Helping in the Harvest

Helping in the Harvest

Do you know what J.O.Y. stands for? This question is pretty easy if you have been reading JOY for a while. If you don’t know, I’ll give you the answer. The J stands for Jesus, and comes first, just like He should come first in our priorities. Y is for you, who should come last. In the middle is O which is for others, who should come after Jesus but before yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40)

All of us have ourselves as a priority someplace- most of the time at the top of our list. Jesus comes into our lives when we become Christians. The struggle then becomes putting Him first instead of ourselves. And others? You may know from the By Faith articles that we can learn from others, but one of the biggest reasons we need to be focusing on others is so that we can share the love of Jesus with them. (Matthew 28:19-20)

That is where this column comes in. Helping in the Harvest will feature people sharing the gospel with people all over the world and wherever you live. Each month’s article will highlight someone different. It may be a missionary, a mission organization, or a charity, but they will all have the same goal- to teach others about the hope of Jesus.

What’s in the Name?

Helping in the Harvest is based on Matthew 9:37 where Jesus says, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.” Jesus wasn’t talking about a literal harvest of crops, but of souls. There are many people who need to know about what Jesus did for them, but not many people telling them. Each article in Helping in the Harvest will show you how others are helping in the harvest and how you can help, too!


One of the ways Helping in the Harvest will help you to do that is by helping you to pray. There will be prayer requests included in each article to help you pray for the featured ministry. If you look at Matthew 9:38, Jesus says to ask God to send out workers to help with the Harvest. Make a point to do what Jesus said and pray for the people that are featured here each month.

Another way to help in the Harvest is by giving. You may have heard the verse “God loves the
cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:7). What could be better than pleasing God? Each article in Helping with the Harvest will have a way to give. Sometimes that may be by giving money to the people featured that month or perhaps giving your time to a ministry near you.

There is one other way in particular to help in the Harvest: be a worker in your mission field. This doesn’t mean you have to move to a far away country. Believe it or not, you have a mission field all around you! Think of people you come in contact with who don’t know God. These people are whom you can be ministering to. Mark 16:15 says to, "'Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.'" That means even where you live.

Let Helping in the Harvest be an encouragement to you. Remember to pray, find ways to give, and make sure to minister in the mission field God gave you. Remember the O in JOY and I’ll see you back here next month!

By Rachel R.