The seed of this demining vision was planted while early volunteers were working among the people in Iraq after the genocide of 2014. The war against ISIS left many villages unsafe to return to and seeing unexploded mortars and random IEDs (improvised explosive device) was not an unfamiliar sight. Many people have been killed or horribly injured by IEDs long after the fighting had passed when they tried to return to their village, clean up their houses, and reassemble something akin to normal life. Part of the reason why so many of the displaced people are still living in makeshift camps is because of the threat of uncleared explosives due to the slow pace of mine clearance work.

The initial idea was, “What if we could demonstrate love to these people by helping to clear their former homes and lands of explosive devices, making it safe for them to return?”

Our first team is trained and fully certified to the international standard for the removal of explosive remnants of war (ERW), a credential recognized around the world by governments and humanitarian aid organizations.

*In this photo, a farmer watches his field being disced by the automated tractor after 16 unexploded ordnances were removed from his field.

Finding a place to begin working has been a difficult journey. Currently, the team is working alongside farmers in Ukraine clearing their fields of unexploded ordnances. We praise God for this open door.

Although Ukraine is not located in our strategic area of the 10/40 Window, this hands-on experience is essential for beginning this type of work within the 10/40 Window.

The farmers in Ukraine do not know if their fields are mined or not. The fields need to be cleared of ordnances before the land can be farmed again.

First, the team walks the field, using metal detectors in some areas to search for explosive ordnances.

Next, an automated tractor works up the field. This verifies it is cleared of ordnance and is safe to farm.