First Fruits

Three weeks ago Mwita, Baba Shamba, began selling our green vegetables out of the Shamba because it is producing too much for the kids to eat. The kids are already eating green vegetables about three times a week and have agreed to eat it more. Mwita was so proud to hand us 10,000 TSHs he received for selling the green vegetables. This was the first fruits of his and the children’s labor. Since then, he has continued to sell the greens to St. Jude Primary and he is bringing people in from the villages. The children realize that the work they do daily is paying off in so many ways.

A few weeks back we were able to purchase two plowing cows along with the yoke and chain. This week Mwita, along with Magige, Anna, Salma, and today Eric, have been plowing the field so that we may plant this week. We really should have planted a few weeks back but we had difficulties with the first cow we bought and eventually had to sell it to be slaughtered. Mwita and Magige finished the first two sections of plowing on Monday and we had the children plant corn on Tuesday afternoon. Eight boys lined up with jembes and dug holes about a foot and a half apart while a person went behind each of them and dropped two corn seeds in the hole and covered it back up. It was a wonderful experience to be apart of as they all took pride in what they were doing. They realize that in the next few months we will be producing enough corn for them to eat and will be saving the orphanage money.

The Shamba is the beginning of MAHOHTT becoming self-sustaining and capable to provide for the surrounding villages in a physical way. In the book of James, it states that it is God who gives us “every good gift and every perfect gift…Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.” God has blessed us with a faithful man who is not only faithful to us and his work but to God and the family of God. The children have worked hard to see that the Shamba produces good vegetables and fruits that they eat weekly. This month we have seen the first fruits of physical labor in the form of food and then shillings. What are we doing to be the first fruits of God’s creatures?