Education Department of
Seventh-day Adventists
THE
INTEGRATION OF FAITH AND VALUES IN THE
TEACHING AND
PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE
By
Joel O. Ogot
Department of Agriculture
University of Eastern
Africa - Baraton
Eldoret, Kenya
Prepared for the
International Faith and
Learning Seminar
held at
Union College, Lincoln
Nebraska, U. S. A.
June, 1993
139-93
Institute for Christian Teaching
Silver Spring,
MD 20904, USA
Through agriculture people
can be taught true Christian love and be drawn closer to God through Jesus
Christ. Since agriculture is a human
activity that affects a very large number of people in a given nation, the way
it is taught, presented and practiced will have a wide influence in the
people. Such influence can be negative
and lead people to un-Godly behavior such as the production, handling and
consumption of unhealthy and addictive products like tobacco, alcohol, caffeine
and marijuana, or the production and consumption of unclean animal products
such as pork. The influence can also be
positive by producing clean foods and materials thereby enhancing the health of
the population who can then worship God with clear minds, study the Word and
discover His will for mankind. This
calls for the proper and complete integration of faith and values in the
teaching and hence the practice of agriculture. White (1948) notes that "if the land is cultivated, it will,
with the blessing of God, supply our necessities. We should work the soil cheerfully, hopefully, gratefully,
believing that the earth holds in her bosom rich stores for the faithful worker
to garner stores richer than gold or silver." (6T, p. 178) It is by
faith that a farmer plants the seed or inseminates a female animal, and hope
the seed will germinate and grow to maturity and yield. This faith needs to be strengthened,
developed, and properly directed. The
integration of Christian faith with learning and agricultural practice will
strengthen this faith and amplify, in man, the need to depend on God for
livelihood and salvation.
A number of definitions of
agriculture have been developed and published.
The word agriculture according to Morris (1971) encompasses two words
AGRI and CULTURE. The words agri from
ager (Latin) or agros (Greek) means land while culture or cultura (Latin) means
cultivation. Simply put, agriculture,
therefore, means the cultivation of land.
Morris (1971) defines agriculture as the science, art and business of
cultivating the soil, producing crops and raising livestock useful to man. Agriculture, therefore, is a human activity
carried out by people on land for their own benefit. Mosher (1966) defines agriculture functionally as a special kind
of production based on the growth process of plants and animals. Farmers manage and stimulate plant and animal
growth on farms, while the production activities on each farm are a business in
which costs and returns are important.
As a human activity,
agriculture is old and affects the lives of every individual either through
involvement in aspects of production, consumption of agricultural or food
products, employment or just living on the land. Man has been involved in agricultural from the beginning of
creation in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:8).
Noah was the first tiller of the soil, he planted a vineyard (Genesis
9:20). Hence man will need to be
creatively involved in agriculture for the future, if only, to feed its growing
numbers, i.e. continue to develop agriculture.
Agricultural development is
a social product resulting from the activities of every person including
farmers and farm families, lawmakers, highway engineers, merchants,
manufacturers, research workers, teachers, veterinarians, editors, and every
citizen who participates in electing public officials and influencing the laws
of his country (Mosher, 1966). From the
foregoing discussion, we see that agricultural and human development are
inseparable. Wrigley (1981) states that
agriculture must not only provide food, but, in most tropical countries, the
cash on which the economy is based.
The goal of this paper is to
attempt to demonstrate how to produce, through our training, Christian
agriculturalists who have the necessary knowledge and skills to make a positive
contribution to the development of agriculture, and to suggest how the
integration of faith and value in the teaching and practice of agriculture
could be achieved in the Christian college.
Such integration is essential for the achievement of the said goal. The specific objectives include:
1.
To
study the integration of faith and agriculture and understand more clearly
God's intention for men in developing agriculture while, at the same time
preserving the environment including the land.
Adam was to work or tend and care for the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1:15).
2.
To
describe the role of agriculture in the curriculum of Christian colleges and
other institutions of learning.
3.
To
collect and discuss available information on the integration of faith in the
agricultural curriculum development and policy decision making in Christian
colleges and other institutions of learning.
Questions have been asked
like, should Christian institutions teach or include in their curriculum
courses on the production of coffee, tea, tobacco, swine (pigs) or
rabbits? What will be the consequences
of omitting them to the graduates of these institutions especially when they
seek employment outside the church and as they interact with farmers, some of
whom grow these crops or produce these commodities? Should Adventist Christian farmers produce these commodities
especially where these are the main cash earners? Another, even more fundamental question asked is whether
agricultural training is not outdated and irrelevant at colleges especially in
the industrialized (developed) countries.
