Today, the group (minus Jill), worked on Rev. Harrison’s farm planting 167 avocado trees. Unlike last year, the holes for the trees had already been dug! This made it possible to move quickly through the process and get so much more accomplished. The winner of MVP was Kenny, as he sprinted through his work; clearly he was full of the holy spirit. A long leisurely and delicious lunch was provided by June and most welcome.
After working on the farm, the group went to the grocery store to pick up essentials for making lunches for Wednesday and Thursday when we work with the children at the primary school. The night’s devotional was eerily prophetic (as it had been the night before). “Put me to doing, put me to suffering”. Robbie shared that planting a tree makes a good metaphor. As you plant a tree in a hole, you don’t know if it will thrive or die but you hope and pray that the tree will grow. The group believes that the “suffering” God calls upon us is to go outside our comfort zone and do his work. We all were conscious of this when we first signed up to do mission work. The group also saw a similarity between climbing the hill, fighting off vines trying to trip and pull them down, and the suffering one endures to achieve God’s plan. To see the top of the hill gives confidence of the end or reward in sight. We must remember that even though we may not always see the end, we must be confident that we must continue, persevere. Jill