One of the most difficult difficult balancing acts for the missionary is the art of working hard and simultaneously waiting on the Lord -- moving forward and being still.

One of the most difficult difficult balancing acts for the missionary is the art of working hard and simultaneously waiting on the Lord -- moving forward and being still.

I could write out a lengthy list of all the uncertainties that Joy and I are facing at this very moment.  But inspite of this, we're trying to move forward on a number of fronts.

Two days ago Gary Lewis (the other GAMAS Pilot whose airplane was involved in the crash) and I flew an hour and a half out to Region 8 to a new village called Chennapau.   The regional pastor had just concluded a successful evangelistic effort in this village and was wanting to fly over to Paramakatoi.  Since Region 8 is extremely mountainous about the only practical way you can get around is by airplane.  So when we arrived in Chenapau, we dropped a a couple bags and a large box of literature.   The regional pastor and his assistant thought that a six-seat 206 was picking them up so unfortunately they had quite a bit of extra luggage!  After a little bit of negotiating, we were able to get most all the bodies and bags packed in the plane.  I was very greatful for a strong Cessna 182 that had the muscle to take it all.  They've now started a major evangelistic effort in PK and still need more bibles and bible studies.

Providentially, I'd just learned that the Guyana Conference received a whole shipment of free bible studies from Light Bearers Ministry.  So I spent a couple hours yesterday in the print shop, sweating profusely from every pore in my body as I pawed through dozens of dusty boxes.  The director of printing came by and must have felt sorry for me because he decided to give me a hand.  This turned out to be a blessing because a number of lessons were still in the shipping container.  With his help were able to locate almost all the lessons for the VOP - Discover Bible Lessons.  We have about 200 - 300 complete sets in 3 Orange Size Boxes in the back of the van waiting to fly out the next trip to PK.

I just heard of a new opportunity that might be opening up in the near future.  It appears that there might be $15-$25K USD that might be made available for for community development projects in the interior.  Right now I'm proposing (i.e. pleading) that this money be used to start new community development projects in villages that are presently closed to the gospel.  Projects like these really break down walls of prejudice and pave the way for the establishment of churches.  Feel free to email me and I'll give you more details on how to pray for this.

Probably the newest twist in our lives is that I've taken up gardening.  Yeah, yeah... That's right!  Ol-brown-thumb-James-Ash is trying to turn over a new leaf.  About six weeks ago some friends of ours in a neighboring village gave Joy and I some pepper and tomato seedlings.  That kind of kick started me on this gardening frenzy.  When I got back to Shea, I nailed up a little grow box from a few miscellaneous boards, and filled it with the best looking topsoil I could find. 

A friend of mine had given me a soil testing device to check the PH and fertility of the soil.   When I poked the probes into the moist dirt, the needle pointed to “too little fertility”.  Hmmm?  The only solution I could think of was cow pies.  So Joy and I scoured the area around the clinic with a shovel and bucket, looking for dung.  Someone tried to warn me against using fresh dung with young plants, but I disregarded this advice, telling myself that the soil was really depleted, and needed a good boost.  Even worse still, the cows had just come by the day before and left more than one nice patty.  So Joy and I happily scooped them up and mixed them up real good with the soil.   

Well...  Let's just say that the poor tomatoe plants looked a little “stunned” for a couple weeks after we transplanted them.  But praise the Lord, I think they've pulled through the worst of it, because two out of the four plants are producing some handsome looking roma tomatoes.  Most of the pepper plants seem to be flourishing as well.

This was just the warm up.  I've planted pakchoi, lettuce, onions, beans, cucumbers, garlic, papaya, and more tomatoes.  I'm itching to hammer another box together so I can plant pumpkin and sweet potatoes.  I'm also hoping to germinate orange, tangarine, soursap, and sugar apple.  These will all be planted around the village.

There is a purpose in all of this.  The longer we live in Shea Village the more we're coming in contact with families that are suffering from hunger and malnutrition.  This last rainy season flooded out a number of farms in the lowlands.  Today - nine months later - some are still struggling to recover from the devastation.

The ones who suffer the most are the small children and pregnant moms.   

So we're doing something about it.  We're kind of taking a two prong approach.  

The first has to do with gardening.  For some odd reason, what we do seems to cause ripples of gossip throughout the community and spark similar interest in the villagers.  So not only am I planning to give away some of our fresh garden produce to the most needy families, but I'm also secretly hoping that our idea might rub off and little planter boxes appear around the village.  So far I've heard of at least one who is intrigued with the idea!
Yesterday I went in to Ministry of Agriculture to request for some seeds to take back with me to the village.  They should be calling me today before I leave (hopefully).  

But until the plants come up we're trying another approach.  There is a NGO in Guyana called Food For The Poor.  They essentially distribute bulk food and other items to organizations that deal with impoverished families.  So I'm requesting 500lbs of dried beans and 500lbs of rice, so that each of the five villages in our vicinity can have a sack of each at the health clinic.  When the most needy come to the clinic, they can receive a couple pounds of beans and rice.  

It doesn't seem like much, but we've got to do something.

Hunger is simply unacceptable, and Jesus seems to think so too (Matt. 25).

Blessings,

James