“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is my fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.“
– John 15:1-8
Mom and Papa own about 12 acres of land, it’s about 10-15 minutes down the road. My oh my is it beautiful. The land has an abundance of rice plants, banana and mango trees, and vibrant green fields. Mom and Papa’s farm is how I imagined Thailand to be, green and rural. I consider the farm to be one of my happy places, because the endless amount of majestic views take my breath away and overflow joy into my heart.
Ministry has flipped upside down this week, we went from teaching, to getting dirty and doing manual work in and around the farm. Going from pretty skirts to dirty gloves is not every girls dream. However, my team has embraced the sweat and accepted the new life given to us. The Lord has proven that ministry is so much different than we had ever thought, but through the fire ants, mucky water, and questionable tan-lines, God never fails to show up.
The whole day, God had pressed it on my heart to really think about the parable of the Vine and the Branches. It’s a story I had heard multiple sermons and countless readings of, but never could fully grasp. Reading parts of the Bible here in Thailand are like reading something I never have before. Everything I had ever read seems to be completely different than what I read now. Everything seems to have an extremely deeper meaning.
Remaining in the Lord is something that is incredibly important here. We must remain in him to produce good fruit, fruit that lasts, fruit that others will see. So much of our ministry is just being like God, not being God. It’s so that others will see our lives and question why we do what we do. The language barrier makes it far too difficult to communicate the gospel effectively. So we just strive to love others and to be joyful in all things. We also must remain in God so that our energy to serve Him will keep flowing into and through us. We must remain in him so we continue to be pruned to produce more fruit.
Since being in Thailand, The Lord has really pruned and trimmed down my idea of love. He’s given me a simple, yet involved version. Love everyone, always. Living on a team of five other girls, it’s hard to fully love everyone whole-heartedly. Sometimes I’m there, sometimes I’m not. I’ve just never had a solid community of girls who are all on fire for the Lord. It’s refreshing, yet intimidating at times. It’s a learning experience and it’s one of the reasons I am here, to learn. I wouldn’t want it any other way. They’re filled with so much greatness and compassion waiting to be released.
Our host families also have such big hearts and a yearning to love everyone, always. That’s how God has put this image of love in me, through their love for others. I learn everyday their journey into loving people. They minister to a leper colony who receive the least amount of love in the community. The people who want nothing more than to be loved. Yet Mom and Papa give them so much more.
The Lord has pruned back my expectations of this race. He’s shown me to be present and to be joyful in all situations. You never know, you could be thrown into a tree of fire-ants and have to be thankful for things like clothes..(and team-mates who will whack those suckers off #getoffofmeplz).
Before I go off on a long tangent about those stupid fire ants, let me just say this:
Our Father is our gardener, and our Father knows what needs pruning. An average gardener carefully provides water, insures good lighting, and also gives the important fertilizer – He supplies all of the plants needs. In relation – God, our gardener, supplies His holy spirit, He delivers his promises, He gives us a christian community so our fruit can be displayed amongst each other, and he provides His creation, a place where we can yield our fruit. He gives us the vine, Jesus Christ.
xoxo,
Vick
p.s – this blog had me dreamin about Rambutans and Dragon-fruit.
