It has been a while since you have heard from me and that is partly due to lack of internet access in Africa, but also because I have been procrastinating. Last month (February) I was in rural Ethiopia, five of the six teams on my squad went together to live at the base for HopEthiopia. This organization was founded by three men from Canada. They have begun building villages where they take in orphans and widows. My team worked on some painting projects and also on gardening.
Because there are some misconceptions about what “gardening” could or could not mean, let me explain. First, two or three people stab the ground multiple times with tools that are taller than me. Once the ground is loose, the group can flip over the chunk of dirt and move on to the next cluster. This process could take a few days to work up enough dirt to complete a garden. After the chunks of dirt are flipped over you then need to take a hoe, pickax or whatever tool is available and start breaking up the clumps. This process is extremely exhausting, especially with the hot afternoon sun in Ethiopia and you will definitely have blisters on your hands and dirt glued to every area of your body that you had to cover with sunscreen.
Now that you have a realistic picture in your mind about what the term “gardening” means I can explain to you that we had so much more respect for the planting phase because we literally worked the ground until we bled to get to that point. We were about to work up enough ground to make two potato gardens and one large vegetable garden. We started to see some sprouts before we left but we will never have the opportunity to taste the fruit of that labor, however I’m joyful the women and children that live there will.
Okay here is the spiritually application I know that you have all been waiting for, as Christians we have all heard gardening applications because much of the Bible was written during a time when the society was agriculturally based. These applications can hold so much more weight when you know how much work it takes to plant a garden. If the Kingdom of God is like a garden and there are people called to till up the ground then we need to show appreciation for those people, because it’s hard work. Also it taught me that ministry is going to take hard work and patience if I want to see fruit (James 5:7-8).
It’s pretty simple, but I also think we should not over complicate walking with God. I hope to share more with you on my thoughts about Africa in general in my next blog and catch you up on what I’m doing now in Eastern Europe. Thanks for sticking with my journey and reading my blogs!
I do have to make a side note here about fundraising – See that status at the top of the page? It’s not full… My original deadline was March 1st, however my gracious leaders have moved that deadline back to March 31st due to us living in the middle of nowhere with no communication last month. I need to raise about $1,000 more dollars and I am confident in God to supply, because what he calls you to he sees you through. If you would like to help me get to that fully funded mark before the deadline please make a donation now. Thank you so those that have been supporting me this whole time, you have truly been vital to making my dream real life. Thank you and God Bless!
