When I think of hard-core missionaries out in the “mission field,” one thing I picture them doing is working with the locals in the fields for their mere survival. I sometimes imagine myself as that hard-core missionary, and I absolutely love the experiences that make me feel anywhere close to it! So when I heard the day was actually coming when we would get to help harvest the rice, I was stoked!
It is morning and we all gather around and pick out a sickle for the job. Even the older kids gather to help carry out the rice we will cut. Then single file we carefully wander around a maze of rice fields until we get to our own. I have no idea how they know which field is whose-they all look the same to me! We tie our ornas (scarves) in a more practical, working style and begin watching and learning. Grab the rice paddy about 8 inches from the ground and cut it somewhere below your hand. Each person takes about 4 rows of paddies and works across the field, leaving the cut rice in neat piles to be bundled and carried back to the orphanage. Looking around at the 30+ other laborers in the fields with us, I cannot believe what I am doing. I am cutting rice, out in a field with the locals, in Bangladesh, harvesting their staple food for the year, just like in bible times! Though the sun makes the sweat drip, I am absolutely loving it. They probably think I’m crazy having so much fun with their work! We continue to cut field after field until I am called to breakfast. I don’t want to leave! In a culture where it’s rude to refuse food though, I must go. Before we leave one girl shows us how to tie a bundle of rice together and carry it on our heads.
It was only a small taste of the harvesting life, but it was something I had dreamed of doing for years so I am just ecstatic I had the opportunity to experience it! And for those of you that have seen my klutzy side….I did NOT cut any fingers with my sickel J
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