ENOCH FIRMEN and his father ISAAC FIRMEN are with the Evangelical Church of Haiti in Cap Haitien, Haiti.  Enoch works for Hope Seeds through our relationship with Family Life Outreach (FLO), a ministry partner with the Evangelical Church.  His responsibility is to do ‘agricultural evangelism’.  He travels to local churches and schools one day a week to distribute seed and share the biblical truths about agriculture and God’s promises.  Enoch has been doing this for only a few brief months, and we are so encouraged by his efforts and results that we intend to empower him to do this work more days of the week.  He has held many small seminars on agriculture which focus on  caring for God’s creation and  sharing the Gospel message through stories of seed planting, growing, and the harvest. 

Enoch is also an integral part of our plans for the Hope Outreach Garden, a joint project of FLO and Hope Seeds.  Enoch is developing a plan which will help teach good agricultural techniques to church workers and members, who can then share this knowledge with members of their community.  Enoch has a big heart for gardening, and he knows that God is the Creator of all Gardens.  He wishes to share this knowledge with those who wish to learn.  The "empty jar" Enoch is sharing is teaching materials and seeds which you helped provide. 

Isaac Firmen, Enoch’s father, is also sharing in this effort by working in the same garden, which he helped establish and manage over the last year, by using his practical experience in growing and selling of produce to feed those in need.  He harvests food on a regular basis to provide for the needs of a prison ministry and also for extremely desperate families. Recently Hope Seeds sent both Enoch and Isaac to an agricultural conference called Konference Agrico, sponsored by ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, a Hope Seeds partner).  One class which really touched Isaac was the making of jellies. 

He became inspired to use some of the less-desirable cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden to make jellies.  So, he went home and put into practice what he had learned.  He filled "empty jars" with chopped-up cucumbers or tomatoes, added sugar syrup, and found a product which Haitians liked and were anxious to purchase from him.  As a result, we have nicknamed Isaac's new creation ”waste-not jelly“.  The "empty jars" which you helped send were turned into an opportunity for knowledge and learning.  God provided the inspiration for these men to take actions which will benefit others.

Claude is a gardener, also working at the Hope Outreach Garden, under the direction of Isaac Firmen.  He is a hardworking and energetic man, raising little fuss or questions when told to do hard jobs repeatedly every day. 

Claude is a Christian living in a small hamlet of satanic Voodoo worshipers.  He is laughed at and persecuted for his faith.  They mock him for his belief, stating that he is still poor like them, so what good is being Christian.  He shares his faith by working, diligently providing what he can for his family.  Claude is working for God just like he works in the garden, doing all that needs to be done to complete the task, using his gifts of energy and endurance.   

Recently we were able to share some encouragement to Claude, his wife and two children in the form of tote bags filled with human care items, shoes, and blankets, as well as some food.  The "empty jar" in this story is the Tote Bag - hand sown by someone in the USA, filled with donated materials from someone else in the USA, and shipped to Haiti, funded by yet another person in the USA.  Many people can provide, in their own way,  "empty jars" to a Christian family in need.

Blake Whisenant of Parrish, Florida, is an experienced gardener.  He is also very involved in making vegetables grow in places where there is a lack of water.  He is a retired tomato farmer who invented the Earth Box, a self-contained box which can produce quality vegetables with a minimum requirement of water.  Blake’s invention is well recognized by many people for its potential, and he received national recognition from American Horticultural Society in Washington D.C. in May, 2003.  His boxes are receiving favorable reviews in large experiments in Ghana as part of a research project for the United Nations World Food Bank, as well as in Sicily, Italy, with commercial tomato farmers.  Blake also serves as a member of the Hope Seeds Advisory Board.  Many times he has generously donated earth boxes for us to send to missionaries. 