These questions will be addressed in another paper. It is my challenge to begin to develop and
provide ideas that could be used to answer these and other questions. The concepts developed in this paper have
general application but may be of more consequence in the developing and
tropical countries where a large percentage of the population are engaged in
agricultural production and also live on the farm.
Agriculture is an essential
enterprise in most countries where it can be practiced. National economic development is generally
influenced by and in some cases dependent upon agricultural development. Emphasizing this fact, Thomas Jefferson felt
deeply about the importance of agriculture as an occupation, economic force and
as part of formal education. He is
reported to have asserted that "No nation will long survive the decay of
its agriculture." (Sutherland,
1915). Youdeowei and Akinwumi (1986)
stated that agriculture has always played a leading role in people's lives in
tropical countries where at least seventy-five percent of the total labor force
is engaged in agriculture. The
economies of many tropical countries are based on agricultural crops such as
coffee, tea, tobacco, and others. These
authors also emphasize that the greatest challenge which faces developing
countries today is to eliminate hunger and overcome poverty. This challenge is greatest in the rural
areas where employment and supplies are not so readily available as in towns.
The many contributions of
agriculture to a nation include the provision of food, employment to the people
both directly on the land as in the case of farmers, their families, and the
farm labor force, or indirectly in agriculturally-based industries,
corporations and statutory boards, foreign exchange and government revenue
through export earnings and taxes and raw materials for industries. Agricultural development is needed in almost
every country of the world (Mosher, 1966).
The objective of agricultural development according to Wrigley (1981)
should be to provide a better life for the people, not just to ensure they do
not die from starvation. Agricultural
advances have allowed man to produce more food of better quality than ever
before thought imaginable (Beck, 1991).
As agricultural production increases, new job opportunities are
created. Mosher (1966) points out
another value or benefit of agricultural development when he says:
We are likely to think and talk of agricultural development as being valuable only because it makes more farm products available for human use. In fact it has an additional and perhaps a more important product; it changes people who engage in it. (p. 11)
White (1903) stated that
thousands of helpless and starving beings, whose numbers are daily swelling the
ranks of the criminal classes, might achieve self support in a happy, healthy,
independent life if they could be directed in skillful diligent labor in the
tilling of the soil. (Ed. P. 220)
For agricultural development
to occur, the knowledge and skill of farmers must keep increasing and
changing. As farmers adopt more and
more new methods, their ideas change.
They develop a new and different attitude toward agriculture, toward the
natural and, I dare say, the Spiritual world that surrounds them and toward
themselves. A similar transformation
occurs among research workers, extension agents, government officials,
merchants, bankers, teachers, and many others.
Agricultural development thus is an integral part of general social and
economic development (Mosher, 1966). The
continued development of agriculture, however, depends upon the continuity of
the need to study agriculture at different levels. Agriculture should be advanced by scientific knowledge (White
1954). According to Wrigley (1981) the
technical knowledge needed to keep agricultural production ahead of the
population demand, at least until the end of this century, is probably
available or can be easily adapted. The
duty of the agriculture teacher is to gather and organize this knowledge into
appropriate and suitable curriculum in the college or other institutions and
pass it on to the students.
The other question we need
to ask here is how agriculture, as an area of study, fits in the Christian
college where it is taught, or does it fit at all? Holmes (1987) states that education is an open invitation to join
the human race and be more fully human.
Its general goals include the ability to read and write and thereby
think independently on appreciation of lasting values coupled with the ability
to make sound judgments and live by them a critical appreciation of the past
and responsible creative participation in the future. Man has been involved in agriculture from the beginning of
creation (Genesis 1:8) and man will need to be creatively involved in
agriculture for the future if only to feed its growing numbers. Since Christianity is founded simply on
faith in God and His inspired Word, the Christian college where agriculture is
taught should integrate this faith into the teaching of agriculture so as to
develop the whole person (agriculturalist) who understands and appreciates
God's will for man through agriculture. According to White (1948), study in
agricultural lines should be the A, B, and C of the education given in
Seventh-day Adventist Schools. The
following is one of her more comprehensive statements in this issue (White,
1923):
Every institution of learning should make provision for the study and practice of agriculture and the mechanic arts …While a part of each day is devoted to mental improvement, let a stated portion be given to physical labor and a suitable time to devotional exercises and the study of the scriptures (FE, p. 72).
Agriculture, therefore,
belongs to and fits into the Christian college very well and should be taken
more seriously than is now the case.
Man will always need food to live.
Agriculture is the sure way to produce this food.
