January 2008
I know it’s an odd time of year to be talking about gardening. Just thinking about feeling the hot summer sun on my face again won’t help me to feel any warmer on a day like today–right now it is 4 degrees outside and the wind is making it feel more like 20 below! Adding to the chill is a dusting of snow and ice that makes walking outside both treacherous and miserable. It is hardly the kind of day when summer gardening comes to mind, but bear with me for a moment.
When I was growing up back in Ohio, I learned nearly all I know about gardening from my Uncle Steve. He had the proverbial green thumb and was willing to pass his knowledge along to me. I really enjoyed learning how to pick suckers off tomato plants, how to protect beans from hungry rabbits, how to tell when carrots and onions are big enough to pick, and how to tie up roses on a trellis.
One lesson I learned from Uncle Steve has a definite Biblical parallel. He taught me that when planting corn, be generous with the seed and plant them close together. The reason is that once the corn is ready to tassel out and start the germination process, the stalks will be more productive if they are bunched closely together. The point of this agricultural lesson is that when you sow the seed generously, the output of the corn patch is much higher.
The Biblical idea, based on what the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 9:6, is that “…whoever sows generously will also reap generously.” (NIV) In the past year, your generous ‘sowing’ through your gifts to our ministry have led to a tremendous harvest. The expansion of our outreach to youth around the world helped to plant seeds in places like Myanmar (Burma), Poland, Thailand, the Czech Republic, Singapore, and Russia. By sowing generously, the harvest is proving to be plentiful!
In the coming year, we will continue to nurture those seeds, knowing that ultimately God will cause the growth. In the meantime, our prayer is that you will reap a blessing from God in return for your part in this growth. Thank you for sowing generously!
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