Change will Come by Edgar Hayes
If you’ve read the papers or watched the news on a constant basis, you might feel depressed and hopeless from all the violence that is happening around the world. How do we create a change strong enough to transform it to a peace-filled world?
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” -John 14:27
God’s peace is filled with love, conflict, justice, and struggle. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16
The love God has for us is the foundation of our program. “You are loved” we say to the youth. “You are a special, unique, wonderful creation of God who deserves to be respected and protected.” For some this is the first time they hear this message. Powerful negative influences (hopelessness, violence, despair, self-hatred) invade their minds and hearts. Our program, which goes on for six weeks (once a week), cannot peel away all their layers of self protection and preservation. What we hope to do is just plant a seed in their hearts and minds and pray it grows into a beautiful flower or plant that will ”bear much fruit.” -John 15:5
Once the young people begin to embrace their own sacredness, their gifts, they are often transformed to see the rest of God’s creation as beautiful. Our so called “enemies” will become ‘brothers and sisters’. Life itself will be seen differently.
One of the activities we do when the youth come is learn about sustainable agriculture. We use farming practices that don’t pollute the land and water with pesticides and herbicides, which eventually end up in our bodies. The crops get rotated each year (to prevent disease and soil depletion), and we replenish the soil with nutrients that were taken out during the growing season.
The young people come during early summer so they help out with harvesting summer crops such as squash, cucumbers, zucchini, corn, berries, spinach, lettuce, collard greens etc. They also gather mulch for the garden, weed, or help out with irrigation. At the end of the day, they can take fresh- picked produce home with them. We also take produce to the soup kitchen in Middletown or share it with a local area Christian camp in Deerpark.
In the book of Isaiah, chapter 58, God rhetorically asks the people if this is not the fast God wants for us, “to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and provide the poor wanderer with shelter, when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood...” God wants us to have a reverence for life and God’s creation.
It begins with our own lives, then manifests itself into others lives. With God’s love as our guide, we can change the world. At Freedom Farm, it begins with one person at a time.