As we have seen from the
foregoing discussion, agriculture touches the lives of everybody, and its
development transforms the persons involved in it. I suggest that it be required of all students that pass through these
colleges as a general education requirement for non-majors. Damazo (1982) believes that insufficient
emphasis is placed on agriculture in Adventist schools and colleges, and he
makes the following statements:
Food is the number one concern of the world today. The world does not produce sufficient food
to provide its existing population with an adequate diet, and a million new
mouths to feed are added every four and a half days. Without food, teachers, preachers, physicians, nurses,
dieticians, and others are of no value.
The spirit of prophecy places more emphasis on a variety of agricultural
industries on school campuses than it does on any other work endeavour. Agriculture should be the ABC of our
education system. Today, our schools
around the world have unprecedented opportunities for agricultural work in food
production, raw materials, domestic sales and exports. More than 50,000 productive jobs could be
added with a highly organized agriculture program at our Secondary Schools and
colleges. (p. 5)
Taken seriously,
well-organized agricultural programs could transform most of our colleges into
economically viable, income-generating enterprises over and above the education
and spiritual transformation they will produce.
Agriculture has been defined
in the introduction. We now look at
faith, value and integration before we put them together. According to Richardson (1969)
"Faith" means obedient trust in God as He is revealed in His
Word. It is a response to the divine grace
revealed in that Word, as it was variously spoken to the fathers by the
prophets (Hebrew 1:1), found incarnate expression in the Son (John1:14), and is
addressed to us now by the Holy Spirit through the Word and sacraments of the
gospel. It is the personal reality of
God in Christ; and faith is understood essentially in terms of personal
relationship. Heie and Wolfe (1987)
have defined the Christian faith as a response to the mercy and love of God in
Christ Jesus.
Value has to do with ethics,
the concepts held in high esteem by society and individuals in society. Lacey (1986) describes ethics as the study
of moral conduct, that is, the conduct of right and wrong or choices between
good and bad. It is concerned with how
people ought to act and includes concepts like obligation, duty, as well as
right or wrong.
Integration has been defined
by Gaebelein (1968) as the bringing together of parts of the whole, i.e., God's
truth and every aspect of Education.
Every aspect of Education is regarded as part of the truth and all truth
is God's truth (Sire, 1990). Heie and
Wolfe (1987) stated that all integration is based on the notion of integral
commonality, or the sharing of concepts and concerns by the areas to be placed
within a single vision. They emphasize
that genuine integration occurs when an assumption or concern can be shown to
be internally shared by both the Judeo-Christian vision and an academic
discipline. Rasi (1989) on the other
hand, defined the integration of faith and learning more comprehensively as a
deliberate and systematic process of approaching the entire educational
enterprise from a biblical perspective and with Christian objectives, so as to
ensure that students will leave school having freely internalized a
Christ-centered, service-oriented, and Kingdom-directed view of knowledge,
life, and destiny. This is the adopted
definition for the purposes of this paper.
Durrant (1988) referred to
the Tertullian question "What has Jerusalem to do with Athens?" and went on to ask "What does Faith
have to do with research?" We
might ask here "What has faith to do with Agriculture?" I see a lot of commonality or shared
concepts between faith and agriculture to make genuine integration not only
possible but essential. As Christians,
we believe in the biblical account that "In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) and "God said let the land
produce living creatures according to their kinds" (Genesis 1:24). "The earth is the Lord's and everything
in it" (Psalm 24:1). If everything belongs to God, knowledge also comes
from God. In Proverbs 1:7, we learn
that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge." In the colleges, students come to gain
knowledge in agriculture which comes from God.
They must, therefore, learn of God and know His will for His children
and integrate this understanding or faith with the agricultural knowledge that
they gain. We need to understand God's
intention for us in developing agriculture while at the same time preserving
the land or the environment. God, as
the First Agriculturalist, planted a garden in the east, in Eden, and there He
put the man He had formed (Genesis 2:8);
"the Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to
work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). Adam was given strict orders to take care of God's beautiful
creation (Beck, 1991).
One of the reasons for
integration faith and learning agriculture, is to develop oneself not just as a
farmer, but as a human being using the God-given gifts or talents well in
glorifying God and serving man. In
Ecclesiastes 12:13 (second part) we are reminded to "Fear God and keep his
commandments for this is the whole duty of man." White (1903) stresses that true education is the harmonious
development of the physical, the mental, and the spiritual powers. It prepares the student for the joy of
service in this world and for the higher joy of wider service in the world to
come. The same author further states
that if we divorce God and His wisdom from the acquisition of knowledge, we
have a lame, one-sided education, dead to all the saving qualities which give
power to man so that he is incapable of acquiring the immorality through faith
in Christ (White, 1903). This is applicable
to agricultural knowledge or education as well.
