Going Green with My Olive Tree

What does ‘going green’ mean to you?

‘Going green’ means making choices to live in a way that is more environmentally friendly. When people say they have ‘gone green’ they are really saying that they have found ways to make a positive impact on the environment and reduce their carbon footprint.

Planting trees is a wonderful and beautiful way to make a difference for the planet God created. In the Negev desert, trees and foliage bid the rain to come, release clean oxygen, provide wildlife and birds with a home and shelter, naturally recycle water, and help prevent soil erosion.

At My Olive Tree we believe that God loves His creation and that He made mankind to ‘tend the garden.’ In other words, we need to do the best we can to care for our bodies and our earth. He created the world in beauty and love, and as His children we imitate Him by caring for our brothers and sisters AND our world.

My Olive Tree is an environmental and agricultural blessing. The Turkish Ottoman Empire ruled the entire Middle East region from 1516 to 1917. During this 400-year-period the land was widely neglected. The ancient villages with irrigation systems had all but disappeared. It is believed by some that when the few people who remained could not pay the tax, the trees were cut down to fuel the cargo carrying steam engines.

Mark Twain, who visited what was called Palestine in 1867, described Israel as a “…desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds – a silent mournful expanse … We never saw a human being on the whole route … There was hardly a tree or a shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country.”

Israel has since become an international leader in developing agricultural technologies that turn nutrient-rich, but water-deficient soil, into arable farmland. My Olive Tree is part of this agricultural revolution, planting olive groves and vineyards—reclaiming the desert! We employ state-of-the-art technology to ensure that our olive trees and grapevines receive adequate water and nutrition, no matter where they are planted.

Through our concerted efforts we are beginning to see Israel restored. At My Olive Tree, this is happening one olive tree at a time. “The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose…”—Isaiah 35:1

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Our Mission