~He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.~ (2Co 9:10-12)
One morning just a few days before we were to
return to Puerto Rico, Nicodemus and I woke up and prepared for what I thought
was going to be a couple hour trip and overnight stay to see some land that he, his wife, Richard, Naomi
and a few others had pulled together to rent and were having plowed. A few hours turned into most of the day as we
traversed along the sporadic path to Nakuru. We would ride on one bus or van
that would be packed full of passengers to the next. On several occasions along
the trip we would need to exit one vehicle and walk a mile or two before we
could get to the next location to catch one that was also going our way. The
further we got away from Nairobi and closure to Nakuru the harder it became to
find transportation and the more crowded the vans would become. I decided at
one point to count the passengers in the van I was in. I was up to 22 in my
count when I was asked to get out of the van and move to the front seat. The
man responsible for filling the van realized he could get more people in the
back if I was moved to the front. Another 2 people were added to the already overcrowded
van that was never intended to carry more than 10 passengers. Many of the passengers,
like myself, had brought along a backpack or small suitcase for whatever journey
still lied ahead of them.
We did eventually make it to
the place we were to stay for the night and were relieved to have a place to
leave our things. The journey was not over, we still needed to make it to the
fields. We walked out to a place where people were gathering but no one was
headed where we were headed this time, or were already overloaded. Taking a
taxi was not going to be very likely. As soon as the driver would see me the
price would double. Eventually Nicodemus walked far enough away that I was out
of sight and could negotiate a fair for us to travel to the fields, which I soon
learned were at the bottom of the Great Rift Valley. When we did meet up with the man who was
plowing the land and I saw what this “garden” looked like I was reminded of
the passage of the people who traveled out to the wilderness to see John the
Baptist and were told, "What was it you came to see?". What I saw was a step of
faith unlike any I had seen before. This garden was not one field it was 3 and
covers 18 archers of land. As Nicodemus met with the man over the plowing of
each of the 3 fields the scope of what they had set out to do had dawned on me.
They were not preparing food for the children to eat for the coming year, they
were preparing for a way to provide food for the children that would sustain
them for many years to come.
Keeping 200 children fed each day
is more than an obstacle, each day they get fed is nothing short of a miracle.
For several years we have sent money that comes into our ministry that has been
designated for feeding the children. Sometimes it is less and sometimes more.
We normally send $65 each month to help the children with food. With last year’s
famine coupled with a struggling economy where the money does not go as far as
it did, the money we send is only enough to buy a week’s worth of food. The money
helps but will not sustain them. The struggle to keep all of these children fed
is not a small matter for those who are carring for them. They have all made significant
sacrifices to provide for these children. Richard travels to Mombasa for work,
Naomi has taken a job as s teacher for the Kenyan government, and Nicodemus
spends months away from his family traveling from one part of Kenya to another
trying to get enough to feed the children for that week.
These fields represent an opportunity for the struggle to feed all of
these children to be fed to be lifted, not just for one season but for all of
them. Collectively they collected $800 to rent the fields and till the land. It
will take another $800 to buy seed and fertilizer to plant a harvest of corn and
beans, the two main foods they use to feed the children. They are planting more
than enough to feed the children for the year. With the remaining crop they
will sell what they do not use for the school so that they can be in a position
to plant next year’s harvest, and the next, and the next.
There is no doubt in my mind that they will get the remaining amount
of funds they need to plant these crops.
“He who supplies seed to the sower and
bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the
harvest of your righteousness.”
I know that God will bless their trust and faith in Him. The only
question is how will He go about it?
What about you? Are you sowing the seeds God has given you?
“The thing that we all need to remember is that if we are looking for
a harvest we must first sow the seeds:
“You will be enriched in every way to be
generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God. For
the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but
is also overflowing in many thanksgivings to God.”
Now normally we do not think of this passage with real seeds in mind
but this time you have an opportunity to sow seeds of faith that will produce a
real harvest, that will fill the bellies of real children who will offer
praises that will overflow into many thanksgiving to God who will in turn give
you even more seeds to sow.
One of the fields is smaller than the other two. It will cost $200 to
sow the first field and the other two fields will cost $300 each to sow. Perhaps
God will lead you or perhaps even your Sunday school or church to provide the
seeds for one of these fields. If He does please write, “seeds to sow” in the
memo of your check and send your donations by mail to:
New
Day Christian Ministry
PO
Box 49610
West
Carrolton, OH 45449
You can also make donations here by following this link: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=U8UZCCRKQAGVL
God Bless,
David Ingram
New Day Christian Ministry
Isa. 43:18-21
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