In an attempt to express the
desire to integrate faith in teaching of agriculture at the University of
Eastern Africa - Baraton, the
department of agriculture has the following philosophy or mission statement:
The Department of Agriculture is structured on the
belief that human beings are custodians of their environment. Humans, therefore, have the responsibility
to make a positive contribution to the development of agriculture, particularly
in the areas of conservation, food production and processing. The department also believes that
agriculture is a God-instituted profession and therefore trains its majors to
realize the dignity of the call to cultivate land, raise livestock and be
successful agriculturists. (UEAB Bulletin, 1992-1994, p. 115)
In Scripture, people and
land were closely intertwined. Who we
are is inseparable from where we are (Walsh & Middleton, 1983).
The main objective in the
Christian college should be to train individuals to become Christian
agriculturalists rather that agriculturalists who are Christians. All we do (Walsh & Middleton, 1983) is
to be done from a heart filled with love for God. If our lives are not an expression of our love for Him, they will
express rebellion against Him. Niebuhr
(1975) says that there is agreement among all the central groups that man is
obligated, in the nature of his being, to be obedient to God in Christ and
Christ in God, and that this obedience must be rendered in the concrete, actual
life of natural, cultural man. In all his
life's activities, including the practice of agriculture, he is in the realm of
God by divine ordering under divine orders.
He is constantly being assisted by the gracious God, who mediates His
help through sunshine, rainfall, good soils, favorable environment and life in
the seed. The scriptures also remind us
that whatever we do whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God and the father by Him (Colossians 3:17). This includes agricultural learning and practice;
hence we must integrate faith in these activities.
STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATION
Different strategies are
needed to integrate faith and values in agricultural teaching and practice by
teachers, farmers, and other practitioners.
AGRICULTURAL TEACHING
The following are some
suggested principles to be applied in integrating faith and values in the
teaching of agriculture. More can be
added to the list as appropriate depending on specific circumstances.
1. Students
to be involved in practical agriculture apart from their theoretical
training. They should be required to
practically plant and grow different crops, raise and care for livestock as
part of their training. White (1954)
advises that in the study of agriculture, pupils/students should be given
practice and not only theory. According
to further counsel by White (1903) "There must be education in the
sciences and education in plans and methods of working the soil. There is hope in the soil but brain and
heart and strength must be brought into the work of tilling it." (FE
318) The practical projects must be
useful to the student, well planned, and organized and the student must be
happy working on it.
2. The
teachers should cooperate and work together with the students in practical
projects. By demonstrating values in
their personal interaction and model (Hill, 1990) teachers can teach values in
many formal and informal ways.
"Let the teachers in our schools take their students with them into
the gardens and fields and teach them how to work the soils in the very best
manner" (FE 325). Since teachers
are important as models for students, such cooperation will develop in the
student the right attitudes in agriculture and may create a love, ambition, and
a long lasting appreciation of agriculture and the dignity of labor.
3. Students
Evaluation System should include value tests like appreciation of beauty,
mystery, and limits of science, usefulness of work, confidence, cooperation,
and humility through the activities that were beyond the control or grasps of
the students. The students should
recognize and appreciate that much more is involved in the raising of crops and
animals than humans can control or understand.
4. The
results or fruits of the projects should be wholesome, healthy, and usable by
man. This will create positive
influence in the student as he enjoys with pleasure the fruits of his labor.
5. The work
environment should be well managed and preserved. By carefully managing our resources, we learn to be good stewards
of the environment God has given us (Hill, 1990). Practical work encourages close observation and independent
work. Rightly performed, it tends to
develop that practical wisdom which we call "common sense" (White,
1903).
IN THE PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE
Those practicing agriculture
may not have all attended Christian schools or colleges and learned to
integrate their faith and values in their practice. To them, Christ through the written Word and His handiworks in
nature must be the model. They should
also be trained by graduates of Christian education working/employed as
extension agents and research workers.
1. They must
be Christ oriented and directed in their practice of agriculture through having
the Christian worldview. They will then
realize that all the natural resources used in agricultural practice were
created by God and are directed by Him.
These should be used to glorify Him and serve man.
Those who view farming
purely as a business opportunity and land as a commodity or a natural resource
to be exploited at all costs and only for profits will tend to misuse the
resources and destroy the environment.
Discussing this problem, Walsh & Middleton (1983) call it the notion
of exploitation; that nature exists to be exploited by humans and apart from
that it has little value. They quote
Thomas Bergrer who sees this notion as being in the center of the conflict
between those who view land as a frontier (the Europeans) and those who view it
as a homeland (the Dene and Inuit Indians) in North America and Canada.
