An outreach event with Afghan friends used the trees and other nature objects to help families consider the lessons God has placed there to bless families and to know Him better.
On Sunday, May 17 well over 100 Afghan friends came by bus and car to Cedar Shade Retreat where we live. Many Seventh-day Adventist volunteers joined to make this last day of this school year’s Rise High children’s program extra special.
The children rushed out of the bus running everywhere. They were so happy to be in the countryside. The mothers gathered on mats to visit. The men headed straight for the volleyball court. Soon we ate a potluck meal of pizza buns, Afghans dishes, and lots of cookies, vegies, and fruit platters.
We especially wanted to impact our Afghan friends in spiritual ways, family-by-family. We planned 5 activities that each father and mother could do with their children. Our special focus was on learning lessons from nature for a happy family. We explored the Tree-mendous Tree-sures we have in the trees God has made.
One station sent them on a treasure hunt for nature objects. The next had them make a bouquet to thank their parents. The third had the family make a beautiful picture, all from nature objects. A fourth gave a beautiful frame for them to poke their heads through for a family portrait. It read, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
The fifth station took them into the woods, searching for roots. They stumbled over huge tree roots and pulled up little plants. They read Psalm 1 about the tree planted by the waters, looked at the shallow roots of a tree blown over by the wind, and considered what thinking about God’s Ten Commandment law could do for their family’s present and future joy.
Every family seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day, saying thank you over and over. The lessons went home as a handout with a link to MLML.org and many more family-friendly resources. (Read more).
Ideally it's good to have a volunteer or two go around with each family group and have some at each station. We were so happy to have 3 families drive all the way from up near Fort Worth to help out. One of the families said, “We learned how to serve people, how to make new friends, and how to evangelize just by interacting with others….We want to pray more for people at war.”
Another one said, “We learned that we don’t have to go around the world to be missionaries. Most often the mission field is in our ‘front yard'....We all enjoyed the interaction, getting to know a new culture, and being able to serve."
It takes a lot of dedicated volunteers to help with such a program. As each regular volunteer headed toward his or her car, Julie ran to share a thank you note and a flowering plant. We are so grateful for their faithful service. Pathfinder and Adventurer leaders sacrifice a lot to put on excellent programs. Everyone who gives up a Sunday to help the Afghan families has to squeeze the time from a busy schedule. Yet each are quick to say how blessed they are to be part of this ministry. Praise God for the joy He brings!
Enjoy some excellent Ellen White quotes about the power of nature for meeting with God and learning from Him:
“It is He who made the flowers and who gave to the sparrow its song who says, ‘Consider the lilies,’ ‘Behold the birds.’ In the loveliness of the things of nature you may learn more of the wisdom of God than the schoolmen know. On the lily's petals, God has written a message for you, written in language that your heart can read only as it unlearns the lessons of distrust and selfishness and corroding care. Why has He given you the singing birds and the gentle blossoms, but from the overflowing love of a Father's heart, that would brighten and gladden your path of life? . . . He has filled the earth and air and sky with glimpses of beauty to tell you of His loving thought for you. The beauty of all created things is but a gleam from the shining of His glory. If He has lavished such infinite skill upon the things of nature, for your happiness and joy, can you doubt that He will give you every needed blessing?
‘Consider the lilies.’ Every flower that opens its petals to the sunshine obeys the same great laws that guide the stars, and how simple and beautiful and how sweet its life! Through the flowers, God would call our attention to the loveliness of Christlike character. He who has given such beauty to the blossoms desires far more that the soul should be clothed with the beauty of the character of Christ. . . .
Who would dream of the possibilities of beauty in the rough brown bulb of the lily? But when the life of God, hidden therein, unfolds at His call in the rain and the sunshine, men marvel at the vision of grace and loveliness. Even so will the life of God unfold in every human soul that will yield itself to the ministry of His grace, which, free as the rain and the sunshine, comes with its benediction to all. It is the word of God that creates the flowers, and the same word will produce in you the graces of His Spirit” (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 95-97).
"The most effective way to teach the heathen who know not God is through His works. In this way, far more readily than by any other method, they can be made to realize the difference between their idols, the works of their own hands, and the true God, the Maker of heaven and earth. . . . There is a simplicity and purity in these lessons direct from nature that makes of the highest value to others besides the heathen. The children and youth, all classes of students, need the lessons to be derived from this source. In itself the beauty of nature leads the soul away from sin and worldly attractions, and toward purity, peace, and God” (Counsels to Teachers, Parents, and Students, 186).
“The apostles endeavored to impart to these idolaters a knowledge of God the Creator and of His Son, the Saviour of the human race. They first directed attention to the wonderful works of God—the sun, the moon, and the stars, the beautiful order of the recurring seasons, the mighty snow-capped mountains, the lofty trees, and other varied wonders of nature, which showed a skill beyond human comprehension. Through these works of the Almighty, the apostles led the minds of the heathen to a contemplation of the great Ruler of the universe” (Acts of the Apostles, 180).
