Years ago, I dabbled in organic gardening. I learned that the most important step to growing strong, healthy, disease-resistant fruit-bearing plants is to start with good soil. Yup, the dirt made all the difference. I could have the very best seed, plenty of sunshine and water; I could even have a number of organic treatments to get rid of pests and disease. But, if I didn’t have good ground, it didn’t make much difference.

This is a lesson from the parable of the sower and the seed. The good soil was the only place of lasting growth and fruit. The ground, we are told, represents the heart, and the seed is the gospel.

So, when we come to rocky places or other sub-ideal conditions in mission work, should we scatter the seeds there anyway and spend a lot of effort to keeping struggling sprouts going? What will happen if we leave the garden for a while? Can we expect to return to healthy plants? Doesn’t it make more sense first to focus our efforts into feeding the soil—removing the stones, uprooting the thorny weeds, plowing up the hard places? Sounds like hard work, doesn’t it? Well, it is, and it takes patience and perseverance to keep it up, especially when farmers in other world fields are reaping harvests. Should we move on to better soil? In a stony place, it’s tempting to give up on plans for a healthy, productive garden. But the patient, careful farmer will be rewarded for all his labor. “Let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not” (Gal 6:9). This is the kind of work we have been doing in Albania—cooperating with the Lord in breaking down barriers, nurturing, building, balancing and softening hearts in preparation for the good seed.

But now, at last, we see clear indications that the time for planting has come! The soil is hungry for the seed, and we are eager to sow. We now have small groups coming together for prayer meetings, Bible readings, and even Sabbath meetings, but we are waiting for one more ingredient before we really start spreading the seed. We need to have study materials designed specifically for this people group. We are happy to have the experience of the Hendrickson and Wilcox families to propel us forward. Rob Wilcox has poured himself into writing materials in a way that will point Albanians to the Bible for the answers to the questions of their hearts.

We are entering an exciting stage in our ministry, and we invite you to join us in spreading the gospel seed. If you want to know how you can help, please e-mail us at maysalbania@yahoo.com. It’s sowing time in Albania!

“But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty” (Matt. 13:23).

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