Back to the Garden | Listen & Obey

 

The heart of the theme

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In the beginning in the garden of Eden, man's spirit had dominion over the soul and the body. Adam and Eve had the mind of Christ as their first nature. They experienced intimacy, companionship, constant communication and communion with their Maker, who was also their Friend and their King. What they had in the beginning was not only beautiful but it is what we, too, are called to. Everything might have changed after Adam and Eve listened to and obeyed the serpent, but Yeshua came to open the way back to that garden. We are called to garden lifestyles where we are the last Eve who chooses to go back to the garden instead of being desert wanderers with no true dwelling place. The garden isn't just a place, it's a relationship and lifestyle in Yeshua. This is our starting place! The Harvest Life children will be given the keys in order to unlock a life in His garden. They will be taught on all levels of life what it means to live in His garden. They will learn how to tend and keep the garden of their own lives through living the principle of listening and obeying. "Back to the Garden | Listening and obeying" will be the main theme from which different projects will sprout. Each project will be aimed to deeply root these fundamental principles within the children so that they will be equipped in every way – spirit, soul and body – to keep their gardens and cause them to be fruitful in and through Yeshua. Here, we will focus on God our Creator, God the Gardener of our lives. They will not just learn deeply important Biblical and spiritual principles, but they will also learn about nature, God's ecosystem.

 

Example for the age of 4

In this specific theme they will learn to observe order in nature (listen) and understand that it makes sense to follow this order to bring forth new life (obey). This theme will appear in all related sessions and school material to be used as a vivid medium of teaching theoretical patterns.

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The word of the theme will be Dad, Abba אבא, Papa, Padre, Vader. During the seven weeks of this theme, they will learn to read and write the letters of the word by hearing and imitating. This word makes sense here because it is easy, profound and familiar.

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Figure of the theme: “1, אחד one, een, una, eins”.

 

Projects

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The sparrow (Spirit)

The kids will listen to birds in nature every day, discover various types of birds and we take that as a medium to speak about the parable of "The Sparrow" from Yeshua about Jehovah Jireh – God, our Provider.

 

Watering our garden (Soul)

Here they will water a certain plant or even a whole garden with their parents every day and learn that mom and dad care for them even more than they care for that little plant. They will learn to listen to their parents because they understand that they do care.

 

My body speaks to me (Body)

The body sends signals through the nervous system. The children will learn to listen to their bodies as they journal their well-being throughout every day of the project with the help of their parents. At what time of the day do they feel awake or tired, when hungry or thirsty? That will help them yield to the daily patterns of sleep, meals, activities.

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The soil of who I am | Identity (behold)

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The heart of the theme

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We never learned to look at ourselves through God's eyes and we never learned to look at others through His eyes either. Most of us also never learned to look at God through the eyes of truth, but rather religion. The result of this is disastrous. Learning to have God's perspective on everything in life is FUNDAMENTAL. It determines what you will choose and who you will become, it affects how you will love. This is our starting point.

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Our children will have to learn to behold, to cultivate God's perspective, His eyes, and therefore His mind, in order to learn to love Him, yourselves, and others. As we go through this theme with the Harvest Life children they will learn who they are and who God is. They will behold themselves through His eyes – spirit, soul and body – through learning to cultivate God’s perspective in the three areas of relationships – with Abba, themselves, and others. If our children do not learn to behold through God's eyes, they will never be able to become like Him and be the disciples He created them to be. Identity is the foundation of life, it is the soil in which they will plant everything in their lives, and if the soil isn't healthy, they will not be fruitful according to God's design for them.

 

Example for the age of 4

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Obviously the children will discover the importance of a fertile and healthy soil for a garden in this theme. We will observe different layers of soil, animals in that soil, the importance of rotten organic material for the soil. They will learn about symbiosis and behold how plants grow differently in different soils. The students will touch, smell, see, and feel soil and experience it from different perspectives. That will grow the idea inside of them that everything we do in order to be fruitful needs a healthy and fertile soil.

