Planting seeds is something referenced so often in the Bible and I am learning so much about the beauty behind planting them. We only need to open our eyes to see what God can show us.
Leaving Malaysia, we have now made it to Costa Rica. Our squad spent some time getting acclimated to the culture and the base we would be staying at in San Jose. Then our teams were dispersed into the surrounding areas of Costa Rica for ten days of ministry. My team and team Soul Warriors had ministry in Heredia, where we would stay at a church and help out.
Upon arrival, we were met by our ministry hosts, Pastor Renee and Pastor Fernando. Pastor Fernando lead the church we were staying at and took such good care of us during our stay. However, he didn’t speak any English, but luckily my teammate Ben knows a decent amount of Spanish from time he spent doing missions in Honduras. Ben would do a lot of our translating along with our squad leader Christie. I am currently working on learning more Spanish and continue to ask questions. Hopefully I will be somewhat fluent by the time the Race is over.
We mainly worked at the church just doing painting and other projects to help make it look nicer. The other ministry we had the privilege to assist in was gardening for Pastor Renee in the mountains. I was so stoked to help out with this because well, I love the mountains.
We did everything from mulching, to creating flower beds, to watering plants in his greenhouse. At lunch we even got to pick food straight from his garden to make salad. A lot of it was hard work, but it was so enjoyable. Both my team and the girls team had such positive attitudes towards ministry even if it was a lot of manual labor. Pastor Renee was very relational with us and I got to hear a lot of his heart behind gardening and life.
Something that really stuck out to me was how much of a ministry opportunity it was. I had never thought of gardening being a ministry in life, but seeing Renee’s perspective opened my eyes so wide. God revealed to me that not only were physical seeds being planted by gardening, but that spiritual seeds would be planted as well.
Pastor Renee revealed to us the simple truth that God desires to be our provider. From the beginning, God gave us everything we needed. Although sin entered the world and this means our focus was no longer on trusting God, He still intends to love and take care of us. We might have to work a little harder now for provision, but that’s the beauty behind it all. We don’t have to rely on our own strength for provision, but rather God wants us to invite Him to be our provider.
God made the world to reproduce life and to live abundantly when we rely on Him. This means we can do things like gardening and rely on God to do the rest. We can have things like the food we need by His hand. As you plant the seeds and take care of your garden, you then give it over to God to take care of the rest. If you do your part and believe God will provide, then He will bless you with what you need.
Not only is this true for a garden, but it is also true for people. When you plant seeds as God has called us to do, then you can eventually expect a harvest. Sometimes you may see the harvest and other times you might not, but that is ok because God just asks us to be obedient in sharing about Him. It is not up to us to change somebody or try to convert their belief system, but rather love them as God loves them. God will be the one to reach their heart when the time is right for the harvest. So you could be the first to plant seeds in the garden or you could be the one who plants and sees the produce. Wherever you are in the equation doesn’t matter as long as you are planting.
So with planting physical seeds, we were also getting the chance to plant spiritual seeds by the work we had done, by the interactions we had, and by the prayers that were prayed. Pastor Renee told us about how he has people from Honduras he intends to have come to Costa Rica to show how to garden. He will show them the work we have done, that way they can take it back to their families and communities back home. By this they will be able to have provision and also know that their provision comes from God.
To me this takes it such a huge step further than just doing gardening or manual labor. It helped me to see how much of a huge impact this can actually be for God’s kingdom and how it can serve so many people. By the work we were doing, we would be taking part in helping people in a completely different country not even on our route. Then those people will have the knowledge and ability to take that and share it with others and help even more people.
Even though we might not get to see the seeds grow, we can know that we at least were obedient in lending a helping hand. We can also pray that God will reach people through this opportunity and they will have their eyes opened by the Father and His love. We can pray for Pastor Renee to be able to impart more of the things God has taught him with people He will continue to meet.
One other thing Renee mentioned was that not only does his garden provide for him, but that it can provide for others in his community as well. He shared of how getting into gardening has opened the door for new ministries such as feeding the homeless or those who have less. The Bible tells us to take care of the poor. Getting into gardening has allowed him to connect with other people in the community that garden or raise animals. Through that they can trade with one another and help provide for each other. By doing this they can love and care for their community well.
I learned so much through this process and I pray that you have learned something as well through the words and thoughts God has given me to write down in this blog. May we all be encouraged to go out and continue planting seeds for God’s kingdom.
The earth produced plants with grain for seeds and trees that made fruits with seeds in them. Each seed grew its own kind of plant. God saw that all this was good. Genesis 1:12
Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; Genesis 1:29
For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land. Deuteronomy 15:11
Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. Hebrews 13:16
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. Hebrews 6:10
I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but God who causes the growth. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Matthew 5:16
