The Tomato Story

Yesterday was one of those days that I don't think I'll ever forget...

Dr. Blessman got a call from Richard at the Pietersburg 100 Rotary Club. Richard shared that he had a lot of tomatoes to donate to Blessman Ministries Inc.

We stopped by last night to pick up the donation, only to find out that there were 20 crates of tomatoes for us! We filled up the entire back end of Dr Blessman's SUV with tubs of tomatoes and loaded about 6 more tubs onto the luggage racks.

After loading them up, we looked at each other and said, "We have a lot of tomatoes to find a home for!"

Dr Blessman had an idea for where quite a few of the tubs would go: a local pastor and his church, the workers at Shikwaru game reserve by our home and the kids at Lighthouse Church. But we had about 4-5 tubs of tomatoes (probably 75 pounds each) that we didn't know where to take them. We wanted them to go where they would be the most beneficial. We were thanking the Lord, and silently asking the Lord to lead us to the exact person (or communities) as we drove around.

We pulled into a Welfare complex and talked with the headmaster. He said they were government funded, and that they had a contract with a food vendor so they weren't actually interested in our tomatoes. They did say that around back, behind their complex, was a facility that housed mentally handicapped males. As we drove around the outside of their fence on a dirt road, my heart sank as we pulled up to the gate of the "other" facility. The facility that no one could see. The forgotten facility. The facility that houses males that people want to forget about. A facility that houses unwanted and undesired people.

There was garbage lining the entrance way, and young men were milling about everywhere. Windows were broken out, and the buildings were in great disarray. We asked one of the residents where the Administration building was at and his reply was that it was the "green building." We didn't see a green building, but we did see a building with a green roof. Close enough.

We drove over and met with the head master. Actually, he came out and met us at our vehicle as we pulled in. He was a truly genuine man and Dr Blessman and I both had instantaneous fellowship with him. He had a huge heart and a warm smile. He greeted us like we were brothers. Dr Blessman shared a little bit about our ministry and explained that our local Rotary Club had donated a lot of tomatoes, and would these tomatoes be beneficial to the residents at this facility? The headmaster's response is something I'm still trying to compute. I'm not sure where to file the following words that came out of his mouth...

You see, all the staff were supposed to leave at 3:00 that afternoon. By this time it was almost 4:30. They should've been home already. They should've been with their families, probably starting to cook dinner. The problem was that this facility had no food. None. They had been talking and praying since 3:00 about how they were going to feed all 140 males at their facility the next day. There was literally no food left. Their shelves were bare. As we drove in, one of the assistants looked at the headmaster and said, "there's your answer."

We learned about their situation and went to our storage facility about 5 minutes away and gave the headmaster 10 cases of rice packets from Meals from the Heartland. They filled up the whole back end of his truck. They said they would mix the tomatoes with the rice packets and make soup...for days.

Do you have any idea how humbling it is to ask the Lord "what do you want us to do?" and then as you listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit, you become the answer to someone else's prayer? All glory to God.

I know that our ministry is making a difference. I know that we feed 7000 orphans a day in 30 feeding centers throughout South Africa. I know that we have an internet café to teach children computer skills and an after school program to teach them Christanity. I know that we are deeply involved with an orphanage about 30 minutes away, some of whom are infected with the AIDS virus. I've heard the stories, but the "tomato story" was different. This was something I was directly involved in. I witnessed it. You know what it did? It increased my faith. Are we going to go back to that "forgotten facility" and give them shoes? You bet. Are we going to partner with them and make sure they get more rice packets? You better believe it. Am I going to pray for my new friend, the headmaster - and a pastor? Absolutely. And I pray that as you get a glimpse into the life of a missionary pouring out his heart on a random Thursday for a country he loves, that your faith will be increased too. That you will ask the Lord "What do you want ME to do today?" Listen to him. Be lead of the Holy Spirit, and maybe the "tomatoes" you have will be the answer to someone's else's prayer as well. 

May you be encouraged.