For those holding the
frontier view, livestock and crops instead of being viewed as God's creation,
to be cared for and used in love for human good, are seen purely as business
commodities to be exploited by man. They
end up being mistreated and misused and in some cases destroyed and lost. The farms, the land, and the environment in
such cases are generally degraded through poor management or lack of
conservation and improvement, their productive capacity is lost or lowered with
human starvation and misery as the inevitable consequence.
To practice agriculture as
God would have us do, we need to train and have agriculturalists who are Christ
centered and controlled, in their activities and practice, by their Christian
faith.
2. The
application or integration of faith and values should be expressed in practice
and daily living. Christian farmers and
agricultural practitioners who will uphold the true Christian faith in their
practice "though the heavens fall" will have a powerful message and a
positive influence on human health through healthful living and diet.
The production, handling,
and use of tobacco and its products, as an example, should be avoided. Animal production should not include the
teaching and handling of swine (pigs) as an enterprise. These should be taught as unclean or
dangerous animal and plants created by God for purposes other than human
consumption and abuse as practiced today.
The integration of faith and action by Moslems is a good example to
learn from. They will not even come
close to swine (pigs), leave alone consuming its products or making artificial
meat products to resemble pork or pork sausage or bacon for consumption. Moslems, according to their faith, will not
consume any meats from animals slaughtered by people other than fellow
Moslems. In Kenya, for example, all
abattoirs and slaughter houses must employ Moslems to cut the throats of
animals that are killed for meat production, if Moslems are to buy and consume
the meat. They practice what they
believe and are not ashamed to do so.
By God's grace we should have faith that works through all our human
experience and actions. Krutzer (1969)
notes that faith should be filled with dynamic life-changing applications of
the message of Christ. We can and should
do this through agriculture.
With regards to farmers
growing dangerous crops and raising unclean livestock, for the purpose of
earning a living, I believe that, God by the Holy Spirit will lead them to the
right decision if they earnestly pray to Him for guidance.
STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING VALUES
Hill (1990) has discussed
some tactics or strategies to teach a set of values to students using
experience from industrial technology.
I will suggest strategies that could be used to teach values important
to Christian faith through projects in agriculture. These are not the only values that could be taught, but are
representative of the more important ones.
TABLE
1: STRATEGIES FOR TEACHING VALUES IN AGRICULTURE
|
VALUE |
STRATEGIES |
|
RESPONSIBILITY |
Explain to the students
that with the privilege of planting crops or starting a livestock
unit comes the responsibility of caring for them to aturity and
harvesting and storing the produce. One must act responsibly
in managing these enterprise. |
|
FLEXIBILITY |
We must accept that other
people may have better ideas, views, or methods for
solving a problem. Be willing to
accept and use other people's
ideas. Be willing to change mind with new evidence. |
|
COOPERATION
& SERVICE |
The teacher to encourage
group work and provide opportunities for group
tasks and encourage students to work for thers and in groups. Unity is strength. |
|
PLANNING
(PREPAREDNESS) |
Students
to be shown and encouraged to plan well before implementing a project. Develop plan of work, calendar of work, and list of
resources and materials. A good plan
guides to success. |
|
CONFIDENCE
& SELFWORTH |
Provide clear instructions
and personal help where necessary. Set tasks within the
student's capabilities. Encourage sensitivity
and keenness to correct mistakes and give praise for a job well done. Show
individuals you value them and their
positive contributions. Encourage and reward individual progress. |
|
INDUSTRY
& PRODUCTIVITY |
Expect and encourage students
to complete all projects. Select projects which are
productive and within the student's abilities. Final
evaluation is based on production. |
|
HONESTY |
The teacher must show
honesty in all activities, including word, time, action, and
use of materials. Expect and reward honesty from the students. |
|
INITIATIVE |
After giving the general outline,
the students should be encouraged to devise their
own specific programs to complete the tasks. |
|
HUMILITY
& FORGIVENESS |
Demonstrate humility by
recognizing and admitting own failures. Forgive freely when
wronged and expect students to do the same. |
|
BEAUTY
& ORDERLINESS |
Surround students with
beauty, eg, trees, flowers, posters well designed and well kept
plots or beds. Have space for everything and expect
tools and supplies as well as other materials to be returned
clean in their designated place.
There is the spirit of
fellowship and cooperation which results when students participate in
helping beautify the school grounds. "In itself, the
beauty of nature leads the soul away from sin and worldly attractions and
toward purity, peace and God"
(CT, 186, 187). |
The values that students
will learn depend upon the skill, intelligence, experience and attitude of the
teacher as the model. Hill (1990) notes
that the most effective way to teach values in practical subjects is for
teachers to model these values in lifestyle and interaction with students.
