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| Picture of me sharing at devotions. The sack on the right are the beans. The orange bucket is our tithe. |
A few weeks ago, Seuri and
Mama Mchungaji harvested beans here.
Wiki chache zilizopita, Seuri na Mama Mchungaji
walivuna maharage hapa.
Even though Michelle and I
are farmers in the US, we learned something new about how to harvest beans.
Hata kama Michelle na mimi tulikuwa na wakulima
Marekani, sisi tulijifunza kitu kipya kuhusu jinsi ya kuvuna maharage.
We thought it would take a
long, long time by hand.
Tulifikiri watavuna kwa muda mrefu, mrefu sana kwa
mikono yao.
But, we learned how
Tanzanians do it.
Lakini, tulijifunza jinsi ya Watanzania wanavuna
maharage.
We learned that you have
to pull up the whole plant, gather them together, put them on a mat, let the
sun dry them, then beat them, gather the beans, and then clean out the trash.
Tulijifunza kuhitaji kuvuta maharage yote, kuyakusanya
pamoja, kuyaweka juu ya tarp katika jua, kuyapiga, kuyachukua maharage, halafu
kuchuja takataka.
So, after all that work,
we have our beans.
Hivyo, baada ya kazi hiyo yote, tulikuwa na maharage
yetu.
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| The Limiero girls, Reeghan and Andwynne, inspecting the beans... and playing in them!! |
But, I shouldn't say they
are our beans.
Lakini, bora nisiseme maharage yetu.
Actually, they are God’s
beans.
Kwa kweli, haya ni maharage ya Mungu.
Psalm 24:1 says that the
earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.
Zaburi mstari ishirini na nne, mlango moja inasema dunia
na vyote vilivyomo ni vyake Mwenyezi-Mungu; ulimwengu na wote waishio humo ni
mali yake.
Yes, we planted the seeds,
but God made them grow.
Ndiyo, tulipanda mbegu, lakini Mungu aliyakuisha.
We got rid of the weeds,
but God sent the rains.
Tulitoa magugu, lakini Mungu alituma mvua.
And so, since all of this
is His, we should give back to Him from what we harvest.
Sababu yoto ni yake, tumpe Mungu toka mavuno yetu.
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| Seuri (left) and John (right) carrying the beans! |
In Leviticus 27:30, God is
speaking through Moses that one-tenth of the produce of the land, whether from
the fields or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord and must be set apart
as holy.
Walawi, mstari wa irishiri na saba, mlango thelathini,
Mungu anasema zaka za mazao iwe ni nafaka au matunda ya miti, yote ni mali ya
Mwenyezi-Mungu; ni takatifu kwa Mwenyezi-Mungu.
Again in 2 Chronicles 31, Hezekiah
and the Israelites are celebrating the Passover.
Tena, katika mbili mambo ya nyakati mstari thelathini
na moja, Hezekia na waisraili wanasherekea Pasaka.
Afterwards, Hezekiah is
organizing the Levite priests and gives a requirement to the people to bring a
portion of their goods to the priests.
Baada ya sherehe, Hezekia anawaambia watu wote kuleta
sehemu ya bidhaa kwa mchungaji.
Verse 5 says that when the
people of Israel heard these requirements, they responded generously by
bringing the first share of their grain, new wine, olive oil, honey, and all
the produce of their fields.
Mlango tano inasema mara tu amri hiii ilipotolewa,
watu wa Israeli walitoa kwa wingi, malimbuko ya nafaka, divai, mafuta, asali na
mazao mengine mbalimbali ya shambani, na pia zaka nyingi za kila kitu.
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| Seuri (left), Loserian (center), and Mama Mchungaji (right) posing with the tithe right before they leave to take it to the church. |
And so, we want to follow
their example and give back to the Lord from what He has given us.
Hivyo, tunataka kufuata mfano wao na kumpa Mungu toka
kitu alitupa.
In total, we
harvested 60 kilograms of beans.
Jumla, tulivuna kilogram sitini cha maharage.
We are going to give back
to God our tithe of 10%, totaling 6 kilograms.
Tutampa Mungu zaka yetu ya asilimia kumi. Jumla
itakuwa kilogram sita.
We have decided that this will be given to the FPCT church at the end of the road.
Tumeamua kupa kanisa la FPCT mwisho wa barabara.
We are asking Seuri and Loserian to take it to FPCT as an offering from our fields.
Tunawauliza Seuri na Loserian to kuchukua zaka yetu
Kanisa la FPCT kama sadaka kutoka shamba letu.
SLIGHT INTERJECTION: At this point in sharing, I was politely interrupted by one of our fellow missionaries who had some news that just couldn't wait. Only the day before, he had been at FPCT church and the pastor had announced that the youth were going on an evangelism trip and they were asking people to bring in supplies for them including foods such as flour, sugar, rice, and.... BEANS!
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| Handing over the tithe to the pastor! |
In Matthew 9, Jesus refers
to the Father as the “Lord of the Harvest” and tells us to pray to Him to send
workers into His field.
Mathayo mstari tisa, Yesu alimwitwa Baba “Bwana wa
Mavuno” na ankawaambia wanafunzi wak, Mavuno ni mengi, lakini wafanyakazi ni
wachache. Basi mwombeni mwenye mavuno atume wafanyakazi wavune mavuno yake.”
Let’s thank the Lord
together for the physical harvest he has blessed us with and also ask Him to
send workers into the fields all around the world to reap the spiritual harvest
of people who will put their trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior.
Tuwamshukuru Mungu pamoja kwa mavuno ya maharage
alitupa na kumwuliza kutuma wafanyakazi wavune mavuno yake dunia zima kuvuna
mavuno ya kiroho ya watu kumpenda Yesu kama Bwana na Mwokozi.
Let’s pray. Tuombe.
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