Faith and Farming
The first Faith and Farming workshop was recently held in Nigeria, in the town of Lambata. Ten farmers from the Gbari language community spent three days learning about what the Bible has to say about farming, and how to apply those biblical truths practically to their farming techniques.
Although many language groups in Nigeria do have the Bible translated into their language (well over half of the 500 languages in Nigeria have no translated Scripture at all), an issue is getting people to engage fully with their Scriptures. ‘Often they (and we) don’t apply the Bible to large areas of their (our) lives. One of the things we teach is that the word of God speaks into every situation and if people are farming then that’s where we need to reach them and show them how the Scriptures can speak to them about their practices.’
The workshop was a success as evidenced by these comments from the participants:
"We were inspired by seeing the presentation of all the different ideas the Faith and Farming staff are trying out on their demonstration farm. Mostly we just grow yams and beans in the rainy season but from your example I have seen that there are many ideas that we can try to grow food for our family all year round. We also saw how you make natural fertilizer from animal manure, leaves, paper etc and would like to try that too as fertilizer is so expensive now."
"I’ve been reading the Bible and preaching for many years and I never noticed before that Noah was a farmer! (Genesis 9:20) It’s wonderful to read about so many farmers in the Bible. If you relate the gospel to someone’s life work, they will understand it and accept it much better."
"Before when I farmed, I put my faith in my own strength. Since studying farming in the Bible at this workshop, I will now trust God with my faith and sing praises to him in Gbari as I farm."
"After this workshop I will go back to my people and talk in church to tell the men and women that farming is approved by God and He doesn’t look down on it like we do. This will help my people to do their farming work with all their hearts."
"This workshop was filled with so much good news, I don’t want to keep it to myself like a selfish person so I will share it with my people!"
"I really appreciated doing Audio Bible Studies so I will go home and do them with my family."
Although many language groups in Nigeria do have the Bible translated into their language (well over half of the 500 languages in Nigeria have no translated Scripture at all), an issue is getting people to engage fully with their Scriptures. ‘Often they (and we) don’t apply the Bible to large areas of their (our) lives. One of the things we teach is that the word of God speaks into every situation and if people are farming then that’s where we need to reach them and show them how the Scriptures can speak to them about their practices.’
The workshop was a success as evidenced by these comments from the participants:
"We were inspired by seeing the presentation of all the different ideas the Faith and Farming staff are trying out on their demonstration farm. Mostly we just grow yams and beans in the rainy season but from your example I have seen that there are many ideas that we can try to grow food for our family all year round. We also saw how you make natural fertilizer from animal manure, leaves, paper etc and would like to try that too as fertilizer is so expensive now."
"Before when I farmed, I put my faith in my own strength. Since studying farming in the Bible at this workshop, I will now trust God with my faith and sing praises to him in Gbari as I farm."
"After this workshop I will go back to my people and talk in church to tell the men and women that farming is approved by God and He doesn’t look down on it like we do. This will help my people to do their farming work with all their hearts."
"This workshop was filled with so much good news, I don’t want to keep it to myself like a selfish person so I will share it with my people!"
"When I go back to my area I will train 2 people from each area so that they can train their people and everyone can learn about Faith and Farming."
"I really appreciated doing Audio Bible Studies so I will go home and do them with my family."
*thanks to my Bible translation colleagues for these report details and photos*
Re-blogged with changes from the original Wycliffe UK report
Comments