Roots of Bitterness

I ask for prayer for a family which is young in the faith and with whom we're working in counselling these days (no names no pack drill) who have grown somewhat cold in the faith owing to roots of bitterness which have become established in their lives. Sadly over the years we have observed how often just small issues can become major if we don't dig them out. Please pray.

Linked to 'roots of bitterness', but now in the physical sense, let me mention the battle we are now having with the Neem Tree and ask for prayer for this too. In a nutshell I discovered the Neem tree at a Christian Missionary workers conference someone kindly paid for me to go to years ago in the USA. My objective there was to learn more about the Moringa tree (which I did) but I learnt about Neem also. The advantages of Neem are: produces good quality wood / fast growing / gives good shade / always green / natural insecticide produced by leaves. The disadvantages are that the tree kills native bees / is uncontrolably invasive spreading like wild fire and suffocating native trees especially with a good rainy season like we've had this year.

We learn by our mistakes and from taking wrong advice. Please pray as we now battle to erradicate the Neem tree from Green Pastures which is no easy task. Green Pastures is divided into 3 main areas: the higher area up the top beyond the lake which doesn't have Neem fortunately / the main nature reserve area near the river which is badly invaded / the area when you arrived at Green Pastures where the school is, church is and camps are held. This has masses of Neem trees too but dealing with this area can be left till later. The big battle now is the main central reserve area.

The problem with Neem is that even when you chop them down and make fence posts from the wood - the roots (of bitterness) remain and the Neem keeps ressurging! The challenge is to erradicate them completely and definitively.