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Throughout this theme, the word will be "soil" in all different languages and the new figure will be "2", also in all languages available in Harvest Life Farm School. Since we started here with the second figure, children will start to observe the law of addition and subtraction as they will add another "white rose" or take one away in "Exploration" time.

 

Projects

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Good soil (Spirit)

The Harvest Life children will hear the parable of the seed that falls on different types of soil. Every day they will discover new kinds of soil in their parents' garden or somewhere in nature, on gravel roads, fields, streets, and parks.

 

A haircut for our plants (Soul)

At the age of 4, children already become aware of their own mind, will and emotions. One can compare these areas to plants. If you let a plant grow just as it wants to grow, it will become wild and less fruitful. It needs pruning. The children will watch their parents prune plants and understand the blessing of this pruning. The openness for a “cut away” or a “no” is part of the soul’s good soil in which a pleasant character can grow.

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Yummy soil (Body)

We are made of soil and our bodies are producing fertile soil every day in our stomachs. There is even soil that is edible. In this project, the children discover edible soil and learn to discern between edible and inedible soil. They will spend time in the soil, baking soil cakes and soil bread which they will even be allowed to taste. That might sound strange to our western habits. How soil serves as food for animals is another topic we cover and explore here.

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The Tabernacle | Build Up

 

The heart of the theme

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The tabernacle is such a deep, significant and prophetic model for us to learn how to dwell with our King. After Yeshua came to earth and gave His life for us, we became His living tabernacle. We are His dwelling place. As we live our lives, we need to bring every area of our lives – spirit, soul and body – into a place of dwelling with Him, where we live from the place of His presence to cultivate a covenant relationship with Him. There are so many wonderful things to learn from the tabernacle, and this will be one of our main themes within Harvest Life School. God gave Moses the blueprint in order to build the tabernacle because He had to carry that which was in heaven into the physical and manifest it so that heaven and earth could align. The same way, God has a blueprint for each one of us, He has a plan for our lives, and as we learn how to dwell with Him, we discover that heavenly blueprint.

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Before the foundation of the earth, God had a plan and a purpose with each of us, with each of our children. We want to help them discover what they were made for. What did Abba write in the scrolls of their lives before they were even born? When they are able to discover God's blueprint for them, they are able to have purpose, more than just being a child in school, going through the system. Every child is unique, has a special calling, purpose and blueprint for their lives. We want to help them discover this through learning how to dwell with YHVH. His presence is the starting place. We want to teach the children to live from the inside out. This is one of this biggest keys of this theme, it all starts in His presence. That is where they were planned, conceived and called to live from. It is also in His presence that they will discover what they were made for and what God's blueprint is for their lives. They will build their own lives according to what they see and what seed has been sprouted within them. When we build them up with the word of God, through affirming their identities and callings, we create an environment of love for them to be able to tabernacle (dwell) with God. One of the fundamental things that we want to build into them with this theme is that they are living stones and that YHVH can build His Kingdom in and through them as they seek His presence and His blueprint.

 

Example for the age of 4

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In nature everything has its place – plants live and thrive in specific areas, various fruits have their protection layers as little "homes" and animals have a "house". The idea of a house is to protect something of value and allow meetings and intimacy to happen. That is what will be explored in this segment. Depending on the area and time zone where each child lives, they will discover other houses of animals and plants. It will be a nice experience for the different children worldwide to learn from each other. In the exploration time of the day they will discover various "homes" of plants and animals as the parents are guided to reveal it to their children with our material.

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"House" will be our new word of the theme, and we discover the figure "3" through various activities in the garden with objects, such as stones, flowers and fruits.

 

Projects

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The houses of our garden (Spirit)

We explain to the children the theme of houses as places of protection and fellowship and try to find them in the garden as mentioned above. It needs someone or something to actively build up walls or protection layers around something or somebody of value. The children uncover the walls of animal homes in the ground, in trees, etc.

