HARVEST FESTIVAL - WITH A DIFFERENCE

I'm sure a lot of people will remember Harvest Festivals from their childhood with fruit and vegetables and perhaps even sheaves of corn/wheat adorning the front of the church, and if there was a local baker around, then often there was a large loaf in the shape of a sheaf. Things have changed since my childhood and today in our church we had a Harvest Festival with a difference.

Our Minister had been with representatives of other churches to pray around a very large building site, not too far from where we live and whilst there, they had seen a field ripe with wheat, which was going to waste, probably because the field had been sold as part of the site. They decided to pick some and he brought a large bag filled with the wheat "ears". We were invited to help in the process of winnowing - separating the grain from the chaff and there were many willing helpers, some of them very young, as you can see.

One of our congregation, Keith T, who always thinks outside the box, set up a fan, dropped the wheat in front of the current of air, with the result that the chaff was blown away and the wheat collected in a bowl - it made a bit of a mess, but it worked!

All great fun, and interspersed with harvest hymns and prayers.

Another aspect of our service was a visit from 3 members of Educacion Plus, Keith Holder, who set it up 20 years ago, Juan Carlos, the Administrator and Camps Director, who has worked with them for 18 years and Oscar, who was helped by the organisation when he was very young and has stayed with them - he is now a paid Community Worker in a shanty town in Costa Rica.

Our church has helped them quite a lot in the past and for a while two of Keith’s daughters worshipped with us, but their purpose today was NOT to raise funds, but for this to be a Thanksgiving Tour, giving thanks to God for all He has done over the last 20 years. If you would like to read more about EP, have a look here - you can practise your Spanish reading skills on the website, or you can translate it into English!

We gave gifts of non-perishable food to the local Food Bank and our offering was for the work of Educacion Plus - so today really was a Harvest Festival with a difference - and our prayer is that all we have given will make a difference in the lives of those who receive the gifts.

The Lord said in his heart:
‘As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.’
Genesis 8:22
New International Version

Thanks to all who helped put my Salvia "Hot Lips" into the Spotlight yesterday - I think I'm getting the hang of this camera!