This section begins the Seed to Orchard booklet, a training manual to help South Asian Christians reach South Asian Muslims. Subscribe to No Cousins Left to keep getting updates. Or download the whole PDF booklet below.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It’s the smallest of all the seeds, but when grown, it’s taller than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the sky come and nest in its branches.” Matthew 13:31-32
The kingdom of heaven is growing among Muslims across South Asia. In some places, thousands of Muslims have found life and joy in our Lord Jesus. In other places, the gospel has not taken root in the Muslim community. In those places, sowers are required to take the seed of the gospel and plant it there.
As good farmers, we need to care for this new growth and nourish it. As the seed grows and bears fruit, we take more seed from it and plant it where the kingdom has not grown.
Imagine with me an orchard of mango trees. An orchard of 50 trees might produce 15,000 kg of mangos a year. An entire orchard can come from one mango pit. But it takes time and persistence. After one pit is planted, it may take years to bear fruit. But then the fruit can become enormous. As one tree bears fruit, more pits can be taken and planted, bearing many more trees. Eventually, an orchard emerges, producing great fruit. The same is true when we sow the seed of the gospel among Muslims. As the gospel takes root in the heart of one Muslim, there is potential for it to multiply. One gospel seed has the potential to become a fruitful orchard among Muslims.
My hope in writing this booklet is that you will go plant the gospel among South Asian Muslims. As a few seekers and believers emerge, like young saplings, I hope you will teach and care for them, just as farmers care for new trees. As you nurture this new growth, I hope that God, by His Spirit, will multiply the work of your hands.
I believe one reason Jesus used farming parables is that we, like the farmer, cannot make growth happen. God’s Word says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Cor 3:6-7).
God gives the growth. Our job is to participate with Him by sowing and watering. But we are simply servants that God chooses to work through. Therefore, work diligently. But devote yourself to prayer, trusting in God to bring a great harvest.
