Please join the entire family of Healing Hands International in welcoming Clint Smith to the role of Hunger to Harvest Program Director!
Clint is no stranger to the Healing Hands International collection of programs. Nineteen years ago, he attended his first Walk4Water event here in Nashville. Soon after, he traveled to Honduras to build homes for orphans, using lumber shipped by HHI to the job site. The seed was planted, and he wanted to know more about HHI.
Following his own intrigue, Clint attended a Hunger to Harvest Survival Garden Workshop at our Nashville headquarters. “I was hooked,” he says with a smile, and he attended every following year.
Further sharpening the farming and gardening skills that come naturally to a boy who was raised on a 210-acre farm in Wilson County, Tennessee, Clint began assisting Carl Burkybile, our recently retired Program Director, with HHI’s annual agriculture classes. “I just understand it. It can be extremely hard work, but it all makes sense,” he states with purposeful confidence.
Clint explains that his entire being is defined by his experiences on the farm with his dad, their family friends and neighbors. A native of Lebanon, TN, Clint lives in his hometown with his wife of 20 years, Brandy, and their two children. He grew up participating in 4-H events and entering yearly competitions in the Wilson County Fair. He was unafraid of hard work, maturing with the deep love and heart it takes to sustain life in agriculture. Through the wisdom of a farmer’s son, always learning, always evolving, Clint observes, “Farming is not easily accomplished alone, it takes a village. Much like this job. You cannot do it alone, you need everyone pitching in, doing their parts in harmony to get it done.”
All along, and in His immaculate timing, the Good Lord was preparing Clint for his position at HHI. A few short months after officially coming on board in the summer of 2023, Clint took his first official trip as an HHI staff member to our inaugural, international Ubuntu Conference in Kenya. Ubuntu is an ancient African concept that means, “I am because WE are,” mirroring Clint’s perspective on the success of the HHI operational model—it takes a village, indeed, everyone doing their individual part in harmony.
Clint was able to personally meet nearly all of the HHI Africa and India field staff in one place, at the same time. “That was magical,” he remembers. The Ubuntu Conference was a gathering of people united in service to the Lord, working on behalf of Jesus Christ. Clint saw the commitment in their eyes and the joy in their smiles, and he speaks into the Hunger to Harvest program with inspired tones created by new memories born in heart of Africa.
As he takes the lead for Hunger to Harvest, Clint plans to spread the word in 2024. He is on fire to tell the story of what we do at HHI, and how we do it. He holds an open invitation to people who want to know more, and he plans to offer encouragement and get them involved, “as we go down the road together, teaching and preaching about how agriculture is planting seeds, and saving lives around the globe.”