There is need for well
trained and devoted Christian teachers who are grounded in the Word of God and
willing to work. This way there is
greater chance that Christian students will be graduated who are able, capable,
and willing to integrate their faith and values in the practice of agriculture.
We learn many lessons from
agriculture, which can help us, grow spiritually and transform our lives to be
on fire for God through Christ. Christ
Himself, by His several parables recorded in the Bible, used examples from
agriculture to teach spiritual lessons.
All around us we read of cases where agricultural projects have been
implemented by missionary workers, to reach people better with the gospel message
by first providing their physical needs.
The story of a 15-year-old pastor, Seidu Samuel Salifu, is a good
example. He started an agricultural
project in Ghana to help reach and serve the people by providing their physical
needs as well as their spiritual food.
As a result of the project (Antonio, 1984), prejudice between
Christians, Moslems, and pagans are being broken down, preparing the soil for
the bountiful harvest of something other than vegetables--a harvest for
Christ's Kingdom.
Another example is an
agricultural project to grow peanuts by Indians in Surinam. In this project, apart from the growing of
peanuts, the philosophy of Adventist Education to use hands and minds for
physical and spiritual development was taught.
The people were also taught that such unclean animals as boars (swine),
lizards, snakes, and iguanas should not be eaten, and the dangers of drinking
Kasiri (an alcohol beverage) were emphasized.
When the people stopped these habits, the government declared the area a
blessing (Luppens, 1983). I am sure
there have been many such cases or other examples over the years.
I will now discuss seven
values, concepts or themes that we learn from agriculture that point us
heavenward. There are many others that
could be included.
1.
BEAUTY AND CARING
Think of a
beautiful rose garden, which is properly cared for, or a flock of young lambs
in green pastures. The people of God
have been described as gardens--what a delightful place a garden is, the
veriest school of peace. However, it
takes planning and diligent care to make and keep the garden beautiful. The church, however, has a wonderful Helper
(Esteb, 1962) for Christ said "My Father is the Husbandman--he says I the
Lord watch over it, I water it continually, I guard it day and night … Israel
will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit" (Isaiah 27:3-6). It takes time, attention, and caring to properly keep a garden
beautiful and fruitful. God in Christ
Jesus cares for us and attends to our needs.
2.
PURITY AND FRUITFULNESS
Agriculture
teaches us the value and need for preparedness as when the farmer prepares a
seedbed to receive the seed at planting time.
We need to prepare our hearts so that God by the Holy Spirit can enter
and make us grow spiritually and be fruitful.
Jesus Christ illustrated this lesson by the parable of the sower (Luke
8:1-15). As the trees that do not bear
fruits are cut down and burned by the farmer, so God expects us to live by His
commandments; live what we preach and bear fruit. In the parable of the fig tree (Luke 13:6-8), Jesus demonstrated
the consequences of fruitlessness--destruction.
3.
PURITY AND CONSISTENCE
An orange tree
in the orchard will always produce oranges and a lemon tree lemons. No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad
tree bear good fruit. Each tree is
recognized by its own fruit. People do
not pick figs from thorn bushes or grapes from briars (Luke 6:43-44). The hope of every farmer is to harvest what
he sowed. Is this not what Jesus says
will happen to us when His Kingdom comes?
The good man brings good things out of the good stored in his heart …
For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). We need to be consistently pure in heart as
a good orange tree is consistently pure.
4.
HUMILITY AND DEPENDENCE
A farmer
prepares a seedbed and assembles the necessary inputs for planting and
maintaining a crop. After planting,
however, the farmer will totally depend on God to cause the seed to germinate,
grow and produce fruit. Paul in his
letter to the Corinthians emphasized this fact by saying "I planted the
seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything but only
God who makes things grow" (1 Corinthians 3:5-8). As the farmer cannot make the seed grow, so
we cannot convert souls to Christ, the Holy Spirit does. Christ Jesus in the parable of the vine and
branches (John 15:1-8) amplified the concept of dependence. On our own, away from the Lord, we can do
nothing just as a branch away from its vine cannot survive. It withers and dries. We must humble ourselves and depend on God in
all our lives' activities.
5.
DIGNITY OF LABOR
According to
Damazo (1982) the dignity of labor is not given sufficient stature in our
colleges. He states in part that,
"The second greatest challenge facing parents and schools is teaching the
dignity of labor … Every youth should be taught manual labor. Failure in this area was a crime or sin
according to the schools of the prophets.