 

The “No Wall” (Soul)

Here the children discover natural enemies of animals and plants in their garden and what protection systems they use. With this we teach them that every layer, every wall, is like a "No" to an enemy which does not allow him to enter. It is good to protect something of value and sometimes to say "No" to something evil, such as evil thoughts or habits.

 

The doors of my body (Body)

Our bodies have gates in our ears, eyes and mouth. We look at those body parts specifically and learn about functions. With it comes the message that we are a home too. We are a dwelling place for Abba and we have to decide what comes into our eyes, ears and mouth.

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A seed | Choose Life

 

The heart of the theme

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Every choice that we make is like sowing a seed. It is either a seed of life or a seed of death, a seed of light or a seed of darkness. We want to raise up children of light who live their lives within God's garden where they live under the shade of the tree of life, whole and blessed. We want to teach our children to sow in righteousness, to be responsible and mindful with how and what they sow. Here they will learn that God has given them so much. He gave them the ability to choose, to create, to establish, to speak, hear, touch, and taste. What will they choose to do with their choices, their tongues, their hands, what and who will they listen to, etc.? We desire to raise up children who choose life, as this is the basis of what Yeshua has called us to, and it is also what causes us to either live in His garden or in the desert. Generations have gone through the desert, but NOW is the time for the Joshuas and Calebs to possess the land of God's fullness, His Kingdom manifesting on earth like never before. We need to prepare this generation for it. If they sow life, love and light, they have Godly, blessed harvests in every area of their lives.

 

Example for the age of 4

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Often the kids know a fruit or vegetable but not the seed where it comes from. In this theme, they will get to know seeds of all kinds of plants and watch their parents grow plants from seeds. There are several plants that grow in a short amount of time where they can see a plant growing from a seed (Sunflower).

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The word of the theme will be "seed" in every language. The number "4" is the current figure of this segment. Being able to calculate with 2 and 2 will also give room to show fair sharing, for example.

 

Projects

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From seed to flower (Spirit)

The children will grow sunflowers with their parents and observe the truth of sowing and reaping. We reap what we sow.

 

From seed to weed (Soul)

They will discover weed in the garden and help their parents tear out bad weeds and understand that we have to actively "tear out" bad emotions, such as anger or false jealousy.

 

Healthy = Yummy (Body)

Healthy food can be tasty for our kids when prepared well. Here we give guidelines, recipes and more for tasty food that is healthy for the kids and that they enjoy. We try to involve products from our gardens or regional farms. Food can also be like "seeds" that we sow into our bodies. And we will reap what we sow.

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Strong Roots | Establish

 

The heart of the theme

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This is fundamental because life is not easy, there are many challenges, pressure, hardships and even sufferings. We want our children to be so deeply rooted and established in who God is, that they are not easily shaken or moved. They are living in a dark time that will only get darker until Yeshua returns. His word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. The children will learn to interpret Scripture accurately. They will learn to declare Scripture, memorise Scripture, speak Scripture, pray Scripture, live and breathe it. The Spirit and the word should be the rhythm according to which our lives beat. We desire that the roots of the Harvest Life children will be the word of God, which is the solid foundation on which they will build their lives. The wisdom and ways of the world are nothing but sand, an unstable foundation not fit for the children of light. We need to become strong, shaped, refined and defined by the word of God. We will take time with the children to lay a solid Biblical foundation of truth.

 

Example for the age of 4

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Exploring roots in our garden is a very interesting theme. The children will understand the importance of strong roots as they observe the roots of strong trees or weak trees, as well as small plants and huge plants.

 

"Roots" will be the word of the theme in the different languages again and we have arrived at figure "5". It is an interesting figure and can be detected in funny ways on our hands and feet.

 

Projects

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Big tree – big roots (Spirit)

Examining trees, depending on what types of trees grow in the area where the children live, will be an exciting task for the children. It is not easy to detect the roots but with a shovel and some time, roots can be found under the first layer of soil. Parents will be guided on how to show their kids roots in the garden without destroying the trees or plants. From that picture they will start to understand that every visible thing has hidden roots, a hidden source of strength and stability.

