One day, an Afghan friend decided she wanted to go peach picking. We were so excited, and we agreed to join her.
Once in the orchard, we began peach picking. It sunk in that we weren’t in the cool part of California. It was hot, but my partner and I were filled with joy as we experienced fellowship with our friend.
The farm was hot, and my friend made us walk for hours. That day, my friend taught me how to find the perfect peach.
“Ana, first you find a big peach,” she said. “Then you feel it. If it comes off the branch, it’s ready.”
In Matthew 9:38, Jesus said, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few.” The Lord taught me something valuable the day we picked peaches. Our world is like a peach farm. There will be many trees. Some trees will be ready; some trees will not. The Lord says, “Go. Go into the field of trees and look for a tree that is ready. But if you find a tree that is not ready, keep watering it, and keep attending to it.”
This summer, I did not see anyone come to Christ, but the harvest is plentiful. The fruit on the peach trees I encountered this summer was still hard, but one day, the fruit will be ripe.
Our job this summer was to walk alongside other workers looking through the community and finding people of peace.
When my friend taught me how to look for peaches she said: “Ana, look and then touch. If it’s still hard, then the peach is not ready”
That day in the peach orchard, the Lord reminded me some people will hear and accept, but some people will be like the parable of the four soils. Praise God because he is not done with those people. There is a reason God is bringing the world’s most unreached people to our nation. One day, all these trees will be ripe, and the many years of laboring, looking and watering will all be worth it.
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This summer, I took a step of obedience. I listened, and the Lord changed how I lived my life. This summer, I learned how to be a missionary in my own community, and I realized that I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. Please continue to pray for the friends we made while in California. Pray that followers of Jesus will continue to pursue friendships with them. Pray for the laborers and that their love for the gospel never leaves them and continues to fuel their energy. Most importantly, pray that the seed of the gospel will grow. God is doing great things among the people of the Middle East, and sooner or later, it will reach their people here in the United States.
Ana Escobedo, a graduate of Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, served with Go Now Missions in Fremont, Calif.
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