Some years ago, I had the vision of planting a garden, so I could grow enough food for our family, some to sell, and some to give to people who don't have enough to eat.
We go to a place like a homeless shelter, but it does house people who have no place to live. People in our group make a large meal and serve it to the people who live there. Then we preach the Gospel message to them and minister to the people.
It would be a cool idea if I could actually grow enough food to make a big salad and bring it down there. Well, that idea never really panned out as I am still learning how to grow food organically, in gardens.
We get some food here and there. I have tried something new by adding chicken manure to the compost pile and blending it in. Now that I have homemade chicken manure :) I can do that.
But years ago, in another house, I was able to grow some tomatoes. I put labels around the plants so I knew what kinds of tomatoes were in the pots.
We had some workers come to trim the trees in the back yard. Most of them didn't speak English. They seemed friendly and probably were hard workers. I do not know if they were American citizens or not.
The men were there all day. But during the day, I noticed that some of the men were taking tomatoes off the plants. Whatever else was growing, they were also taking off. It wasn't big and obvious, but I could see that was happening.
At first, there was kind of an irritation on my part. Why are these people stealing my food? I don't have that much to go around, and what I have will pretty much be gone. Should I tell them? Should I just let them take the food from the plants and just ignore it, even though that is stealing?
As I thought about it, my heart began to change. I was very happy that they were getting an education about plants since I put the names of the plants right by them. But I began to see that they were probably hungry men and perhaps this was the only food they would get for a while.
It was then that I realized, this is what I really did want to do. I was able to feed a few men with some tomatoes and whatever else was growing. It wasn't like they took a ton of food either!
I was able to give them Bibles later on. I probably gave them Spanish language tracts as well, since I think they spoke Spanish.
I do pray that I will be able to grow lots of food in the future. I hope to be able to bring a salad to the homeless people one day.
And I pray to be able to give them spiritual food that will nourish their souls as well.
“And when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, nor shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the Lord your God.” |
| Homegrown Carrots |
