A Lost Harvest

Living in the Czech Republic now for nine months we have had the privilege of enjoying a sample of all four seasons. As we have driven throughout this beautiful land, we noticed the roads lined with fruit trees, mostly apple and some pear trees. Now, when I say lined I am not exaggerating. For miles and miles these quaint little European roads were completely bordered by fruit trees. I have to confess that on more than one occasion while out on a family drive we would pull the car over and just help ourselves to some delicious fresh fruit. The interesting part about these trees is that they appear to belong to no one. There is no orchard and no farmer; indeed these are wild trees. As the summer was coming to a close and fall was setting in on us, we could not help but notice that many, if not all, of these trees were losing their fruit. It was literally rotting on the branches and then falling to the ground dead. None of it was being harvested. We are not talking about crab apples. These apples would put the best Ontario apples to shame (no offense if you happen to be an apple farmer in Ontario). Rachael would often comment on the sad waste of all that fruit, “How many people could have been fed if only there were workers to harvest the fruit.”

I remember one particularly beautiful early fall day here when this really began to set in. We had gone for a Sunday afternoon family drive to a nearby town. As we were heading out of town we came over the crest of a hill and saw a little country road full of apple trees whose fruit was rotting. In that moment, a powerful picture hit me as hard as I’ve been hit in a while. These trees represent the people of the Czech Republic. We live in a country of 10 million people who are everyday rotting and falling to the ground dead, never having received the message of Salvation through Christ alone. And Rachael’s words came back to me, “If only there were workers to harvest all this fruit, imagine the people it could feed.” Wow, if only there were more workers here and more resources available. Imagine all the people who could hear and respond to the Gospel and in turn imagine all the people they could feed. What a tragedy that all this fruit is dying, never having been harvested. Last week this picture really hit home for me. I was told of 3 great tragedies that took place in the last two weeks right here in our own community of 10,000 people. The first is the story of a man who on Sunday night was out drinking with friends. At 2 o’clock in the morning he called his wife to come and pick him up. Sadly when she got there he pushed her out of the car and took off driving. The man drove his car right into the side of a small hotel/restaurant and died. What a loss! My heart was so grieved to think of how quickly life can end, and if it ends without Jesus: what a loss indeed! On the same weekend there was a man in his 40’s partying in a village five minutes from our town. It was a village wide celebration and many town officials were there including several fireman. In the middle of the afternoon this man who had been drinking very heavily, jumped into a pool. While people stood by laughing, thinking he was joking, the man drowned. Finally, two weeks ago an 18 year old boy who only had his driver’s licence for a few months went to pick up some friends who had been partying late one night. After dropping off his friends he headed home and lost control of his car. He hit a tree and died less than one kilometre from our house. These stories immediately brought to mind the un-harvested fruit all over this country that is everyday falling to the ground and rotting and dying.

There is good news however, the Bible say the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. That’s what we are here for. We so desire to be those harvesters! For us, God has called us to be the Harvesters in the field of the Czech Republic. For you, it may be elsewhere. Jesus called us to go in to all the world. That means our neighbourhoods, cities, countries and places where no one else is shining His light. Please don’t lose sight of the global call of our mission.
I know God does not call all of us to leave our homes and countries. For if He did who then would minister there? But I believe that God has called us, the Rectors, all four of us, to this country for a season and for a reason. I know that God works way beyond what we can imagine. He also works through the Body of Christ, His church. His church knows no borders and we all have a different role and place within it. For now, ours is to be here to be Harvesters of the lost.
We hope and pray this letter finds you all well. Thank you for your support and prayers. We have been so blessed by the love and support we have received so many times by complete strangers, family and friends a like and above all by our Father in Heaven. God Bless you all and may you know His love and Peace deeper and deeper.