July Update
- Mackenzie
- Jul 9, 2021
- 6 min read
Hi Everyone! Today I'm writing not from Ebenezer in the Matopos, but from Michigan! It's been 2.5 months since I last sent out an update and wanted to share some highlights from May and June as well as give you some current prayer requests.
In May, Brierly and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Hooray!! On the actual day, we were busy with Ebenezer's Selection Camp that happens each year, so we found a couple days a few weeks after our anniversary to get away to a place we hadn't been before. We went to a lodge in Shangani and enjoyed some peace and quiet family time.
Selection Camp was split into two smaller groups for the second year in a row to comply with the government's restrictions on gatherings. We had potential apprentices come for 2 days at a time, where they did fun team-building activities, were interviewed a second time, and also did some trials of tasks that pertain to farming- are they willing to get dirty? Are they willing to weed and haul manure? Do they have a positive attitude and desire to learn? Where are their spiritual beliefs at currently? These are some of the things we look at when considering who to accept for the upcoming year's intake. It's never an easy process and we are usually limited based on accommodation for the apprentices. But the final selection meeting is thankfully a prayer-filled time and while the team has different views and priorities that we bring to the table, we usually leave in agreement! Phew!
Another huge milestone that happened since I last wrote is that Brierly and the dairy and cropping teams finished the last silage weekend of the season! Almost every weekend since Christmas, a dedicated team of staff and partners from the surrounding community have been working insane hours to ensile the different hectares of maize at Ebenezer and the neighboring farm. It had been an extremely labor intensive job for most of the season, with partners cutting the stalks BY HAND, loading them on to a trailer BY HAND, offloading the trailer at the dairy BY HAND, loading it into a stationary silage cutter machine BY HAND, mixing in molasses BY HAND, and then a tractor compacting it in the (hand-dug) pits, and the team covering it with rolls of black plastic BY HAND.
Thanks to God, to several members of the farm's leadership, and an organization in Europe, Ebenezer received a brand new trailer, silage cutter, and feed mixer in the last couple months. This has allowed Brierly and his team to do double the work with half the labor. This means silage didn't go for 26 hours straight the last few weekends they did it. That partners got to rest on more Sundays than they were before, and Brierly got to eat more meals at home and be there for more bedtime stories with Charlotte. It's a big difference! There are still more improvements to make (for example, once an additional tractor is brought to Ebenezer like planned, then silage can happen during the normal workweek instead of it waiting 'til the weekend when the tractor isn't in use by its normal departments). But as I said, these current improvements are so welcomed and celebrated. And now the silage season is done until December or January (depending on when the cropping team plants).
On June 18, we had our big Ebenezer Graduation ceremony. There were limited guests (again due to local restrictions) but we made the day as special as we could. There were speeches, certificates, songs, and smiles all around as roughly 60 apprentices finished the advanced course and 50 apprentices finished the intermediate course. (At the time of writing I was unable to confirm exact numbers!) Of the apprentices that finished their first year (intermediate), 30 will carry on to the advanced course and 20 will spread their wings and carry on with studies in different fields, enter the work force, or will be leaving for other reasons like needing to take care of family members, realizing that farming is not for them, or for a few, making a bravely honest decision to leave because they cannot commit to following the code of conduct that we ask apprentices to abide by.
With each apprentice, the "Ebenezer family parents" of the color family they belong to get to chat with them about their decision. For example, Brierly and I are Blue Family parents along with 4 other staff members, so we all discussed with our Blue apprentices whether they are continuing or not, what their plans are, what they want to focus on in the advanced course if they are staying, and how Ebenezer can support them or pray for them if they are going.
It's an easy conversation with apprentices that are shining in their time with us and are clearly ready to continue to the second year and you're excited to see them grow and continue to disciple them. And then it's a bittersweet time when some amazing young people you thought would stick around are leaving because you know they're ready to try out their skills, or even if they're simply leaving because they've been influenced by a peer with a bad attitude. It's in these moments when you definitely have to trust that God is in control and know that you've done your best to move them on in their faith, whether it was simply planting the seed or managing to water the seed a couple times while they were at Ebenezer with you.
Some of the most difficult conversations in the last few weeks though have been with second years that were struggling to finish strong. I thought "senioritis" was only a thing in American high schools, but clearly I was wrong. The gap between those who were motivated to finish at the same clipping pace they started with, and those who simply stopped caring about almost anything, was so big. And then for Brierly and myself, knowing how to deal with each apprentice on an individual basis was such a challenge. Who needs grace and understanding? Who will whip it into shape after a gentle conversation? Who do we threaten to take away graduation rewards from? Who do we give tough love to and essentially "give up" on because we've tried several tactics and can't emotionally drain ourselves? Let me tell you, this line of work is hopefully preparing us for when our kids grow up. Yikes- this is not easy! Parents of grown kids- how did you survive!? I salute you!
And I had a few moments were I was reflecting on how these situations with the apprentices must be somewhat parallel to how God feels when we as His children turn away from his plan. When we're stubborn. When we forget His promises. When we think our way is better.
I had to pray and ask God for forgiveness for all the times I act this way toward Him. Knowingly or unknowingly, time and time again, it is so easy to find myself having the wrong perspective. Thinking of the short term instead of long term, or with my emotions instead of thinking through the lens of God's truths, I admit that I have fallen short in this area so many times in recent months. And things have been hard- there have been challenges I haven't faced before and dealings in relationships with apprentices where I really was at my whit's end. But I see now that I can be learning lessons through these experiences. That hopefully, with God's help, my rough edges of rebellious thoughts or ungrateful moments can be smoothed out through His sanctification.
Have you had this before? Where you are trying to teach someone else a lesson and realize it's the word that you yourself need to hear? It is a humbling experience for sure! It takes courage to recognize it. It takes strength to ask God to help us learn our lessons swiftly. But we can do it. Really, we can!
So yes, it's been a busy May and June for us, and we've been learning lessons. We've made it through silage season and another cohort of Ebenezer graduates welcomed our first week at Ebenezer 2 years ago! Time sure flies.
Well friends, I will stop here for now. Thanks for reading along and reflecting with me. Thanks for your encouragement and for sharing back with me!
In Growing Courage,
Mackenzie
Comments