And our schools should be modeled after the schools of the
prophets. Teaching the dignity of labor
to our children ensures provision of their needs for a lifetime." No line of manual training is of more value
than agriculture. A greater effort should
be made to create and encourage an interest in agricultural pursuits (White, 1954). Practical agricultural involves manual labor
as was ordained by God when as the Bible says "The Lord God took the man
and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it" (Genesis
2:15). "Noah tilled the land and
planted a vineyard" (Genesis 9:20).
6.
OBEDIENCE AND BALANCE
Agriculture
teaches the principle of obedience that one must obey all the commandments of
God. By disobeying one you have
disobeyed all. Take an example of the
growing young chicken. It needs several
amino acids, minerals, and vitamins in its diet. These must all be supplied in a given balance. The lack of one nutrient, eg, vitamin E,
normally required in very small quantities, will result in a deficiency
condition. This condition is a disease
known as Encephalomalacia (Crazy Chick Disease), a brain disorder resulting in
lack of coordination and craziness. If
not corrected, the chicken will die from the condition even though all the
other nutrients are supplied in adequate quantities. Man, like the chicken, is God's creature and will be lost for
disobeying only one of God's commandments even though he might have kept all
the others. He must live a balanced
life by developing mentally, spiritually, socially, and physically according to
the will of God.
7.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT
Plants teach us
that we must continue to grow or perish.
The special needs of every variety of plant must be studied and
met. Different varieties require
different soil and cultivation method and compliance with the laws governing each
condition of success (Ed, p. 111, 113).
A Christian must continue to draw nourishment from the Word of God to
grow spiritually and develop the mind just as the plant must continue to draw
nourishment or nutrients from the soil to grow. If or when it stops growing it perishes. So is the Christian. The agricultural curriculum in Christian
colleges and schools must be flexible and be continually improved. This way they are likely to achieve genuine
integration of faith and values which will also be changing for the better with
time in the teaching and practice of agriculture. He who earns his livelihood by agriculture escapes many
temptations and enjoys unnumbered privileges and blessings denied to those who
live in the great cites.
Several writers have
discussed the need for integrating faith in the different areas of learning and
education and how to implement such integration. The bibliography developed by Rasi and Korniejczuk (1993) gives a
record of these discussions. The most
important thing is to have Christian teachers and administrators in the schools
and colleges, who themselves, are committed to the idea of integration of faith
and learning. They should also
understand how to implement and achieve genuine integration of faith in the
learning and practice of agriculture.
De Jong (1990) notes that universities will never do much to encourage a
genuine concern for ethical issues or to help their students to acquire a
strong and carefully considered set of moral values unless presidents and deans
take the lead.
Such integration of faith
and values in the learning should be reflected in the mission statement of the
school or college, incorporated into the curriculum development, implemented in
the teaching and practice of agriculture and agricultural research in these
institutions; and through the Christian graduates be taught to the farmers via
the extension services. This will mean
that the list of subjects (courses), and topics covered in the curriculum
exclude those whose study and use contravenes the faith of the Christian as
guided by biblical principles. Hill
(1990) stresses that Adventist schools should emphasize the concepts of
"stewardship" and "earthmanship" that is, man should
carefully preserve and wisely manage his environmental resources, and that
students should be taught to respect and maintain the quality of the natural
environment and to promote the physical and spiritual welfare of the humans in
that environment. Farmers, managers or
agriculturalists exhibiting true Christian understanding and love in the
practice of agriculture will reflect more the ideals of the Garden of Eden
which are God's ideals for agriculture.
These people will view agriculture as an activity given and ordained by
God to glorify Him and serve their fellow men as they enjoy its fruits. The greatest testimony of our love for each
other will be the fruits we bear as the "branches" of the savior
(John 15:1-8). As noted by Krutza
(1969), faith should be filled with dynamic life-changing applications of the
message of Christ.
According to Slathery (1991)
being connected to the land is a mystical relationship. Farmers deal, all the time, with elements
that point toward the sacred, namely: the soil, plants, animals, rain, wind,
sun, and snow. These serve as holy
reminders of the truth, beauty, goodness and abiding presence of God the
Creator. According to White (1905),
Christian farmers can do real missionary work in helping the poor to find homes
on the land, and in teaching them how to till the soil and make it
productive. They can also teach them
how to use implements of agriculture, how to cultivate various crops, how to
plant and care for orchards and raise livestock. This way the poor and homeless will not only have a home and an
economic enterprise, but an abundance of food for healthful living. They will then have clear minds with which
to worship God and serve their fellow men, which is the high calling for man on
earth.
Antonio, Etta Flynn. (1984). 16-year-old Pastor Prepares 30 for
Baptism. Adventist Review, May 10, 1984, p. 21.
Damazo, Paul S. (1982).
Financing Adventist Education, Adventist Review, May 13, 1982, p.
5.
DeJong, Arthur J. (1990).
