The week was one of great fellowship, gaining knowledge and kindling hope. We plan to to utilize to knowledge gained in constructing fresh and saltwater barrel systems and incorporate the aquaculture techniques into a small-scale poultry and hog operation. Most important, we want to share the knowledge with folks at home and in other countries in the name of Jesus Christ. During the course my eyes were opened to why we are here - to glorify Christ and to make Him known.

David Taylor, Farmer, Lakemont, Georgia

I thought your course was very informative and useful. The interaction between students was very good. I would recommend this course to anyone interested in aquaponics

Billy Crain, Vocational Agriculture Teacher, Franklin, NC

I came away from the course very inspired to set up a system and hope to use it as a teaching tool in an educational farm setting in the future.

Sherri Thomas - Science Teacher, Kansas

Devon, Ernie, and I came into it with a rudimentary understanding of aquaponics, and we left with a much fuller grasp of not only that, but also a real useful bag of tricks for our mission work. More importantly, our exposure to the various areas of practical technologies and the excellent instructors has given us a perspective which will allow us to more accurately evaluate available resources and provide meaningful solutions. It also means a lot to get connected to an array of technical resources and a network of great people.

The course was both informative and inspirational. I was able to "Catch" the enthusiasm and compassion that Charlie has for the hungry, [and the unsaved]. Due to the "open forum" format, I was able to learn new ways to do things from those who attended, as well as the instructors that led the various mini-workshops. There is a wealth of knowledge from all who attended, not just from the instructors, which, had a great deal of experience and information to share with all that attended.

We have been attending the Aquaculture International Network conference since 2001. It has been a special privilege for us to build together a strong "net" of like minded partners who believe "tilapia" and aquaponics is an answer for a hungry world .. the same fish Jesus used to bless, multiply "fishes and loaves" to hungry bodies while supplying manna and meat from Heaven for their souls. This course has changed our lives as it has the many friends who we've encouraged each year to join us so they, too, might share in a blessing as they learn to have what others are in

We found the aquaponics course to be extremely helpful and have decided to build an aquaponics system at our mission in Honduras this fall. We hadn't realized the potential of growing fish and integrating a self-sustaining system with plants to help feed people in our village. We are thrilled to be able to implement this program.

Rev. Lee and Gracie Murphree, Christ Outreach Ministries, La Ermita, Honduras
www.christoutreachministrieshonduras.org

I really enjoyed the conference. It helped me see that my wife and I could contribute to serving the poor in ways that we didn't imagine. There's enough information given to get started in Aquaponics. One day I hope to develop similar projects in Kenya and Nigeria. Our community has already begun to raise funds to help these brothers and sisters in three areas of these countries.

Jerry Germann, Retired Fish Biologist with Georgia Fish & Game

In 20 years of attending conferences, I have never learned so much in such a short period of time that had immediate practical value. The knowledge and experience of the instructors was astounding. Within 30 days of the end of the course, I now have an aquaponics system set up and running. I can't wait to see the results.

Pastor Michael Kroll, Vermont - Outreach in Uganda, www.village2villageproject.org