On The Farm

Spring activities going on now at Matthews House

Five new calves are now at Matthews House, also have three milk cows that will calve this summer and fall.  Lots of beef on the way for hungry children and poor families.	The last week of June this will be the scene of a youth revival and Vacation Bible School involving 18 youth and adults from Antioch Church in Burnsville Mississippi.  There will also be scores of their Romanian counterparts assembled together under the banner of Christ.  Pray for life changing decisions for all that will be there.	Stelica and Lorenzo involved in Spring fencing at Matthews House.  The building in the background is awaiting new windows and exterior doors that are soon to be shipped to this destination.
	Its nice to know that work at Matthews House goes on at both sides of the Atlantic.  GOD is so faithful.

Stelica pruning one of the 500 fruit trees in various stages of production	Bees are beginning to buzz toward the many flowers on the fruit trees	Marin and Valentin planting potatoes in the garden
Marin receiving money from Felicia Palamaru to buy Diesel fuel for the tractor	Flowers are beginning to open up with the hope of a fruitful year at Matthews House. Pears, Peaches, apricots, apples, plumbs, cherries, and walnuts all adorn the hillside.	Stelica plants vegetables in the Matthews House garden
Strawberries are planted in anticipation of Strawberry jam this winter	Clover and barley being sown, as we are preparing to buy a few more beef calves in the next weeks, they will have to have hay and grain this coming winter	Read John chapter 15 so you can see our hearts. We desire a great harvest of souls and the love of our dear LORD to be evident in word and deed there in Dersca Romania

   

A dear couple who support Matthews House donated a nearly new Scagg Hydraulic mower for keeping Matthews House trimmed and beautiful.

Arrival of new born calf! Here we are spading in manure on the fruit trees.  This is a pretty big deal labor wise as there are about 400 of them!  We lost about 50 trees due to this summers flooding.  Please keep us in prayer....   Let the Plowing Begin!  Wheat and rye field as they appear today! Here are the results of all that plowing and discing!!  The weather is holding nice here so we are staying and making the most of every minute!

We have began plowing for wheat and Rye, winter crops.  This is the most busy time of the year here!  We have a 65 horsepower Romanian tractor that can pull a 3 bottom plow.  The John Deere we have can pull a 2 bottom plow.  If we had a 3 bottom plow we could cut plowing time in half, as we could put both tractors in tandem plowing!  (Prayer Request:  Donations toward buying a 3 bottom plow.  A good used one here can be bought for about $350 - $400)

And he shall be called Esau

            Some of you may remember in the last newsletter I wrote about our new Duroc Boar that was purchased from a nearby farmer.  In that article I requested that readers might submit a name for this boar; as we always name our boars. Our dear friend, Adeline Brown, who at one time visited us here, sent an email suggesting the name Esau.  The name seemed very appropriate to me.

            In Genesis 25:25 the Bible states, “And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau."

            Esau the boar has a befitting name on 2 counts.  He certainly is red all over and he is certainly very hairy also.

            Thank you Adeline for the name, and for your prayers.  We expect in the near future to see many little Esaus running around the pig lots in Dersca, Romania.  And here you will be able to see “a pig of a different color”.

Fences, fences and more fences

            In Romania the winters are very long.  Here the snow begins in early November and stays and accumulates until the first of April.  That is 5 months of winter and this past year the winter was severe, with 100 consecutive days of temperatures never rising above freezing nor approaching the thawing point. 

            We at Matthew’s House worked on yet another fence.  This fence is for our 3 milk cows (one of which will be given away to a needy family after weaning time).  We were able to place all the corner posts and gateposts just as the snows began to fly. 

We took this time to pause and prepare and handout Christmas packages to the elementary schools of the 3 villages surrounding Dersca.  Wonderful friends in Germany supplied the packages.  In each was packed a gospel tract that even a child could understand.  Because the greatest gift of all is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 2:23).  We want to make sure that everyone we contact understands this.  This decision has eternal consequences.

            Because of this tract, I have been invited to one of the schools to explain the gospel to one of the classes there.  God is good!

             Following Christmas we began to gather materials to fabricate the hinges for the access gates and walk through gates for our new fences.  We made them both sturdy and beautiful (see photo above).  We want our fence to last a long time.

            We have also made 2 large pasture fences down in the valley for beef cattle.  We have 3 of these also that will be butchered in coming months for local orphans we have known for many years. 

Our local church family organized by Chris Godsey, raised funds for the purpose of adding to our herd of beef cattle.  This project was called “Coins for Calves.”  The clever Godsey’s covered Pringle’s cans with a Holstein hide design and the classes worked enthusiastically and raised $ 2400!  That was a lot of coins!  So far we have purchased 3 calves, carefully choosing calves of superior quality. 

The winter is also a good time to maintenance the farm equipment.  By the Lord’s provision we now have a seeder for grass and a drum mower for hay; also a cycle mower we had before is good for alfalfa and clover, but not normal bladed grass.  We still cut much of the grass the old fashioned way, with a mowing sythe.  It is amazing to watch the workers silently working and the results are just as amazing.  These fellows with their elegant tools of yesteryear so beautifully groom the farm.  It is certainly a show place with its green yard and neat pastures.

So though the winter is long and hard, the work went on and the spring was that much more appreciated.  Now the cool winds moderate the summer temperatures and our work is evenly divided into agriculture, construction and continuing to enclose fields to protect our livestock and fields.  The summers are short and much must be done,

 “making hay while the sun shines” has an intense significance for us here in Romania.