The little church building had a small elderly congregation. A year and a half ago there were thirteen or fourteen in worship. We have been meeting for prayer and Bible Study on a weekly basis (about 8-9 in attendance).
The congregation has been open to trying different things. We had a harvest festival a year ago. Flyers were made and neighbors were personally invited to attend. We had a feast and there were 31 in attendance. Wow!
Then we had an Easter Egg Hunt? I was never a big fan of those “pagan” celebrations. Again, flyers were made and neighbors were personally invited. Sixty one people attended that Saturday morning event. We connected with people and a new young family has been attending regularly ever since that event. Wow!
With a few more in worship, we have been averaging 22-23 in attendance. What can that little group do? Summer was well under way. There are a couple of acres surrounding the little rural church. There was conversation about clearing the field to use the baseball diamonds or setting up the soccer goals that had been purchased several years ago.
Finally it was determined - in June - to plant some gardens. The ground at the church was very rough with weeds. We could have postponed the project until next year, but that’s not the way they do things at Beulah UMC.
A member offered to have some of the church gardening in existing gardens at his home. Seeds and plants were purchased. Before I knew what was happening there was a group of seniors, some of their grandchildren and some of the new friends that had planted a garden. And another garden and another garden were planted. (Please see the attached pictures.) Then the ground at the church was plowed and corn, tomatoes, watermelon, yellow squash, cantaloupe, okra, and sunflowers were planted.
Wow, we could really make some money off of that! But, no, the fields were planted to help feed people in need. Some of the food went to families in the church. Some of it has gone to the Samaritan Center in Toledo, to St. Paul’s Community Center in Toledo, and a lot of it has gone to the Food pantry housed at the Open Door in Delta. Approximately 810 pounds of produce were given away.
The Good Lord blessed the Beulah congregation with a bounteous harvest. Around 50 watermelons, 50 cantaloupes and oodles of other delicious vegetables were grown. One of the ladies of the church canned 24 quarts and 38 pints of green beans which she also gave away.
There were some setbacks. The night before a group was to go out and harvest the first two of three rows of corn some of the neighborhood deer and raccoons had a feast. There was hardly anything left of the corn. The other row of corn, which had been planted later, was close to some other vegetables and people ate that crop.
All in all, it was an amazing harvest, and we were very blessed. The man who did the plowing and a lot of the work just had his knee replacement surgery last week. He was in on Monday and home doing well by Thursday. Well, it was a wonderful summer watching crops grow and watching people grow in their faith.
Maybe we should have postponed the project until next spring so that we could get everything ready and do it the way it “should be done.” I’ll try to remember to ask the people who ate the fresh garden produce what they think.
Praying for a Bounteous Harvest in Christ,
Rev. Daniel R. Schilling 
