Maple Grove Helps with Lord's Acres Projects
By Marilyn Kettering Badger
January 30, 2017
The Church of the Brethren with the help of Church World Service (CWS) and CROP (Christian Rural Overseas Program) developed a program in which crops were grown and harvested, and then train cars came through the area and gathered up the grain from the churches that grew it. The grain was then sent to Europe to use for food products there. A couple of Maple Grove Sunday School classes (Cross Bearers and Truth Seekers) worked the ground, planted the grains, cared for them, weeded, tilled, etc. the plants and then harvested the product for train transport. We called these acres the Lord’s Acres. It took a lot of volunteer hours and service to those in need and to our Lord to get this accomplished. One of the fields I remember was the bottom land along State Route 58 north of Nankin, south of where the Shoup’s and then Barr’s lived, near a creek.
Work day for the Lord’s Acres was a time of great fellowship and family fun and sharing. We had some old pictures of a work day. I do not remember a lot as I was young, but in my memory, it seemed to be a happy time of working together, doing work for our Lord in an attempt to help other people struggling with the effects of World War II on them. I have been told that some of the crops grown were wheat, corn and popcorn. I do not know where these crops needed to be taken to meet the train. I assume they had to sack the grains to take it to the train, but I do not know for sure. I heard that the popcorn was sold to help with the expenses of shipping.
Do we desire to help God’s people in need today?
Yes, but our money ($$$) is usually what is asked for rather than our labor and our energy and a product.
