Why is the Chashan tribe called God's garden?
Dear prayer warriors and friends who love Chashan: Peace be with you!
July marks the beginning of the second year for the Chashan joint farming team, and it is also a beginning full of grace and thanksgiving! In just the past year, we have gone through a period of building consensus among team members, a difficult period of financial shortfall, and a period of trial and error in farming skills, but every step forward has been a staircase leading us higher, with countless blessings beyond counting. God, who guides and opens the way in all things, has once again set down a sign at the start of this second year to expand us, lift us up, and bless us!
Thank the Lord who hears prayers! The production and marketing team finally began a regular prayer meeting at 7 p.m. every Monday in July. Prayer moves us forward in God's will, helps us remember each other's needs, the needs of the church, and the needs of the tribe, and adjusts us to become people who please God, so that the work of our hands may prosper and our land may be blessed!
Can you imagine that torrential rain capable of causing disaster could become a blessing to us?
On July 19 and 20, affected by the southwest airflow, the mountain area had torrential rain for several consecutive days. Before the heavy rain, team members were about to go up the mountain to reconnect the water source that had been cut off by construction. In preparation for planting rice in August, the soil first had to be flooded and tilled to retain moisture. Although the torrential rain cut off the road to the outside, it directly watered the soil. The team members successfully completed the tilling in the heavy rain and came to understand more deeply the special grace of what God said: "I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing." (Ezekiel 34:26)!
July 3 was this year's millet harvest thanksgiving service and the day for sharing new rice. As in tradition, only after this day could milling and selling of millet begin. Not long after the notice of fresh millet going on the market was issued on July 11, we received an order for 1,200 bags of millet -- the food bank of the Christian Relief Association purchased millet to give to disadvantaged families in other disaster areas. This made our first harvest of millet sold out as soon as it hit the market, but it also greatly encouraged team members to work harder to expand the production area!
The biggest difficulty in expanding the production area is manpower. In particular, the traditional manual transplanting of rice is both labor-intensive and prone to harming the body. Thank the Lord! Through the introduction of an enthusiastic fellow farmer, we finally found a walking-type rice transplanter that has long been eliminated in modern rice farming (now they are all ride-on rice transplanters). We not only received hands-on guidance from the machine's owner, but also had Teacher Liu from National Chiayi University personally lead us in sowing and raising seedlings in seedling trays. What we are especially grateful for is that the Shengpei farming team came to assist us at the time when we most needed manpower, allowing us to complete the seedling work with less burden!
God's abundant grace does not stop there. As a miscellaneous grain production and marketing team established for less than a year, we were selected as a counseling target of the Council of Agriculture's 100th year "Agricultural Technology Industry Promotion and Agribusiness Incubation Program." The industrial advisory team from the Corporate Synergy Development Center will help us get on a better track in production management and standardized operating procedures.
There is even greater grace! On July 27, together with the team leader, we attended the review meeting for the Council of Indigenous Peoples' "Indigenous Homeland Characteristic Industry New Plan." The production and marketing team successfully passed the review for a subsidy of 1.14 million for production equipment. This is the first time since our reconstruction that we have received assistance from government resources, and it is also a tremendous gift from God to us!
Every time I look back, I feel like one who is dreaming. Do you also, like us, say with mouths full of laughter and tongues full of shouting: "The Lord has done great things for us!" We have only taken a small step in faith, but God has greatly fulfilled the blessing of His promise!
The more grace there is, the more it also represents God's greater entrustment and responsibility. God's choosing and blessing have never been for the blessing of only a few people. I hope the growth of the production and marketing team can become a blessing to more people! Amid thanksgiving, I still invite you to be of one heart with us and continue to remember and support us in prayer:
1. Smooth recruitment of team members
As the team's development becomes more and more stable, we hope that more people of the same mind will be willing to join the production and marketing team, so that manpower will be sufficient, the farming area will expand, and through working together more people can find the opportunity to stand up on their own land!
2. Improvement of production management
The production costs and post-processing costs of miscellaneous grain crops far exceed expectations. We need more wisdom to improve production management, lower production costs, and calculate reasonable selling prices, so that the efforts of team members receive the reward they deserve.
3. Improvement of farming efficiency
August is the sowing period for various crops. Last season the millet was planted too densely and too much Job's tears was sown, both of which affected yields, but we also learned valuable lessons from mistakes, which become the driving force for continuous progress. In particular, this season we are using a walking-type rice transplanter for the first time, and from seedling raising to transplanting, we need God's extra care and guidance!
4. Good use of subsidy funds
Government subsidy funds that are hard to obtain need to be used even more prudently. This requires forward-looking wisdom and careful planning, so that every cent is used in the most suitable and needed place, and we become faithful and good stewards.
5. The health of team members
The team members are relatively older and each has their own physical weaknesses. They especially need God's mighty healing and protection, so that the more they work, the stronger they become, and every day they have a joyful heart as good medicine!
I will make a covenant of peace with them... I will make them and the places surrounding my hill a blessing. I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing. The trees will yield their fruit and the ground will yield its crops; the people will be secure in their land. (Ezekiel 34:25-27a)
May the God who gives hope bless you -- may you see His hand in everything and see His invitation in every person!
Nanying, praising God's grace together with you.