We are all familiar with the missionary metaphor of sowing gospel wheat in anticipation of harvest season. But AFM missionaries are different. They plant orchards.

I remember a New England apple farmer friend of mine describing what it takes to create an apple orchard. It turns out that the crisp, juicy, red-skinned fruit we all enjoy is the end result of years of painstaking, unrewarding labor.

It starts several years before planting with a thorough site study of local weather patterns and topography. Is there enough slope to avoid cold air pooling and frost damage? Time to dig test holes to check soil depth, moisture, drainage, aeration, pH, nutrient profile and organic content. Any soil deficiencies you discover may take a season or two to remedy.

Is the site finally ready to support a thriving orchard? Great! Now it’s time to plant. Apple trees? No, ground cover to prevent erosion and weed growth, buffer moisture and build soil organics.

About three or four years into this whole process, it’s finally time to plant apple trees. Next comes the apple-picking, right? No. Now you get to wait several more years during which not a single tree you have loving planted by the sweat of your brow bears any apples at all. Not one! Years of work invested so far, and nothing but spindly sticks to show for it. It could make a grown apple farmer weep. What can you do? You can walk away from your orchard and try your hand at wheat farming, or you can keep pruning and praying, holding onto the promise that your apple saplings will someday bear fruit after their kind.

Next time you bite into a crisp, juicy apple—and as you read this issue of Adventist Frontiers—please pray for the frontier farmers.

• Twitter