First Blossoms of a New Church

Soon after we moved into our house, Carolyn bought a bougainvillea vine that she envisioned one day flowering over our front door. We pruned, trained, and fertilized the shoots for years, but no flowers appeared. Then, just as we prepared to move out, Carolyn noticed the first flower!

During the last four and a half years, our ministry has seen more frustration than fruit. Our progress in planting a new church mirrored our efforts with our bougainvillea vine. However, before we left Uruguay, the Lord encouraged us with another bloom. 

Near the end of our farewell gathering, Mark and Zacha asked if they could talk with us. They waited until everyone else had left and then Mark said,

“If you hadn’t come to Uruguay we wouldn’t have known about God and believed in him. Now we want to help the other kids from the neighborhood to believe in him and understand the Bible as well.”  Our eyes got misty as we heard these beautiful words.

As the Lord leads us on to our next ministry, we feel sad to leave the first blossoms of a new church. We are also glad that we could leave Uruguay encouraged and in full expectation of what God will do next. That little flower, just like the conversation with Mark and Zacha, gave us great hope!