Our journey into our agricultural program started one night when Mrs. Elizalde and I were taking an online class called Adventist Beliefs. We were reviewing the mission of our schools and the importance of the relationship with God and His book of nature. At that moment, we believe God inspired us to start teaching two new classes: Agriculture and Christian Beliefs. We were participating in a Teacher-Pastor retirement that our conference had organized for us and our families. We prayed fervently that night asking for guidance and for the manpower necessary to fulfill this dream. The following day during breakfast, one of the pastors from our conference asked to sit and eat at our table. We began talking about our favorite topic, how to improve our Adventist schools. We shared our new plans with him and how we thought they could materialize. Pastor Morales paid special attention and at the end of the conversation, he smiled and said, “God just answered my prayers.” Unbeknownst to us, he had been praying for guidance on how he could help in our conference the next school year; he has been a part of this journey since that breakfast we shared. Together, we decided to run both Christian Beliefs and Agriculture as part of our curriculum for the following school year to help our students see our beliefs in both daily and practical lessons.
This year, our students from 7th-10th grade studied each belief of our Seventh Day Adventist church and at the same time, learned how to cultivate the many vegetables they eat every day. Furthermore, our students had the opportunity to compare natural and spiritual growth. At the same time, our K-6th grade students learned how our amazing God takes care of our seeds through our gardening class. They learned how He can transform seeds and give us delicious fruits.
During this school year the teachers at El Paso Adventist Junior Academy followed the recommendations of Ellen G. White when she wrote: “Let the teachers wake up to the importance of this subject, and teach agriculture and the other industries that it is essential for the students to understand. Let them seek in every department of labor to reach the very best results. Let the science of the word of God be brought into the work, that the students may understand correct principles and may reach the highest possible standard.” Counsels to Parents, Teachers, and Students, p. 315.2
After incorporating the gardening and Christian Beliefs class, God told us it was time to begin the agriculture class. Our school is blessed to have a large plot of land behind it. However, because El Paso has a very desert-like climate, the land behind our school was dry and arid. During the summer of 2019, Mrs. Elizalde along with the help of some students, volunteers, and parents, arduously worked on the land in order to prepare it for our first crops. We learned how to use a tractor, how to install an irrigation system, what kind of plants grow in our area, and the care we must provide them in order to have a good harvest.
When we officially started the school year (2019-2020) we introduced our students to the class and described how this would be a lesson in both our practical and spiritual life. At the beginning it was challenging; only a couple of our students knew how to use the agriculture and gardening tools. Most of our students had not even stepped in a cultivation field. Words such as hoe, mattock, and fertilizer were new vocabulary for the majority of our students, not to mention ideas like stepping on the muddy soil with rain boots, using the different types of gardening gloves, hats, and long sleeves shirts. The parent support we received was a key part of this journey. When we sent home the daily school schedules (including the schedule to water and tend to the crops) nobody complained. We even got some parents on board to come and help with the work that had to be done before the fall season began. With this response, we felt encouraged and assured that God was blessing us and would continue to bless us throughout the whole year.
Christian Beliefs, Gardening, and Agriculture classes are important to incorporate into our schools because they make a spiritual impact in our school community. Every day for a period of 50 minutes, each student has the opportunity to collaborate with their classmates outdoors; either on the field or in the garden. They learn and experience different ways to take care of the seed and learn how to clean the land surrounding each plant. Our teachers show the students how to observe and see the growth of each plant right before our eyes. By watching the seeds grow and seeing how God takes care of them, our students are able to see how God can also take care of us.
By September, we had our first harvest. We harvested corn and green beans. Our cooking class, which teaches 5th and 6th graders how to make healthy vegan meals, started to use the vegetables. We followed the teachings of Ellen G. White when she said that our children should “be able to cook their own meals. They should be familiar with agriculture and with mechanical pursuits.” Testimony Treasures, vol. 2, p. 467.1. By October and November, we were able to harvest our first pumpkins, cantaloupes, and watermelons. The whole school was delighted to be eating the delicious fruits of our labor.
In the month of December, we experienced a God-given miracle. Because El Paso has a desert climate, the weather is very unpredictable. Our winters are very cold, and the summers are very hot. Furthermore, the temperature can change drastically from one day to the next. We learned how to take precautions and keep our crops safe. We realized we needed to buy and install a mesh net above our harvest ruts and plots to protect them from the cold winter.
However, this project was not easy to start. The school did not have any money for this project, and we were close to winter break and student finals. I had a conversation with Mrs. Elizalde, our agriculture teacher, to decide whether we should start the project or not. After a close evaluation, we concluded that if we did not find the money to put the nets up, our crops were very likely to freeze and die during the winter. We asked God for the resources we needed to begin this project. We decided to do it with our own resources (money) and call the students’ families to help us with the project on Sundays. Mrs. Elizalde and I made a list of materials and tasks, and trusted in our Lord. God answered that same evening. One of our sponsors visited us, Mr. Dioni Rivera. He was happy to see our school was helping our students to develop life skills, especially in the area of agriculture. Mrs. Elizalde told him about the project we were planning, and he said, “Let’s go buy the materials!” That afternoon he bought all the pipes we needed to build the domes to protect the fields and the garden. If that is not a miracle, what can we call it? Mrs. Elizalde and I were reminded of God’s promise in Isaiah 65:24 - “Before they call, I will answer, while they are still speaking, I will hear.”
The winter season was very cold, but God protected our crops. The kale, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, carrots, radish, beets, and snap peas survived, and God gave us a beautiful harvest. We found a wonderful way to put our second harvest to use. The cooking class used the vegetables from our third harvest to cook a delicious meal for our constituency meeting in February. What a blessing!
By the time this article is published, we will be waiting for our new crops to give us the new seeds for the next season. By the Grace of God, we will not have to buy new seeds for the next harvesting season. The crops from our previous harvest, will give us the seeds we will use. Our students will have also just planted corn and will be tending to newly planted fruit trees. We will also be praying to continue having the blessing and direction from our God in order to reap another bountiful harvest. Although there were many challenges to start this project such as lack of funding, unpredictable weather patterns, and heavy manual labor, God gave us the resources and strength needed to have had three bountiful harvests and are working on our fourth one.
El Paso Adventist Junior Academy opened its doors in 1920, with the purpose to educate the mind, body, and spirit for eternity. We are blessed to have God redirecting us towards this purpose. We believe, “It is God’s plan that agriculture shall be connected with the work of our sanitariums and schools. Our youth need the education to be gained from this line of work. It is well, and more than well, - it is essential, - that efforts be made to carry out the Lord’s plan in this respect” Testimonies for the Church 8:227,228 (1903) {CH 223.2}.
We are grateful for the lessons God has taught us throughout this journey.
Blessings,
Juanita Camacho
Head Teacher – El Paso Adventist Junior Academy
