Since 1988, Vecas Brown has been working as a professional auto body repairer with an emphasis on crashed vehicles. Deeply methodical and requiring manual dexterity and strength, focus and persistence are critical tools in his career. But as busy as his sometimes “sun-up-to-beyond-sun-down” job keeps him, Vecas Brown is also a farmer.
“I love farming because it allows me to better see God at work,” he said. “It requires me to bury a seed in the soil and walk away, and I’d best be praying because there’s no guarantee that that seed will germinate. It’s all in God’s hands from that point forward.”
He explained that he got involved in agriculture again last January when he heard his pastor repeating for the umpteenth time that a famine was on the horizon and Jamaicans must get back to farming. “I really took the warning to heart, and my brother and I spent six months clearing a portion of the three and a quarter acres of land in St. Elizabeth where my father used to farm. I decided to start in my section with some yellow yam, just me and Jesus mapping this thing, you know.
“As an auto body repairer, I have to be precise with my work, but with farming, I get to extend my faith a lot more,” the ordained evangelist, who loves to pray, admitted. He described how he alone dug over 50 yam hills and patiently filled each one with a yam head. Then, based on instructions that his pastor gave, he walked his section of the property, pouring olive oil and praying for God to now send the increase.
“That was the mechanics of the method I used,” he declared. “The Lord came through for me, and out of one yam hill alone, I dug four pieces of yam weighing about 35 pounds! I didn’t sell a finger of the yam I planted,” the man with the golden heart admitted. He gave away all of this ‘first fruit,’ sharing it with relatives, folks in need, and his church family.
Reflecting on his childhood, the 61-year-old whose birthday was on March 16 shared that he was so amazed at the faithfulness of God when he looked around the property: “Fruit trees that I born come see on the land still bearing: naseberry, robin mango, jackfruit—” he paused. “I had to speak to the jackfruit tree last year,” he chuckled. “It had slowed down a great deal, and I had to remind it of the days when it used to bear some humongous fruit and ask it if it turn fig tree now [Mark 11]. I prayed over it,” the intercessor stated matter-of-factly, “Yes, man, you must pray over your trees. It took a while for it to recover, but I see it stepping up now since this year starte
d, so I know that my prayer was answered.”
Farmer Vecas added that because the land had rested for more than twenty years, the soil was very rich and organic. “So, there was no need to fertilise the yam – not even goat manure I didn’t use. And I didn’t water the hills either. I just poured the olive oil and prayed.
“However, in another section of the property that was also under cultivation, the farmer used fertiliser, and I notice that those produce are not as robust as mine. I pointed it out and encouraged him to stop.”
When asked about the laborious nature of farming, his response sounded like the doctor’s orders: “When you farm, there is no room for diabetes or high blood pressure; no room for any type of sickness because farming is exercise. You know, when I’m in the field working, it’s just me and God. It’s heavy labour, yes, but I highly recommend it.
“It’s high time we get back to the old landmark and stop let people trick us. So, whatever you can plant, I say, put it in the soil, pour on the olive oil, and pray. Don’t waver. Remain faithful and leave it in God’s hands,” he advised.