New Direction for the Church Related College, Reclaiming a Mission.
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Durrant, Laurice. (1988).
Teaching a Research Course From A Christian Perspective-- Integrating
Faith with Learning, Christ in the
Classroom, Vol. 2, p. 48. Institute
for Christian Teaching, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist, Silver
Spring, Maryland, USA.
Estab, Adlai Albert. (1988).
Morning Manna, Daily Devotional Guide, Vol. 1. The Quiet Hour,
Redlands, California, USA.
Gaebelein, Frank E. (1968).
The Integration of Faith and Learning, The Pattern of God's Truth. BMH Books, Winona Lake, Indiana, USA.
_____. (1990).
Industrial Technology:
Seventh-day Adventist Secondary Curriculum. Institute for Christian Teaching, General
Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA.
Holmes, Arthur F. (1991).
The Idea of a Christian College.
Revised Edition. Will B.
Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Krutza, Williams. (1969).
Facing the Issues. Baker
Book House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
Lacey, A.R. (1986).
A Dictionary of Philosophy.
Second Edition. Routledge, USA.
Luppens, John A. (1983).
Peanut Project Will Help Indians in Surinam. Adventist Review, March 3, 1983, p. 15.
Morris, William. (1971).
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. American Heritage Publishing Co., Inc. New York, USA.
Mosher, Arthur T. (1966).
Essentials for Development and Modernization, Getting Agriculture Moving. Frederick A. Praeger
Publishers, New York, USA.
Niebuhr, H. Richard. (1975).
Christ and Culture. Harper Torchbooks, Harper Publishers, New
York, USA.
Rasi, Humberto. (1989).
Integration of Faith and Learning:
Design for Recovery. Christ
in the Classroom, Vol. 4. Institute
of Christian Teaching, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver
Spring, Maryland, USA.
Rasi, Humberto & M.
Viscot Korniejczuk. (1993). A Select
Bibliography on the Integration of Faith and Learning: Christ in the Classroom. Institute
for Christian Teaching, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, Silver
Spring, Maryland, USA.
Richardson, Alan. (1969).
A Dictionary of Christian Theology. The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, p. 126.
Sire, James W. (1990).
Learning to Love God in the Ways We Think, Discipleship of the Mind. InterVarsity Press, Illinois, USA.
Slattery, Patrick. (1991).
Farmers Reflect on Their Faith and Work: Caretakers of Creation. Augsburg Minneapolis and ACTA Publications,
Chicago, USA.
Sutherland, E.A. (1915).
Studies in Christian Education:
Education Experiences Before the Midnight Cry Compared with Education
Experiences Before the Loud Cry. The
Rural Press, Madison, TN, USA (cited
from a paper: Agriculture, The ABC's of Seventh-day Adventist Education by
D.C. Scarbrough (1933), Andrews University-unpublished.)
University of Eastern
Africa, Baraton. (1992). Bulletin, Volume 6, 1992-1994, p.
115, Eldoret, Kenya.
Walsh, Brian J. and J.
Richardson Middleton. (1984). Shaping a Christian World View, The
Transforming Vision. InterVarsity Press, Illinois, USA.
White, E.G. (1903).
Education (Ed). Pacific
Press Publishing Association, 1952, Mountain View, California, USA.
White, E. G. (1903).
Balance in Education: Education
(Ed). Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 1952, Mountain View, California, USA.
White, E.G. (1903).
Lessons of Life: Education
(Ed). Pacific Press Publishing
Association, 19542, Mountain View, California, USA.
White, E.G. (1903).
Manual Training: Education
(Ed). Pacific Press Publishing
Association, Mountain View, California, USA.
White, E.G. (1905).
Help for the Unemployed and the Homeless: The Ministry of Healing
(MH). Pacific Press Publishing
Association, Mountain View, California, USA.
_____. (1913).
Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students (CT). Pacific Press
Publishing Association, 1943: Mountain View, California, USA.
White, E.G. (1923).
Diligent and Thorough Education:
Fundamentals of Christian Education (FE). Southern Publishing Association, Nashville,
Tenn. USA.
White, E.G. (1923).
The Importance of Physical Training:
Fundamentals of Christian Education (FE). Southern Publishing Association, Nashville,
Tenn. USA.
White, E.G. (1954).
Teaching of Useful Trade: Child
Guidance (CG). Review and Herald.
Publishing Association, Washington, D.C., USA.
Wrigley, Gordon. (1981).
The Development of Production, Tropical Agriculture. 4th Edition. Longman, London, England.
Youdeowei, Anthony, and J.A.
Akionwumi. (1986). Introduction to Tropical Agriculture. Longman, London, England.