MORE IMPORTANT THAN A FILTER

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Rod

Missionary at ZOE International

Rod is the ring-leader of adventure for this crew of ours. When he knows where God is leading he dives in heart first, eager to see the kingdom come. As a missionary with ZOE International, Rod is committed to the fight against child trafficking by serving God's children and establishing heaven on earth in this small corner.

Latest posts by Rod (see all)

• Getting Nudged When I Can’t Be Trusted With The Truth - December 3, 2023
• How to Spot a Monster - October 2, 2023
• Simple Joys, Learning from the Birds. - August 27, 2023

I was explicitly told to by my manager at work to always relate whatever project I’m working on or the changes I’m suggesting back to the Scriptures.  Let Jesus be THE authority, not Rodney Keim “The Missionary.”  The Thai people by nature and culture, are very deferential.  Even if they fully disagree with everything I might say, my position as a missionary from America, places me in a position of authority, whether it is merited or not.  They might know a better way or have more experience than me, but they will very likely acquiesce to my position simply because their cultural upbringings tell them my status is greater than their’s.  We as Americans don’t have a problem verbally battling for better ideas.  However, observing our cultural differences is critical to moving forward as a team.

My job title at the moment is “Facilities and Agricultural Advisor.”  My current role is to look over the property with fresh eyes and seek out areas of improvement, research how these improvements can be made, and make efforts to implement my research.  An area I stumbled upon that didn’t look quite right was the tilapia and catfish farm.  ZOE raises their own fish for consumption, but it hasn’t gone as smoothly as they had hoped.  The fish have either underperformed, taken too long to reach consumption size, or simply died off.  I have no training when it comes to aquaculture, but I do have a knack for spotting things that don’t seem on target.  My first look at the fish farm tanks immediately piqued my curiosity as to a potential problem.  The water looked like chocolate milk.  A general rule I learned many years ago was “animals under stress don’t perform.”  Regardless of the animal in question, if they are stressed because of poor handling, extreme temperature, the presence of pests, or low-quality environment, they simply won’t thrive.  They won’t eat right or enough.  They’ll get sick.  The problems pile on top of each other ultimately leading to death.

I could have explained all my training to the Thai staff, but it likely wouldn’t have landed with the weight with which it had bothered my conscience. Fish in Thailand are raised in dirty water all the time.  The large ponds and lakes around are all murky and yet people still catch seemingly healthy fish.  Plus, they’re fish right?  Who cares about a stupid fish?  

Remembering my manager’s imperative to allow the Bible to be the supreme authority, I believe God sparked my creativity.  I asked a couple of the Thai staff in charge of the fish farm to picture what the water looked like in the garden of Eden.  When everything was made perfect, could they picture what type of water the fish were swimming in?  Of course, they said the water was clear and clean.  This isn’t a revelation.  No one needs to be told what perfect water looks like.  We all intrinsically know that water should be clean.  Furthermore, I told them to think about the air quality we were experiencing.  I asked if they felt healthy, strong and motivated to work.  I asked if they thought the air in Eden was smokey.  Again, they knew immediately it wasn’t.  I explained how we all felt off-balance breathing the smokey air and knew we would feel better when the rains come and clean the air.  Would it be hard to imagine that the fish would feel the same way, that the water they live in has a direct effect on their wellbeing like the air we breathe?  The lightbulbs clicked on in their heads and got excited about solving the problem.

For less than $60 USD, we were able to build 2, double barrel fishpond filters utilizing a lot of materials already on hand.  The one Thai staff member who has felt demoralized by the failures of the fish project, has had a renewed sense of purpose, taking pride in his work.  He knows healthy water equals healthy fish, which in turn equals healthy food for rescued kids.  He knows his area of responsibility is directly related to restoring trafficked kids and orphans.  The pride I’ve seen swell in him as been a joy.  He stands taller, smiles brighter, and looks forward to making his area look better.  We’re still tweaking and adjusting the fish farm, but the Thai staff have a joy about the process which I hadn’t seen before.

Had I not been emphatically told to relate all my projects back to God, we still would have likely installed filters at my recommendation but the joy in my co-worker’s heart would most assuredly be absent.  Could it be God cares more about His children’s hearts than fish?  I think so.  I’m slowly learning to do things His way, but learning nonetheless.