WHEN DUSTY BREEDING WAS 19, he was introduced to Russell Lingerfelt at the World Mission Workshop at Harding University. Russell, an experienced missionary and traveller, offered Dusty an invitation to join him on a ten week mission trip to Africa the following summer. So in 2006, after Dusty's sophomore year of college, the two set off on the trip that would change their lives forever. Spending five weeks in Uganda and five weeks in Kenya, the two traveled with missionaries through the slums and remote villages of some of the most impoverished regions of Africa.
On this trip, Dusty met Mark Long, a Pepperdine University graduate who had been living in Uganda for almost ten years. Mark, a handyman, decided to use Dusty's culinary arts background by building three ovens at Camp Saaka, a Christian youth camp in the Rwenzori Mountains of Western Uganda. It was this initial trip that started Dusty dreaming about creating a food based ministry. A ministry through which Christ's love could be shown to Africa via a bakery community development project.
Back in the United States, God directed Dusty's passion towards ministry and led him to follow the call he had felt during his summer in Africa. Lifebread Incorporated came into existence on a couch in Florence, Alabama, as Dusty went page by page and step by step through a book about how to start a non-profit. On August 3, 2007, Lifebread Incorporated was officially recognized as a 501(c)3 non-profit organization by the IRS. (donate!)
Since 2007, Dusty has returned to Africa almost ten times. Lifebread has grown from a vision and dream into a reality, with bakery projects in Uganda and Kenya. During the summer of 2009, another of Dusty's life goals came true when he had the chance to lead nine students from Pepperdine University to spend one month in Kenya building ovens (more about Kenya Bakery Projects). All of the students had life changing experiences; some are looking forward to leading future Lifebread trips.
The infrastructure behind Lifebread continues to expand as well. Jessica Barnes, a master's degree student and adjunct professor at Pepperdine, has recently taken on the role of Director of Development. Jessica brings a wealth of non-profit knowledge to Lifebread from her previous internships with the Make a Wish Foundation, NBC, Lionsgate Pictures, and Global Green USA. Jessica often travels for Lifebread, speaking at conferences, fundraisers, and with donors. (Interested in booking Lifebread to speak?) Cecily Small, an International Management major with a Multimedia Design minor, is serving as Lifebread's Vice President. Cecily has a gift for drawing, creating, and designing. She designs our merchandise and all other promotional materials, as well as manages our brand new website and blog!
This year also marks the beginning of Lifebread's summer internship program. Katie Blair and Tom Boundy, both current Pepperdine students, have devoted thier summer to the coolest internship on the face of the planet. Along with the rest of the LIfebread team, Tom and Katie will spend the month of May working tirelessly as Share the Bread Tour booking agents. The month of June, they will hit the road in a 31-foot RV, carrying out the whirlwind road trip and awareness tour they worked so diligently on during the month of May. July 5th, they board a plane to Africa to take part and help lead the 2010 Bakery Project team as Lifebread serves in Uganda and Kenya.
Three months of trial and error, frustration and pay-off, testing and proving. That's what the LIfebread internship program is all about. Shoot Tom or Katie and email, they'd love to hear from you.
