So wonderful to see the fruits of their labour

After reading my blogpost, a brother whom I met at a Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship, Freehold Tan wrote: "I agree 100% with your suggestion. I've forwarded your article to my church group and FGB group., hopefully everyone will plant some papaya trees in their compound. God bless you!"

It was encouraging to read that seven years ago, he helped a friend to plant a durian orchard in Hulu Langat. Now, the orchard has 50 trees of Musang King, 20 trees of Teka and 10 trees of Black Thorns. The trees are fruiting now.

Two weeks ago, I harvested one kg of chillies.

Another sister, Grace Wang sent me pictures of what she has been cultivating. She wrote, "Today's harvest." Her husbands supplies an organic agroproduct to farmers which helps to improve absorption of nutrients in the roots.

A sister from Sarawak, Hellen Gurmek who studied theology together with me, responded with a photograph of the durians which she has just harvested. The trees are a legacy from her late father's efforts.

She then sent me another picture to show me the joy of having her harvest of soursop. Anyone cares to try?

Some of Hellen and her husband, Kenneth Silek's plants also produce beautiful flowers which are edible.

It is so amazing to see the responses from more people. A sister, Esther Lim also sent me some pictures. She has also started planting some melons from a flower pot.

Melon grown in a flower pot

Help Improve National Food Securirty and Reduce Inflation

Dear Pastors, Seminary Principals, Church / Cell Leaders, Brothers and Sisters

We know that the country is suffering from high inflation yet are we doing sometihng about it?

Allow me to share some ideas with pastors. There are over 100 pastors in this broadcast list, and each pastor may represent anything between 100 to 3000 members. If each church is able to produce just one tonne of papayas and one tonne of jackfruits, just think how much we can produce collectively. Didn't the Lord say, "Be fruitful and multiply" not only to the first human couple, but also to the plants and animals?

Let the Government then help the farmers to export their local fruits to Singapore, where the fruits can be a good source of vitamins for them too. Farmers can also earn in Sing Dollars for their produce.

You can plant these fruit trees either in your church compound or encourage each member to at least plant a few fruit trees in their homes. If they are living in the condominiums, they can encourage their management to start planting fruit trees.

People living on landed properties can also suggest to their resident associations to plant these fruit trees. Look at the feedback I received from people who read this post.

Why papayas and jackfruits?

These are the two easiest fruit trees to plant for someone who has no green fingers like me. This is just a good starting point.

For the past six months or more, we have been able to enjoy the papayas and bless our neighbours, too. Organically grown papayas are also a lot sweeter. It's also a good way to throw your food wastes. Just dig a hole next to the papaya tree and put a container with a cover. Make sure that the other end is open to the soil. (Click the photo below to read more)

Jackfruits are also not difficult to grow. The trees are not big compared to the rambutan trees, but one fruit can be shared out with many families. You can also give away to the orphanages and homes for the elderly.

Ideas of What You can Do with the Fruits

• Enjoy the fruits every now and then.

• Give them to neighbours.

• Give the fruits to orphanages and homes for the elderly.

• Sell them in church to raise funds for charity.

• Provide them for fruits fellowship meetings for your cell groups and Alpha meetings.

• Give them to seminaries nearby where the student pastors can enjoy the fruits.

• Give them to schools so that kids can enjoy the local fruits. Spend an hour or so to supervise and you will see the children enjoying the fruits of your labour.

Please share this idea to all your church members and friends. It is just ONE link that you share on your chat group or broadcast list.

Let's start with something simple first. And if we can make an impact, others may also follow the trend that we set.

Maybe by next Christmas, you can have your Jackfruit Christmas trees on your church compound (any creative person can easily think of how to turn the jackfruit or papaya tree into a Christmas tree with the Christmas deco).

And, have a Christmas event with all these fruits served directly from the tree? If you do, please invite the press.

May the Lord bless this project since He has already given us so much sunshine and rain!

Theological Pursuit: The Next Level

Both Bachelors' and Masters' degrees are designed to provide a solid foundation in the various aspects of theology.

The pursuit of a doctoral degree will develop your higher-order thinking skills, help you with your research and critical thinking skills.

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