It was the week leading up to my first Tearfund field trip. I was preparing to visit our partner Nasituan and their local enterprise, Tanna Gardens – more than a café and roastery, born from a desire to equip, train and enable local coffee farmers and their families to flourish.
The story of Ruth and Boaz was on my heart
Boaz did more than simply follow the law in Leviticus 19:9–10. He went above and beyond. Not only did he leave the edges of his fields unharvested, but he instructed his workers to leave Ruth alone and even pull-out heads of grain for her as they went about their work.
Boaz's act of generosity rolled around in my mind, beautifully demonstrating God's great love and grace for each one of us. An encouragement to act generously towards one another, not only with what we have, but with our attitudes and our hearts.
Leaving room. Making space. Creating opportunities.
When I heard that the Nasituan and Tanna Gardens team would start the week with a devotion and was asked if I could prepare something to share, the answer was an easy “yes.” I felt the Lord had already given me the words.
As I walked to grab a coffee afterwards, Joseph, Head Farmer Trainer, joined me on the path.
“Thank you for what you shared this morning. This is exactly what we are about,” he told me.
And over the week, I saw this play out.
Reviewing my content list one evening.
Ticking boxes
I had arrived in Tanna with lists. Lists for packing items, lists for expected expenses, and lists for content opportunities. I am sure my seasoned colleagues, Andrew and Olivia, were sick to death of my questions before the trip even began. I would repeat the plan back to Andrew confirming what I heard, making plans in my own mind about the stories we wanted to collect and the opportunities that each plan might offer. ‘We’ll see, we’ll see’ would be his reply.
Our first step at least was certain—head to Tanna Gardens in the morning to meet with our partner there.
Planning the week with Nasituan. Tanna Gardens office, Vanuatu.
Our first day was off to a great start. We cleared the whiteboard, and I hovered in the background as our local partner team—Joseph, Nini and Daniel, planned with Andrew, Olivia and Clint. I was eager to see how our week would pan out.
And then the day began:
✓ Coffee process and tasting
✓ Site One visit
✓ Community workshop
✓ Interviews
We had hoped to get the drone up to view the stream and some of the restored planting areas, but as dusk threatened and the first drops of rain fell, we decided to leave it. It was the first day after all. There would be more time for everything else on our list.
Overnight, the rain came.
When the list goes out the window
The next morning, the Tearfund team headed into the hills with Nini for another community workshop while Jared and I stayed back to interview Tanna Gardens staff and capture more of the coffee process. They would be back for lunch before we joined them on a stream restoration walk.
Lunchtime came and went, with no team in sight.
Roadside huts as Jared and I walked to the bakery.
Jared wanders into the bakery to discover no bread!
Jared and I decided to walk to the local bakery for some bread and tuna. It turns out our ability to convert travel time from driving to walking needs some work, and it might have been an hour round trip. Who knows, we weren't timing it.
When we arrived, the bakery's generator was broken. No bread.
I bought some dry noodles, chips and warm juice, while Jared found a packet of Oreos and a Coke. Back at the offices, the kettles and urn were out of action, so we improvised with hot water from the coffee machine and small bowls to moisten our noodles.
Bedraggled, the team eventually returned. Too wet for cameras was the consensus, so we retreated to the offices. Jared and I reviewed content while the rest of the team debriefed and reset plans.
As the week went on, our plans continued to change.
Abandoning the 4WD and making our way on foot.
Rain arrived unexpectedly during the dry season. A death in one of the villages meant a planned visit could no longer go ahead. The rutted slopes of southwest Tanna held us captive for much longer than expected. A flat tyre. And a new Council building opening brought leaders and farmers together on a day we had hoped to interview them.
Our plans changed day after day, hour by hour.
What impressed me most was how the Tearfund team and Nasituan responded. There was never a fuss about the disruption to “plans”. They simply problem-solved, worked together to find another way, even finding another solution when those solutions fell through. People took precedence over plans - these relationships more precious than tick-boxes on a checklist.
Right up until the Friday we left, we never got to do that stream walk.
As Jared and I departed for Port Vila, we left the handheld camera with the team in the hopes of before-and-after footage. There is always plenty of work to be done on Tanna, and I have no doubt they will fill up the memory card.
But of the stream? We will have to see.
An unexpected full circle
After I left Tanna, I joined the congregation of International Christian Church in Port Vila for a Sunday service. Having arrived a little early, a man came over and introduced himself as Casey. We chatted and I discovered he had been living in Vanuatu for over 10 years, supporting Bible translation projects among the many oral languages of the outer islands.
The service began and I joined the congregation in worship. As the preacher was called to share a message, Casey stepped up and made his way to the pulpit.
I have long ceased to be surprised by the way God works and continue to be delighted by the way he does the smallest things to connect us to his love and to his Word.
Casey's Scripture for the message was Luke 6:27–35, reminding us of the generosity of God's heart, to give to those who can't repay you, to act in love and grace, and expect nothing in return. The call to go one step further.
(Photo: L-R) Sasha, Nini, Daniel.
Room for God to move
I left Tanna with a newfound respect for the work of our partners, and for our Tearfund team who walk alongside them. I also left grateful that God had made room for me to see his heart through the work of our partner.
I keep thinking about that walk with Nini along the ridge of a remote hill. He had taken time out of his day to lead us there, stopping to greet people he knew, introducing us to communities, and sharing his hope for what God could restore in Tanna—not just in the lives of people, but in the land itself. The day wore on, and not once did the smile drop from his face.
I was reminded that God’s plans are bigger than our plans. That he is in the business of restoring, and if we are willing, there’s a place for us in those plans too. Perhaps finding peace in disruption begins with a willingness to join God in his plans. To be patient as he reveals them, to see opportunity in the challenge, and to have a curious heart that asks, ‘God what are you doing here, and can I join you in this?’
Restoration begins with making room for God and making room for each other: making room for a farmer to build a livelihood, for a woman to have a voice in her community, for a forest to grow again, for a child to have an education, and for a community to imagine a different future.
And perhaps, in a week where so many of my own plans went out the window, God was reminding me that he has things under control. That he can be trusted to care for his creation, and that by his grace he has made room for us to partner with him in that mission too.
The invitation
As I listened to Casey preach about God’s heart for radical love, I was reminded how Jesus first made room for us, through the ultimate sacrifice. Undeserved, we can never repay it, and he doesn’t ask us to. Instead, he calls us to pass that love on—to make sacrifices of our own, to leave room for others, and to follow the path he has set.
Just as Boaz did.
Just as Nasituan does.
And the invitation is there for us too.
Sow seeds for future generations
Read More