a gathering place.

We’ve been busy preparing for an event we are hosting a month from today in the barn at The Berry Farm. The evening will benefit the work of Help One Now and there will be another event the next day specifically benefitting our partnership in Zimbabwe and the agricultural training program for the boys at Musha WeVana. The program is about to get underway there and we are SO excited to see years of hard work start to come to fruition. We are planning another trip this spring to visit Pastor John and the kiddos at Musha WeVana Village and can’t wait to see the new training program and farm up and running in Marondera!

We are expecting 300 guests next month at the farm and we have been having so much fun renovating our run-down, working barn to host this special evening. I’ve wanted to renovate the barn since day one so I couldn’t be more excited to get this underway.

When we first started the berry farm planting three years ago, we had no idea how God would use that little slice of land. We simply knew this was a part of His plan for our family and we kept our heads down and got to work. We trusted Him with the details and have been honestly been BLOWN AWAY by His good plans.

I never would have imagined we would be working in Zimbabwe or that our little farm would help pave a pathway to a better future for teenage boys there. Older, orphaned and at-risk boys are big on our hearts and we have always had a desire to give these boys a chance – to learn a skill, to build confidence, to lead, to restore communities – we know of (and ADORE) many programs for young girls or mommas looking to care for their babies (LOVE SO MUCH) but there are very few programs that come alongside young boys who are at risk. These boys will grow to be daddies and leaders of their families and in their communities and we want to empower them to lead well. What a joy it has been to watch this program’s idea form and begin to be realized. I am truly in awe of God’s goodness and the fact that He lets me and Dave and our family be a part of this work.

To be honest, this little berry farm felt like a bit of a failure during our first harvest. We were taken completely off guard when we lost a good portion of our blueberries to birds and storms. I couldn’t understand why God would have us commit to starting the agriculture program in Zimbabwe THIS year when He knew we wouldn’t even come close to our fundraising goal (let’s just say we were about 80% short). Why? Why would our crop be destroyed this first year when the kids needed this money right now? It made no sense to any of us.

I’ve been studying the sixth chapter of John this week, the story of the five loaves and the two fish. I loved how Jesus tested Philip by asking him where they would buy bread for the large crowd to eat. Philip solemnly responded with the fact that a years wages wouldn’t be enough to buy bread to feed everyone. I can only imagine Philip felt pretty defeated in that moment. {John 6:5-7}

I love what Jennie Allen says about this story in her Proven study:

“In these verses we see Jesus state the impossible task before Philip, testing him. It seems Jesus went out of his way to show Philip and the rest of the disciples it could not be done in their power… Jesus fully trusted in the exceeding abundance of His Father, God {and modeled this for the disciples}.”

SO good. So good.

Jesus certainly modeled this for our family with this farm of ours.

No way could we do this in our power. We couldn’t get the program off the ground in Zimbabwe this year with the small crop during our harvest. It seemed impossible. Until this event came along. And, we remembered, He doesn’t need us for this work. Yet, He graciously gives us a chance to come along for the ride. We simply need to trust in the exceeding abundance of our Father.

The other really fun part of the farm that I’m loving see come together is the fact that God had whispered a phrase to me early on, before the fields were even planted:

A gathering place. 

I knew this farm of ours (did I mention we have ZERO farming experience? This whole thing felt a little bit out of left field at first) was meant to be a gathering place of some sort but I didn’t fully understand what that would look like.

My human vision is so finite and short-sighted. I assumed this meant we would gather families to harvest berries. That only made sense and seemed reasonable. I tucked the phrase in the back of my mind and forgot all about it.

Until very recently. As we started the initial planning for this upcoming fundraiser, the phrase came to mind again.

A gathering place. 

God made the farm a gathering place like I never would have anticipated. We have found ourselves gathering here on Sunday mornings. With a growing number of likeminded families. Families looking for a place where everything else is stripped away but the goodness of our Savior. We meet in a barn, kids often run amuck outside – slipping in for a song or to listen to the sermon and then running back out until we share communion together – dogs and lambs stop in for a visit, we have a little speaker for songs to be played off a phone – no worship team, no AC. Yet, God’s presence is so palpable and we have the most raw, authentic community of broken people who admittedly have zero answers and are learning to simply lean on the One who does. It’s beautiful and precious. And completely and wholly unexpected.

And, soon, we will gather in that same barn to celebrate good work being done around the globe and to raise money for continued community empowerment and family preservation and education and food and clean water.

While this world feels like it’s spinning faster and the chasm of division and hatred grows wider, what a joy it is to have this gathering place where we can step away from the chaos and rest in His mercy and graciousness and compassion. A place where we can collectively lift our eyes and see light still shining brightly into the darkness.