FARMING, LOANS AND PARABLES

 From John

 

 

John Mason, Pastor at Mountain View

One of our hopes for our relationship with the Wolof villages is to be able to help them in sustainable ways related to their business endeavors. We have experimented with micro-loans with the farmers of Diagle (Jog-a-lay) and Sorokogne (Soro-kone). But (to be frank), we have not had good results with follow up on our part, nor responsibility on the part of the farmers.

However, this week it seems something is shifting. The Mountain View Travel Team that came to Diagle a year ago made a loan of five bags of peanut seeds to the village chief. Upon our arrival this week, the chief took Todd and me aside to tell us he had good results with the loan.   

We congratulated him and asked about the possibility of reinvesting the increase with another man in the chief's family. The chief thought that was a good idea. So the original loan, which was managed well by the chief and brought a good harvest, will now be passed on to help someone else.  

Diagle Chief with Team Member Todd Leighton

In contrast, there was a second farmer last year who received a similar loan, but there was no evidence that the seeds were used by that farmer for their intended purpose. They may have been sold. We don't know. We couldn't help but think of the similarities between this real-life situation and the Parables of Jesus (Matthew 25:14 - 30, for example).

Todd and I had one final meeting with A.F. (our Wolof missionary), Adama Sene (our Wolof interpreter), the village chief and the second farmer. The chief asked if we would be willing to make another loan to this second farmer if he (the chief) guaranteed the loan. In other words, if the farmer was not able to repay the loan, the chief would repay. And once this loan was repaid, it would again be rolled over and reinvested next year with yet another interested individual.

There are a couple things about the chief's proposal that we really appreciate. First, the risk of failure (or default) will be greatly reduced by the oversight the chief is offering to provide. Not only will we follow up with the second farmer, but someone (the chief or other villager) who lives near the farmer will be aware and watching as the growing season progresses.

In addition, the proposal provides a second chance for this farmer. Rather than "get on his case" for his failure, we said we hoped this works better for him, and that he is now equipped to try again. 

This feels like an excellent mixture of grace and responsibility. Perhaps it's the start of something God will bless with increasing success.  

At the end of our meeting, I brought up the way Jesus fed 5,000 people with just two fish and fives loaves of bread. This is how God works when we are following His lead! 

John