coconut farmers by 50%! Developing technology with patents allows us to create and maintain a significant price for the coconut fiber and shell, and this profit will bless the farmer and the community as well as our investors.  For example, we can provide school vouchers for their children to attend schools staffed by Christian teachers or we can supply them with fertilizer that could double their annual crop yield.

It’s a kingdom building ministry: helping people in a holistic way by meeting both their spiritual and economic needs concurrently.

(c) 2012 Walter Bradley