Vacancy: Missionary Gardener

God has blessed the garden program with growth and we are now looking for another missionary gardener.  The Search Party team is looking for someone who has a heart to make disciples of Jesus Christ, see his church expand here in the region, and wants to work in his vineyard (literally!).  A job description of the missionary gardener position is below.

Job Description

Title:   Missionary Gardener

Hours:    Full-time

Pay: This is a missionary service position, the occupant is required to raise their own financial support.

Reports to:  Clayton Sternberg, Garden Team Lead

Location: Catania, Sicily, Italy

Position Summary: The Missionary Gardener spiritually engages the immigrant and Italian communities through the use of food production gardens.  Their primary roles include: the evangelization and discipleship of incoming and current garden apprentices, the spiritual engagement of the broader community through produce sales and community programs, and the planning/designing of current or future gardens sites.

Education and Experience Requirements

  • Knowledge of small-scale, intensive organic agriculture is helpful, or…
  • If not…a passion and willingness to learn and try!

Skill Requirements

  • Excellent project management and communication skills.
  • Basic accounting skills, as one of our primary modes of outreach is the running of a small farm.
  • Community outreach and business development skills.
  • Fundraising skills
  • Ability to learn Italian.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

  • Disciple Making
    • Maintain a regular and ever-deepening relationship with Jesus Christ through prayer, reading and study of the scriptures, fasting, and other spiritual disciplines.
    • Abide in Christ together with your team including regular times of prayer, fasting, worship, accountability, and other practices.
    • Personally engage non-believers in evangelism and discipleship.
    • Identify new potential Local Partners to disciple, train, and coach them to become reproducing disciple-makers in a 1-3-9 discipleship relationship.
    • Participate in and strategically promote reproducing churches
  • Gardener responsibilities
    • Evangelize and disciple incoming and current garden apprentices.
    • Teach incoming and current garden apprentices small-scale, intensive agriculture.
    • Manage apprentices as employees.
    • Manage the business aspects of the farm: sales, accounting, and production tracking.
    • Create yearly crop plan based on sales market.
    • Engage and interface with the Italian church as it relates to the garden program.
    • Engage broader community evangelistically through the use of garden programs.
    • Plan, design and work in current and future garden spaces.
    • Participate in team meetings and events.

Supervisory Responsibilities

  • Apprentices while working for and in gardens
  • Interns
  • Short term teams and team members

Working Conditions

  • Sicily is very hot in the summer and the work is outdoors. 
  • We rise early in the summertime.
  • Good physical health is required as farm work requires lifting, building, stooping, and kneeling.
  • But remember…being outside with God is awesome!  

Interested?

    If you are interested in becoming a missionary gardener in Sicily, Italy we would love to continue the conversation. Please contact Clayton Sternberg at clayton.sternberg@gmail.com. You can also contact him by phone via Whatsapp @ +39 348-591-5363.

    Thank you for your interest in this work.  We look forward to hearing from you!

    Clayton, and the Search Party Team