Bananas and Mangos

Bananas & Mangos

By Stephen Brockell

Did you know that it only takes 6-9 months for a banana plant to grow and produce fruit? On the other hand, one must wait 5 years for a mango tree to grow and give its first crop. Banana plants do not last very long and must be grown over and over again. They are unstable and cannot survive unless the conditions are near perfect. They must always have it their way... not too hot, not too cold, not too dry, not too much rain, and definitely no strong winds. This is because their roots are very shallow. Mango trees are a different story. Their roots go down deep and they can survive just about any climate or condition. Their strength and fruit comes over time. After 20 years, a mango tree produces thousands of fruit annually. Our ministry here in La Vega, DR, is much like a Banana and Mango Co-op!

Over the past 14 years we have seen hundreds and hundreds of professions of faith through street preaching, drama presentations, evangelistic movies, sports tournament outreach, annual ladies events, musical programs, and Vacation Bible School. This is all in addition to the results from weekly door-to-door soul-winning, youth group, Sunday School, and Gospel preaching. Literally, over a million Gospel tracts, Bibles, and John/Romans have been distributed as well. Much like the banana plant, this has produced fruit, and fast! The continual planting has meant there is always a new "bunch" hangin' around, too. This is an exciting part of our ministry! We praise the Lord for the true converts that have kept growing over the years due to these different Gospel presentations. The other side is that there are many who never put down roots and they wither away due to their fickle nature. We see the need for planting bananas and are joyful in the harvest, but they are just one component of our overall vision. We know the strength and stability of our ministry must come from the mango crop.

Our most desired result and most difficult challenge has been planting a strong church. Planting this church has been much like nurturing a mango tree. Much effort must go into cultivating spiritual roots that go down deep in a personal relationship with Christ and in sound doctrine as well as observing evidence of true spiritual fruit in the power of the Holy Spirit. This takes time and patience-LOTS of time and patience! This kind of fruit comes slowly, but it will last. It is one thing to have a congregation full of attendees, but it is quite another to have a body of baptized believers who desire to be conformed to the image of Christ and concerned about reaching their community and the world for Christ.

Over the last several years the Lord has taught us that we must cultivate and nurture the seed that He has planted - Abundant Life Baptist Church. Our work is to teach them, motivate them, pray for them, be an example to them, care for them and love them. But we also have learned that the outcome does not depend on our labor, but on HIM. The hardest lesson has been to wait on Him to do the work below the surface and let it grow until the fruit becomes evident. It is a matter of faith - letting God do His work His way and in His time. Jesus said, "I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Doctrinally we can all stand on this, but practically we must rely on this as well. Christ builds His church by changing lives, and this takes time. Yes, we must work diligently, but "except the Lord build the house we labor in vain that build it." Waiting as God transforms His children is the key.

It might surprise you to know that the first Baptist churches were established in the Dominican Republic more than 70 years ago. Yet, there is still much of the country that does not even know what a Baptist church is. The reason is that the churches were started too quickly. Young men were barely trained and then placed into the ministry. For decades these churches have struggled and some have not survived. The stable churches are those that have years of maturation, and those that are flourishing have a team of workers involved in the spiritual lives of their people. It is therefore vital that as we wait on God to do the unseen work, we invest our precious time in the lives of others - not only to train them to do the work, but more importantly to teach them to develop their love relationship with Christ. They need to become deeply rooted and grounded before branching out. Again, time and patience are needed to see results from our mango tree.

God has challenged us to look at our ministry with His eyes. Yes, we enjoy the excitement and fast showing of the banana plants, the fruit that comes quickly as a result of preaching the Gospel. We love to evangelize as Christ commissioned us to do. This is a great joy in ministry. But we understand that He has also given us the task of cultivating the mango tree, which is to build a strong and stable church that can stand through any climate or condition. This tree will change size and shape through the years, but that is not our concern. God just wants us to make sure the tree stays healthy and growing while He does the unseen work of stabilizing underneath. We cannot be in a hurry. If we stay faithful in nurturing their personal relationship with God and we keep trusting God to grow His tree His way and in His time, we will see the results that we long for... a beautiful, strong, mature church that has the capacity to produce abundantly and reproduce even more churches in the future. This combination of dynamic evangelism and patient maturing of believers is God's plan for our partnership with Him in this great Banana and Mango enterprise.