Harvest Season at Hope Community

Come harvest season, the garden at Hope Community is overflowing with goodness—peppers of all shapes and sizes, smooth potatoes, bright red tomatoes, and even zucchini that might be mistaken for baseball bats. A few days a week, J., our colleague and master gardener, carries in a bowl full of produce for us to enjoy. We often use this bounty for our Tuesday community meals, with plenty left over to share with our neighbors. 

Gardening has always seemed like a small miracle to me. I think about how J. began the garden in spring with bare dirt and dozens of small seeds, how he faithfully watered and pruned and crushed snails and picked weeds. But even J., with all his expertise, cannot guarantee a good harvest. So much depends on the weather, the quality of the soil, and whether the seed is suitable for this climate. He provides the best possible conditions for the seeds to grow, but he cannot control everything. He cannot cause the seed to break open in the dark earth and stretch its tiny leaves toward the light.

The Deeper Harvest

One quiet afternoon, I was sitting at Hope Community, not thinking about seeds or gardens or anything profound at all, when a young man we had met a few times before sat down at the table. We chatted about learning English, the foods he likes, and other everyday topics.

“I want to learn more about Jesus."

“I want to learn more about Jesus,” Ahmed* suddenly said. “Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to know more about Christianity.” Surprised at the turn of the conversation, I offered an encouraging smile and told him he was in the right place. “I used to go to the different Christian churches in [my home country], but they didn’t talk much about Jesus. Now I want to learn everything about Jesus, and then I want to get baptized,” he said. 

A few days later, J. was in the garden when Ahmed approached him and again expressed his desire to know Jesus. J. led him in a prayer of surrender to Jesus. If I had been looking closely, I might have seen the seed break open as Ahmed strained toward the Light. Ahmed began coming to Hope Community almost daily to be discipled in his faith, and he is always welcome at our local church.

Weeks later, he again expressed his other deep desire: to be baptized. We arranged a small baptism service with the pastor of our church — but before that day arrived, Ahmed brought his friend to us, saying, “Kerem* also wants to be baptized!” We knew Kerem well; he had come to our Wednesday night worship services and could often be found in the kitchen, helping to prepare the meal. From the first day we met him, he had been open about his faith in Jesus. Now he, too, desired to take the next step of obedience and be baptized.

We held the baptism at a quiet, shallow river just outside the city. Our pastor shared the story of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8), explained the significance of baptism, and prayed over these two men. Then he led each of them into the water, asked them for a declaration of faith, and baptized them.

“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service.” 

1 Corinthians 3:7-9 (NIV)

Ever since he was a kid, Jesus had been calling Ahmed. Along the way, other people had planted seeds in his life; still others had watered those seeds. In the faith community he found both at Hope Community and at our church, God broke open Ahmed’s heart and caused the seed of faith to grow.  I asked Ahmed later how he felt after the baptism. He told me, “I feel cleaned.”

These days, when I chop vegetables or prepare a salad at Hope Community, I think of the deeper harvest this bounty represents. I think of Ahmed and Kerem—how God called them, grew their desire to know Him, and allowed us to participate in the harvest.

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