African Farming

Since I am a city girl, I never claimed to know a lot about farming but I received quite an education yesterday during my time with Tommy. In addition to preaching in the villages, he has a farm here. After our village visit he took us by his farm. I learned that farming is a lot harder in Africa because they don't have many of the machines that American farmers have. They have to do it all by hand - the sowing, the reaping, everything. We saw his workers pounding the soybean and Tommy explained that after they harvest it and let it dry, they “pound” it (hitting the crops with big sticks) to separate the beans and then collect it. It's a long process. I offered to help them for a few minutes – it's hard work! Many of the people here make their living by farming and I was once again shocked at what a hard life they have. It's not been easy living in an African village these last few months, but I live in a palace compared to what most of these people live in. And these people work so hard. Both the men and the women work long hours on the farm, and the children as well. I have seen many children carrying buckets of water from the well (Don't take for granted that you can turn on the faucet and water magically appears). I have tried to put into words what it's like here, but to fully understand you have to see it for yourself. All I know is that life is hard here. But as I shared with the people at the village yesterday, the same God I know is the same God that loves them. And this God never promises an easy life, but He promises to always be with us and to fill us with His peace and joy no matter what our circumstances!