Calvary by the Sea Lutheran Church & Montessori School

Pastor Dave and "Land Connection" This post has been viewed 5997 times.

Printable Version
Email to a Friend
Subscribe: Email, RSS

Posted by: Pastor Tim Mason on Thu, Jun 12, 2008

The week is almost done, but today we were very busy!

 Thursday at Wapo!

 Kai and I have had trouble sleeping at night… maybe it is because we have had trouble getting used to sleeping bags instead of our nice beds at home. When we went to bed there were light showers with the occasional lightning and thunder. Because I grew up in Minnesota, these sights and sounds were actually nostalgic and I got to sleep quicker than any previous night. I woke up a few times to the sound of wind, but didn’t think much about it.

When we woke up however, we were a bit surprised. On this day we were allowed to sleep in and there was a late brunch rather than breakfast, but as I took a walk I saw many branches on the ground and two fallen trees. One tree even fell upon a parked car, wrecking it totally. There were many branches about to fall as well and some trees were tipping precariously; so the staff spent most of the day cutting branches and even tearing one tree down completely. Thankfully there were no injuries to anyone; in fact most people woke up with no real knowledge to the situation.

The day became clear and warm and the program went on as schedule. After brunch our group from Hawaii went off to Pastor Dave Teigs’ home and farm to learn about our “Land Connection.” Dave is passionate about the land and how the land is a gift of God given for all people and their well being. Dave is an organic farmer as well as a pastor and he uses the concerns for the land to help raise awareness to the needs of people who go hungry everyday. Along with his men’s group they have made authentic maple syrup to sell to raise money to help alleviate global hunger. We learned that 25,000 children die everyday because of hunger. We learned that there isn’t a “food shortage” but the truth is that we have a system that does not allow people to get the food they need for many economic reasons. We learned about how there are families in Africa that have to make the painful decision of which child they will feed and which child will go hungry. 

We also learned that it takes 10 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of beef, and 3 pounds of grain to make 1 pound of pork, and 2 pounds of grain to produce 1 pound of chicken meat. So the question becomes what is the best way to feed more people? We also learned how the ELCA Global Hunger program is a great resource for churches to get involved in helping feed people

We went out to learn about the different kinds of sheep and goats he is raising. We also learned that it costs the farmer $150 to have a sheep sheered but they will only make about $100 on the wool that is sold… so he is quickly trying to figure out what to do with his sheep.

Pastor Dave showed us his garden and all his vegetables, spices and herbs. It has been a very wet spring so everything is late. Since he is an organic farmer his work is very labor intensive. One thing I thought was really cool is that he created a circle of corn with beans planted between the corn in the center of the circle. This is one way that the Native Americans planted so that the soil was always fertile with enough nitrogen.

 We saw pigs, ducks, lamas, cows, goats, chickens and their chicks, pheasant chicks, horses, and even peacocks. The diversity of life on his little farm was amazing, please be sure to check out all the photos on our website.

Just before we left, Pastor Dave showed us his home, which is built partly underground which really keeps down heating and cooling costs.

In the evening the camp director hosted the adult leaders of the churches that attended this weeks camp for dinner. The purpose the dinner was to evaluate this weeks experience as well as look at next years program.

After dinner there was time for “Masterpiece” time, which was really a time for the counselors and other adults to put on some very strange skits. Yes, Stevie and I were volunteered to be in one skit… let’s just say it was a very silly time.

 As the evening time went on, the mood changed to true ministry, the staff put on a play about the Passion of Jesus where the campers became the “crowds that followed Jesus” at that time. I will try to put those pictures on our website as soon as I can. 

As this is the last night for camp we finished the day with individual cabin parties. I am not sure many kids will go to bed very early tonight. 

Again, I am sure you heard a great deal about the tragedies related to the many storms that have hit the Midwest this week. We keep all the people affected by those storms in our prayers. We are thankful that we are all healthy albeit a little dirty and smelly, so that is camp!

We miss you all and look forward to seeing you soon. Thanks to everyone who helped us get to camp to learn so much our God’s Creation and our faith.

Grace and peace,

Pastor Tim