Johnny Appleseed was about as strange a character as you could find. He was born in 1774 in Massachusetts. His father was in the Colonial army and his mother died when Johnny was only two years old. He and his younger sister were cared for by relatives. When Johnny was 18 years old he set out for the “frontier.” He went through New York, into Pennsylvania, and then Ohio. He never really did settle down in any one place.
Johnny was trained to be a nursery man; and as he moved around, just preceding the wave of immigration from the East Coast, he planted apple tree nurseries where ever he could buy land. He would go to any cider mills he could find and get the seeds for free. He proceeded to plant the nurseries, putting a local person in charge of taking care of the trees. He would then move on and come back to check on the nurseries after a few years. The person in charge was asked to keep some money from the sale of apple trees and give it to Johnny when he came back through. In this way, Johnny Appleseed planted apple trees all through out Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and southern Michigan.
Because he never stayed long in any one place, Johnny often just lived in little Indian huts made of poles, covered with bark, and having a hole in the top to let the smoke out. Not wanting to spend his money on himself, he lived a very generous and simple life. He often went bare foot even during much of the winter. He dressed in plain clothes, and often ate a meal of simple mush, washing it down with only water.
Johnny was known for his ability to get along with the Native Americans that he came in contact with. They often received him warmly and he eventually learned several of their languages good enough to converse with them. He was often even invited to their tribal counsels and is said to have negotiated various agreements between the Indians and the settlers. But what he is most famous for is the sheer number of apple trees that he planted. He died in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in the month of March, 1845, at the age of 70.
Johnny lived a very sacrificial life just so that he could plant apple trees and bring a better life to people in the frontier, both Native American and settler. I wonder what would happen if more people would become as dedicated to planting the seeds of the Gospel as Johnny Appleseed was to planting apple seeds. You have to applaud those people who have been called to a Johnny Appleseed ministry in planting churches. They are the present pioneers and we need to pray that they will also harvest a wonderful crop. We cannot forget the words of Jesus which still ring true today, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
