“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15 It is interesting how many assume when…

In a few weeks, our family plans to put in some peanuts and sweet potatoes in our orchard for some cover crops. We’ve spent the week clearing the ground by…

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15 It is interesting how many assume when God created Adam and Eve, there was no work in the garden of Eden. That is crazy talk! There was plenty of work and care they needed to do. God didn’t put man and woman in a garden for a vacation. I’ve never come across a garden that didn’t need any maintenance. You weed a garden bed, and the next day what do you wake up and see, more weeds.  This past month we’ve been putting in some final touches to our front KIEC garden alongside the playground. Its been a project we’ve been working on for the past eight months. Why take so long and put so much effort into such a small space? We created this area to…

In a few weeks, our family plans to put in some peanuts and sweet potatoes in our orchard for some cover crops. We’ve spent the week clearing the ground by hand and getting things ready. As I’ve been thinking about peanuts, I remembered a quote by George Washington Carver: “When I was young, I said to God, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the universe.’ But God answered, ‘That knowledge is for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God, tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And he told me.” Well, as George already has covered peanuts, I’ve spent time reflecting on banana trees. We have a lot of orange, lime, lemons and lychees trees in our orchard.Yet, the ‘tree’ we have the most of is bananas, with around 120 planted. I think they are one of our most interesting ‘trees’…

One of my favorite bands is named ‘The Gray Havens.” They aren’t the most well known Christian band, but they should be. I probably listen to their songs once a day. I resonate with their lyrics and music, which always seems to call me to draw back and contemplate my own spiritual life and walk with the Lord. I also think they have a cool Christian band name. Their name makes me reflect on life here in this world. Living in the grayness of a fallen world and at the same time assured by the gift of grace that I have a haven in Jesus. There is a mournful hope in how they share the gospel in their music. The below Youtube links are just some of their many great songs. I really encourage everyone reading this to take a moment to check them out! For many of us, the…

Some may think mission service is glamorous work. Perhaps, some have a vision of Sinte and Austin going out every evening to do evangelism, lead a Bible study, or help to plant a new church. Truthfully, our hearts love this type of work, and when we get these opportunities, we love it. But for the past year, we’ve been doing more nitty-gritty work that many might feel doesn’t quite have a missionary ring to it. Austin has been working a lot on improving KIEC’s gardens and ditches. You can’t rush plants, they take their time, and he’s learned how to grow vegetables and flowers he’s never even seen before. Building the foundation walls for our ditches has been much the same way. We mix our cement by hand and move and build walls one rock at a time. But when the job gets done, you see fruit, and it is…