Often, God uses small things to accomplish His greater purposes. We, on the other hand, all too often will look at something small or obsolete and render it to be useless or unimportant. But God does not measure things the way we do. There was such a reminder in an event recently at the Sons of Thunder Farm in Zambia.
“The LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “A staff.” (Exodus 4:2) From a Scriptural perspective, it is remarkable to consider how God used the staff of Moses. It was not just used as a prop. Although inanimate it became a lead character as an instrument of the Lord placed in the hands of His servant. God used Moses’ staff to part the Red Sea and defeat the pursuing armies of Egypt. Later, Moses used the staff during a battle between Israel and the Amalekites and when it was lifted up, the armies of the Israelites prevailed in victory.
The Bible also tells us that faithfulness in the small things will lead to greater blessings. Rahab used a piece of crimson rope and it saved her entire family. God used a young shepherd boy to destroy the Philistine giant. In fact, David proved himself faithful in taking care of his father’s sheep, and God gave him the whole nation of Israel to shepherd.
And who cannot recall the moment, when facing multitudes of people coming to hear Jesus speak, when a disciple turns to Him and says, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” (John 6:9) All four gospel accounts tell us that Jesus miraculously fed 5,000 people through only five loaves of bread and two fish.
“For who has despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10)
It serves as an instructive reminder to us that the small things, the insignificant things, and the obsolete things are not to be despised. For God willingly uses small things to achieve greater purposes. On a personal basis, you may think of yourself as insignificant in God’s greater plans, but you are not. Not only did Christ die for you but with the infilling of the Holy Spirit you are a vital part of the Body of Christ and He has a role for you to fulfill. You may seem very small in your own eyes and this is good, for God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34; 1st Peter 5:5-6; James 4:6-7) But, don’t let your humility become sin by believing you can do nothing for the Lord.
For many years the old swimming pool at the Sons of Thunder Farm had been left to lay obsolete, dry and cracking under the Zambian sun. It is estimated to have been built in the 1960s or 70s by the original farm owner before it was purchased by Sons of Thunder Ministries. On a cost basis it was prohibitive and controversial to refurbish, for others it was an eyesore, for most it was just a wasted and unusable corner of the main compound.
However, earlier this spring after attending an agricultural exhibition in the nation’s capital of Lusaka, SOT Farm Manager Alexander Mubanga and several other men from the Farm became acquainted with the concept of an aquaponic pond for fish farming. As you can see in the photo, the concept became reality this past month when they decided to convert the old swimming pool into a fish farm for raising tilapia fish! Sons of Thunder dammed up one side of the pool for breeding young fish before transferring them over to the larger pool side. An aquaponic pond specialist was brought over to train those in charge of the newly created fish farm, the first supply of fish was cast into the water, and we are now hoping to have the first harvest of tilapia in October and November of this year.
The fish will be made available for purchase by those living on the Sons of Thunder Farm and will also be used for feeding attendees of meetings and conferences at the SOT Conference Center. An additional market may also be identified in Livingston as this story unfolds. This is yet another small business that was seeded with a loan from Sons of Thunder as part of the micro business community that exists there.
There has been a horrific drought in southern Africa this past year and, as prior blog posts have attested, the Sons of Thunder Farm harvest this year was most productive despite the drought conditions. More importantly, this bountiful harvest is a testimony of God’s grace to the Farm and its utility of the Farming God’s Way farming techniques. As a source of protein, there are also chickens that are being raised both commercially and individually on the Farm, but fish has never been available until now!
Please pray for Joseph as he manages the fish farm and the efficiency of this new aquaponic system that has been introduced. The swimming pool was considered obsolete and useless for years but having committed this project over to the Lord for His blessings, we are now very excited at the potential outcome for this fish farm.
Speaking with Alexander earlier this week, the reduced crop yields this year due to the drought has caused much hunger and suffering in the southern and western regions of Zambia. Many continue to come and ask for food and other assistance as the Farm can provide. But the demand is far more than Sons of Thunder is able to supply. Your prayers and financial support are vitally needed right now to meet those suffering from malnutrition and hunger with bags of mealy meal. On the blog menu select “contribute” for instructions to make a donation to Sons of Thunder. It is all made possible through the support of friends like you who share the vision and passion for God’s Kingdom work. We are grateful for your prayerful support!