Hope Seeds promotes the use of the Earth Box as a resourceful way to produce seedlings for transplant, and also a great way to grow food on roof tops, patios, or other uncooperative locations.  We have been able to send out over 100 such boxes in the last several years.  And now we are able to send even more.  Blake recently heard of several projects where we sent a few boxes  (Peru, Haiti, Sierra Leone) and offered 400 more boxes.  These boxes will be prepared for shipments in the next two months (and we could use your help with the transport expenses). Materials about the use of these boxes are being prepared in the native language of the people (and we could use some help with printing expenses).

One day Adam and Eve are living in the Garden of Eden, heaven on earth, and the next day they are scratching in the dirt, fighting thorns and thistles.  The ‘old Adam’ in us wants to say: “How cruel and unfair, it was just one mistake”!   Yet our just and righteous God had but one rule for the perfect and sinless Adam and Eve, just one rule:  “do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil”.  Sin and Satan were present, and Adam and Eve were not capable of denying the temptation anymore than you or I can today.  Talk about Tough Love – God expelled them from the garden.  Yet he did so with love and hope.  Please note that three times in the three verses of Genesis 3: 17-19 God tells Adam that you will eat.  Thorns and Thistles, Sweat and Toil are also part of these verses, but you will eat is the reassurance we need. 

Whether thorns and thistles were part of the original creation or were added by God as a result of man’s sin we are not told.  And, sweat and toil for food production become necessary work after sin.  Man had been given the job to manage the Garden of Eden where food was in abundance, but now man has to work hard, toiling against thorns and thistles in an un-cooperative environment, cultivating the land.

Thorns and thistles must have reminded Adam and Eve every day of what had been lost because of sin.  The sin of Adam and Eve is still going on through you and me today.  The earth, of which we are the inherent stewards, still pays the price of mans sin.  Land, water, air and all the other natural resources reflect how we are doing as managers.  We daily commit sins of all types which are thorns and thistles in the garden of our lives.  Do these thorns of sin still remind us of what was lost?   

As part of God’s grace, thorns and thistles still serve many purposes in our world:  thorn bushes make natural barriers and living fences to keep out unwanted animals from gardens; thistles are useful as a food crop during certain times of the year, such as  dandelion greens and cardoons; medicinal aids, such as the milk thistle and the blessed thistle; some thorn trees are used by birds to build and protect their nests; and more.  Sin gives us  the curse of thorns, but the thorn is not cursed. 

If thorns and thistles could talk perhaps they would remind us that sin is a real part of our lives and we must work and sweat to eat and properly care for the Creation.  They would remind us with every stab of a thorn that sin hurts.  But these same thorns can remind us of God’s grace.  Thorns were placed on the head of Jesus, pushed into his scalp during the trial for his crucifixion.  Jesus took our thorns of sin willingly and paid the price by suffering and dieing.  And upon Jesus resurrection he proclaimed victory over sin, allowing believers to once again have the hope of a garden walk with the Creator. 

If thorns and thistles were to talk they would say to us that our source of salvation from sin is faith in Jesus Christ.  The thorns are saying – “you will eat”, and “you will be saved”.   Tough Love?  You bet!  Thank you to the Lord our God!

The summer months provide earth with the warmth to produce crops which bring the harvest of the fall season.  It is a time when many people take vacation and spend time with family and friends.  It is also the time of year when ministries like Hope Seeds see declines in their support, anticipating the increase in the fall and winter months. This is the normal routine.

This summer produced a more dramatic ‘vacation’ from support than in past years.  We recognize the present economic recovery will take time, yet we know that we are blessed with more than most of the world.  Our harvest this year will produce the food and resources we need, as God promises.  We ask you to prayerfully consider a gift to Hope Seeds now and in the future months.  There are many "empty jars" to send to Haiti, Honduras, Peru, Sierra Leone, El Salvador, etc….  We can send what you help us send.  We have empty buckets to fill, we have empty earth boxes to send,  we have teaching materials to share.  And, we have you to help us fill them.  Thank you for your support!

Special Report