Did you know that one six out of every ten apples that are eaten in the USA comes from the State of Washington? Even though the population of our state makes up only 2% of the national population, our apples make up 60% of the consumption in the USA! Apples are easily the largest crop that is produced in our state, and Wenatchee happens to be the hub of it all. But what makes it even more interesting is that apples are not native to our state! So how did they become so prolific? How is there such a great harvest of apples today?
Apples were introduced to our state back in the 1820’s as a new crop. Some very forward-thinking farmers looked at the possibilities of what they could grow, and they assessed that all the conditions were right here in our state to grow such a crop. Here on the west side of the state (the rainy side) we certainly have our share of apple trees. But it is the east side of our state that apples are really king. Those farmers years ago who decided to try apples as a cash crop did some assessment of needed water, sunshine, weather consistency, and location, and felt it could work here. They came along the banks of the Columbia River (one of the largest and most consistent rivers in the world) and said there was plenty of steady water. They watched the sunshine and felt there was plenty of it much of the year. They needed a cold winter to help make it work and yes, the east side had a strong winter. But they also needed a good hot summer and as you know our eastside of the state has this. And they began to scattered seeds… lots and lots of them… and the byproduct this seed scattering 200 years later is state that produces the vast majority of all apples eaten in the USA, and is exported to almost 70 different countries of the world. Now that’s a great harvest!
This Sunday as we come to the Sunday before our GIC (Global Impact Celebration) we are going to deal with Principle of the Harvest. Everyone wants and enjoys a great harvest. We are going to deal with not only some great Scripture passages about the harvest but even hear of some of the stories of great spiritual harvest. We are going to learn to pray to “the Lord of the Harvest” and prepare ourselves for the GIC week, the meeting of our missionary guests, and praying through our commitments that God is leading us to make as a church family.
Before you come to worship this Sunday, I would challenge you to read this key passage. It is a very short parable of the Mustard Seed, which follows the previous parable of the Scattering of Seeds.
- Mark 4:30-32
There is a ‘Principle of the Harvest’ that we must come to know when we are ‘scattering seeds. This is our GIC season, and I want each of us to catch the full gravity of the Seeds and the Harvest. As we have said from the beginning, without the scattering of seeds there can be no harvest. And we ALL want a GREAT HARVEST.
By the way, if you want a great drive in our state to see those apples by the millions and millions… take a drive up Hwy 97 from Leavenworth/Wenatchee to Brewster Washington. You will be blown away at the seemingly never-ending harvest of apples. If you do it this month it while many are being harvested it will make even more sense.
See you Sunday.