 

Happy roots (Soul)

Our feelings and emotions need to be rooted well, so that our character does not waver. With the picture of the roots that we discovered earlier in the garden and nature in general, we give each root a name of a feeling to symbolise our emotions, and train the children to root or submit every emotion to the spirit man with prayer songs.

 

Yummy roots (Body)

Roots can taste quite nice. Root vegetables, such as carrots and red beets are only a few of them. Here again we will have yummy recipes the kids can discover together with their parents. Root vegetable chips, for example, are very tasty.

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Cultivate Character | Grow

 

The heart of the theme

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It is easy to hear the word of God, but it is entirely another thing to live it daily, practicing the principles of the Kingdom. I think we can all agree that it takes determination and love for Yeshua to keep running the race of faith in and through everything. This will be the same for our children. We cannot just listen to the word and learn knowledge of His Kingdom. We need to live it, practice it daily, so that we are not just eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We live the word when we allow it to change us and correct us. Here we will focus on character. Who is Abba and who are we in Him? How do you practically live a covenant life? It takes time to grow, it takes the right conditions, and we desire to bring the children into those right conditions so that they can grow in Godliness.

 

Example for the age of 4

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When a plant is sown, it needs time and effort to maintain the healthy growth of that seed. This process will be made vivid and real for the children while they watch their parents nurture the plants of the garden. On daily trips to the garden, farm or even daily observations in the little kitchen garden, the Harvest Life kids learn what effort it takes to maintain a plant. That will help them understand the idea of endurance once a word of encouragement or even a prophecy is given.

 

The word of the theme is "water" in different languages. The next figure, "6", is introduced as well.

 

Projects

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Water for my spirit (Spirit)

The kids pour the same amount of water that they water a plant with during the project, into a huge bucket. In that way they will see how much water it actually takes to water even a tiny plant. They will understand that we need the water of the spirit. And that we need enough of it, not just a drop, not just a minute a day. According to the book of Ephesians, we sing to each other hymns and songs of praise to be filled with the Spirit and introduce the children to that idea.

 

Water for my soul (Soul)

We need to be filled emotionally as well. In general, undivided attention is like “emotional water” for our kids. In this project they will learn to ask for “attention time” and together with their parents find certain activities they like most or enjoy doing together with their parents.

 

Water for my body (Body)

Clean water is a privilege. Together with their parents, the children will start a journey to the origin of our tap or drinking water, whether it is physical or online. We will suggest to start a little crowdfunding project with the children to raise money. With that money the kids can support a ministry that supplies remote areas in Africa with clean-water pumps.

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Harvest Life | Become Fruitful

 

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The heart of the theme: Harvest Life | Become Fruitful

 

God promises us abundant life in John 10:10 and we believe that a life in God’s garden brings us to that place of abundance. God has called us to be fruitful, and we can only be truly fruitful if we behold Him and become like Him. We believe that beautiful things will be born in Him. Children will have revelation, encounters, visions and dreams as it is prophesied in Scripture. A new generation will arise who will become pioneers in their time. They will be children of excellence who are aligned with the heart of God. A generation that is prepared for the dark hour in which we find ourselves. They will be the city on a hill, light in the darkness. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this, a work of the Spirit.

 

This time is devoted to our children as a time of rest. Rest helps you "become" what is already inside of you. After a plant is watered, received enough sunlight and nutrition from the ground, all it has to do is become what it is made for. And therefore it needs rest. A quiet place to grow. We want to reach that place and stop with new input for several weeks so that all "seeds of knowledge" we have sown into them have time to grow and become part of their very being. One crucial part here is repetition.

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That is why we offer material for "spirit, soul and body" which will simply repeat the topics covered during the year. The children are also encouraged to revisit and share photos, drawings, songs, and crafted objects they worked on through the year.

 

They shall enjoy their harvest.

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