Sowing and Reaping

Yesterday in Quebracho we had our Siembra. Siembra is the Spanish word for planting, or sowing seed. When used in reference to a church event, it is a time of faith for the believers. All of the churches from the association participate with the hosting church, believing for the funds to finish a project within the church, in our case, finish the House of Prayer or Temple, or Church Building. Whichever you prefer to call it. For about a month before the actual event, those who are participating begin saving money to give to the hosting church as an offering. each believer also takes time to write out a prayer request that is dear to their heart, which will then be sent as a burnt offering before the Lord the day of the event.

For us, the preparations began about 2 months ago when we began to prepare the envelopes for the offerings and the pastor along with some members of the congregation went to visit and preach in each participating church. 2 weeks ago, as the date was quickly approaching, we took time as a church to spend the week fasting and praying for the upcoming event, as well as our church body. A week of fasting here in Nicaragua  begins on Monday morning at 6:00 a.m. and finishes at noon. It continues each day until arriving at the final day, which is Sunday.  The fast includes abstaining from both food and water during those times. All those who are able gather in the church building and share in times of prayer, reading the Bible, worship, and preaching. Each day of fasting is  surrendered to the Lord on your knees at the altar. Our week of fasting concluded with praying in a circle of unity, as one of our purposes through this event and fasting was to create a spirit of unity among our congregation.

Circle of Unity (giving hugs) during the week of fasting

After we concluded the week of fasting and praying, we began with the physical labor. We had two groups. One which was in charge of the set up and preparation of the church building for the event, and the other group was in charge of the kitchen. I was put in charge of the kitchen crew. Our week consisted of gathering wood (they cook over fire), looking for all of the pots and kitchen utensils we would be using, shopping for the food, and of course preparing the food to be sold on Sunday morning at the event.

 

 

The kids from Children's Church also prepared for the Siembra by spending a month learning about the parables that Jesus told us concerning planting seeds. They learned about the four types of soil, the weeds sown among the wheat, and the mustard seed. (Matthew 13) As well as learning about helping out and doing your share of the work thanks to Proverbs 6, and the Little Red Hen. After learning what the Bible had to say about Sowing and Reaping, the kids helped us to prepare decorations for the church...

              

 

Then, finally, came the big day. The day of the Siembra. We started in the kitchen at 5:30 a.m. and the church set up started at 7:00 a.m. by 9:15, the sister churches began arriving, and the event was underway. A total of 8 churches came to participate with us and more than 250 people filled our worship building. The total of the funds raised through the event was 38,000 cordobas (our goal had been 30,000) which is about $1,600 U.S. dollars. Leaving us just a couple hundred dollars shy of finishing the worship site completely. We give God all of the glory for the success of the Siembra, and pray that he will be honored with the completion of the house of prayer!

Getting Set Up

  The View from Outside

The Ventas (food stands)

A Full House

 Praise and Worship

The prayer requests being offered