Watering The Soil Together to Grow The Trees of Life

In our AGM meeting on 2 June, C-Mo shared how she regarded the soil needed for the growth of Trees of Life:

For a Tree of Life to grow sturdily, it calls for nutrients from healthy soil. Church, family and education are the soil where the tree of life takes in nutrient. Our church highly values education because children spend more time in school than church, making school an ideal place to nurture them. In order for Tree of Life to sprout healthily, we must adjust our perspectives: not fixing our eyes on ministries or one-time events, conferences, camps or healing and deliverance camps etc. If we do that, nothing meaningful remains after the meetings. We should build a good foundation instead. If we care only about ministries (like building the outside) and neglect family (the foundation), causing the foundation to erode, how can be the building of any use? One day, as our works are tested before the Lord, they will be shown as built of hay and straw.

Take a pastor couple for example, the husband insisted on making decision, being the head and strived on various ministries. Hence the wife felt neglected, disrespected, putting her in grief and driving her to depression. Later on, the husband could not serve as usual, having more free time to face his spouse and children. After joining couple’s camp a few times, the life of the wife began to be restored, showing smiles more and their marriage relationship has been greatly improved. As a husband, the glory of his ministry is to have his wife all grinning, radiant and glowing.

Neither shall we replicate ministries, nor do we require our branch churches to do so. Instead, we hope our branch churches shall irrigate the soil as we do. God wants us to continue ploughing and keep on irrigating the soil of church, family and education, making the soil richer and healthier. We are gifted in many different ways, but with one heart, we shall irrigate the soil. With healthy and fertile soil, the Trees of Life which grow on it shall be healthy. •