I woke up to the sound of the birds chirping and sunshining through the screenless window. It was our first day in Tsuiri (pronounced Sweetie) a small community in the hills of Costa Rica’s jungle. I was eager and excited for what this weekend had in store. We had been doing ministry in Puerto Viejo for almost two months and were looking forward to a little change in scenery and a new place to build new relationships. I was excited for the breath of fresh air and opportunity to do something different. As a team, we spent time asking God what he wanted for the weekend and what the community needed.
One of our leaders lead us in starting off the weekend in the word! We read John 15; the chapter begins by reminding us how we must remain in the Father, that we are like a vine and God is the gardener who picks and prunes us so that we can bear fruit. It says we can not bear fruit apart from the vine. Verse 6 declares that if we do not remain in God we are like a branch that is thrown away and withers unable to bear any fruit. As we began our time in Tsuiri we were reminded through this passage that if we want to make any impact on this community, or bear any fruit for God’s kingdom, we needed to come from a posture of abiding in the Father. When we choose to do so he then promises to bear fruit. When God promises something, he is always faithful in fulfilling it. Sometimes though he bears the fruit in ways and times that we will never see. Are we ok with that? Will we be quick to become discouraged when we see nothing change, when fruit is ready for harvest sometimes months even years after we planted the seed? As humans we can get impatient and ask when we will see the fruit of our labor, of our abiding in him. With manual labor ministry and playing a soccer game once or twice a week, it is really hard to see fruit, if there is any, from what we are doing. We will never see the fruit of clearing nearly 11 acres of jungle or how from our willingness to show up and play a game with a bunch of kiddos. But that morning, our leader encouraged and reminded us that we might never see the fruit of the relationships we build with the people of Tsuiri or see how the Church is blessed by the short five days we spent with them, but we were not asked to bear fruit in our time. God is the only one who can bear fruit and so it is in His timing. Sometimes God blesses us with the opportunity to see the fruit he bears through us, however, sometimes he does not. As we began this weekend, I pondered what that looks like. Are we willing to step into things we might never see the fruit of and trust God to fulfill his promise?
As we sat around the campfire later that night, we shared what God did through that first day, how we had seen him show up, the highs and the lows. One of the YWAM staff who has become a near and dear friend of mine spoke up about the fruit of the day. I was caught off guard, I had prepared my heart to not see fruit of our time here in Tsuiri. I trusted that it would come days, months or even years after we left. Kish pointed out that just in that first day of partnering with God he beared fruit and it looked like little things that made a big difference to the physical appearance of the Church. New bathroom walls, re-sanded and stained pews, and hand painted signs to decorate the property with the truth of God’s word. God was so intentional and kind to show us that he is actively bearing fruit through us when we abide and remain in him. If he is faithful in showing us fruit of one day of manual labor, how much more fruit will he bear through the relationships built, the time spent with the neighbor kids, the Sunday school classes and the services we shared with them?
Thanks God for always fulfilling your promises.
