“Working the soil is one of the best kinds of employment, calling the muscles into action and resting the mind. Study in agricultural lines should be the A, B, and C of the education given in our schools. This is the very first work that should be entered upon. Our schools should not depend upon imported produce, for grain and vegetables, and the fruits so essential to health.” 6T 179.1“It is God's plan that agriculture shall be connected with the work of our sanitariums and schools. Our youth need the education to be gained from this line of work. It is well, and more than well,--it is essential,--that efforts be made to carry out the Lord's plan in this respect.” {8T 227.3}
It is indeed the Lord’s plan that the agriculture be a part of our schools. For the past years since the school started, the agriculture has also been developing. The Foundation started with just simple backyard gardens along with the fruit trees all around the area. Students who were enrolled in the trainings were given a practical education in agriculture as well as in other manual labors as based on Counsels to Parents, Teachers and Students page 311
"Students should be given a practical education in agriculture. This will be of inestimable value to many in their future work. The training to be obtained in felling trees and in tilling the soil, as well as in literary lines, is the education that our youth should seek to obtain.”
Every day in the morning, the staff together with the students would be seen in the field pulling out weeds, clearing the plots, tilling the soil, watering the plants, and planting vegetables. It is such a joy to take part in the Lord has blessed. Many lessons were learned each day as the students and staffs work in the field. Every moment is a privilege to talk about God’s written lessons in plants and in the soil.
About this time the Foundation has over __hectares of land filled with vegetables and some fruit trees. “Agriculture will open resources for self-support, and various other trades also could be learned” (FE 322). Indeed the Foundation has been blessed by the agriculture; it has been sustaining the missionaries in the self-supporting ministry as well as in the daily meals. Most of the vegetables that the students and staff are consuming were from our very own organic plants. The plants not only benefit the school but also our friends from the nearby baranggays. Through this ministry, more people were encouraged to eat vegetables than meat. It has reached the Baranggay Captain as well as some people working in the local municipal office. This has been another entering wedge for us who are looking for souls to be lead to the Savior.
One special thing about our agriculture is that it is 100% organic, without any harmful chemicals from other sources. About a few months ago, the vermiculture was introduced to our agriculture by a former trainee of the one month school. The vermi (a kind of worm) and its cast were used as the organic fertilizer. It is placed on the vermi beds with all our compost. While the worm eats up all the garbage, it also takes with them the foul odor. This has been a blessing to us and also to others who are buying our organic vegetables. We want to be as close to the original as possible with the guidance of the Almighty. We believe in the power of the Holy Spirit to impress us as to what we still need to improve. Instead of spraying, we do the praying.
The weather has been dry for over 3 months, but still, we praise the Lord because He never fails. Our vegetables are still sustained by the Creator of all. What we have now is only because of the power of the One who makes the sun to rise and the rains to pour. Thankfully, we have a very good supply of bitter gourd, lettuce, string beans and other vegetables together with the pineapples which now bears fruit after a year of waiting.
Better Way Foundation Team
