The Harvest

I must admit that I have been staring at this screen for a while. How do I put into words how overwhelmed I am with how amazing our God is?

Six years ago, Grant and I began praying for the unreached, unengaged Mahafaly people of Southern Madagascar. We knew nothing more than that they were unreceptive to outsiders and change and were bound by ancestral worship. We prayed that God would prepare the people...that He would soften their hearts and grow in them a desire to know the true God.

One year ago, we entered the small, Mahafaly village of Besatra. God faithfully answered our prayers, and the otherwise suspicious people welcomed us with open hearts. A special relationship began, which can only be attributed to God. With each visit, the people of Besatra poured out their hearts to us. Despite suffering daily with drought and lack of food, they constantly offered us the best of what they had. We never left without a chicken, bananas, or anything else that they had to offer. Not once did they ask us for anything. The Lord had already been working in their hearts, and they simply wanted to hear of our God. They said that they were "thirsty" to know Him.

Last week, Grant and his friend Patrice took a special trip to Besatra. After a year of relationship building, learning the dialect, and translating stories from the Bible, Grant was finally able to share the Good News with these people we have loved for so long.

This week was an important one for the people of Besatra. The time of harvest is here, and they eagerly worked in the fields to collect the cassava plant - their main source of food. Grant spent the mornings in the field, working alongside the people to harvest the crop. In the evening Grant and Patrice would share the story set that they had prepared.

The first day, eighty of the village leaders came to hear the important story Grant had come to share. He told them of the truth of the Bible, and asked them to think about what would happen to them after they died. Then, they began with the story of creation. After telling the first few stories of the Bible, the men of the village asked lots of questions. They saw a lot of truth in the stories, and were particularly interested in the parts that effected them now. They see the results of the curse on man, even in their daily lives. They see how the snake crawls on its belly. They see how their women suffer in childbirth, and daily they struggle with the earth to survive. After talking about the stories, the leaders spoke up and said that they did not know if what Grant was sharing was truth...or whether it was good or bad. But they committed to come and hear the stories, and that they would take them back to their families and discuss them. They would get together and at the end they would decide, as a village, if the story is true, and whether or not they would choose to accept it.

Grant spent the next few days sharing stories through the Bible. He told of God's call to Abraham, and how through Abraham God would bless the world. He told of the sacrificial system, and the need for a substitute for the people's sins. He told stories of God's faithfulness, and man's failure. The last story from the Old Testament they shared was about the coming Messiah, prophesied in Isaiah. Everyone was upset to hear of the suffering He would endure. They were on the edge of their seat for His coming and were excited to hear the story of Christ's birth and baptism. The people really seemed to understand who Christ is and why He came.

The next day 200 people, including women and children, sat and listened to the life of Jesus. They listened intently as they shared about the miracles of Christ. After sharing of the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, Grant and Patrice closed for the night. About 60 of the leaders, mostly men...but a few prominent women, stayed behind. They told Grant that they had come to a decision about Jesus. They had decided that the story was true and good, and that they wanted to accept Jesus as their savior and God. Grant explained the importance of each person deciding in their own heart whether or not to accept Jesus. Then, one of the elders loudly voiced, "I accept Jesus!" Then, another, "I believe!" Then another, and another...until each person had confessed Jesus as savior. Tears filled Grant's eyes as he witnessed such an amazing moment.

The last night, the same group of people came. Grant and Patrice told the story of Christ from the last supper until His resurrection. Grant watched as the people showed disbelief that someone would betray Jesus, he watched them sit in silence as they heard of His crucifixion, and he watched hope in their eyes when they listened to the story of Christ's resurrection. Tears streamed down Grant's face, as he watched them pray to receive Christ. Some prayed out load, and some prayed to themselves...but everyone seemed to be filled with a special kind of joy. The kind that only comes from knowing our special savior.

During my quiet time with the Lord, I read John 4:31-38, a passage I have read many times...but this time with a clearer understanding and a moved heart.

"But he said to them, 'I have food to eat that you know nothing about."

Then his disciples said to each other, "Could someone have brought him food?"

"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for, Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

Thank you, Lord, for letting us be a part of your harvest.