Teeming with Life...and Hope

Greetings!

The tree in the picture above is one of my favorite trees. It is called a Golden Trumpet Tree and it stands right outside of our kitchen window in Medellin. It cycles through three seasons several times a year; the brown season (with no leaves or flowers), the yellow season (by far my favorite when it is covered in these yellow flowers), and then the green season (the flowers fall off - or get eaten - and the leaves come out).

I love watching the birds and red squirrels that constantly sit/play on its branches. And from time to time, we enjoy watching an Iguana climb its trunk or laze on a branch. Last month, we saw a black Iguana in it for the first time. And then last week there were at least three of the more common green iguanas in the tree at one time! (Except when there were 5 babies one year, I've never seen more than one at a time.) These 3 were different sizes and at different stages of development but they loved eating the flowers. The tree is teeming with life!

Within the past month, we've had the privilege of attending two annual meetings that remind me of our tree; they also were teeming with life!

A Season of Growth...

This year, the Colombian Annual meeting was held on a farm outside of Bogota. The fact that over 200 people attended this meeting that combined with a youth and children's camp is impressive BUT it is even more impressive when know the back story.

When we moved to Colombia in 2013, there were only two FM churches and no ordained ministers. Even as we helped affiliate some new churches, the national regionalism created a sometimes palpable divide.

When Ricardo read the appointments at the end of the weekend...the stage was overflowing!!! In fact, there are now 16 ordained elders (14 of them were ordained within the last 4 years) and there are FM churches or church plants in 30 locations throughout the country! In fact, during the meeting, they all signed a petition requesting Provisional Annual Conference status.

During the Saturday evening cultural celebration, one of the churches performed a drama about the difficulty they have faced in the past year. They are grieving the discovered sin of their pastor and then suffering from a painful church split. I believe the high point of the weekend, and something that was both touching and restorative for the church, was when members of the other churches flooded the stage at the end of their drama to show their support and love! The divide is being bridged!

In fact, it has been an extremely difficult year for the church in Colombia. Not only the issue mentioned above which led to the loss of 3 ordained pastors and 1 church, but also Pastor Emirio suffered a debilitating stroke. Pastora Leobenyg and her mother are both fighting breast cancer (I had the privilege of watching her daughter, Elizabeth, during part of the meeting). Several other pastors and churches have lost close loved ones. We are so thankful that the district is growing not just in number but also in unity and love. Please continue to pray for these needs and rejoice with us in this new spirit.

In fact, the Annual Meeting concluded with 10 baptisms. To me, it felt like the whole Mission District of Colombia was being baptized into new life in Christ!

A Season of Hope...

Today we leave a place fraught with challenges following an excellent annual meeting here. We came early in order to see the schools...and I'm so glad we did! There are two crowded FM schools here in the city of Managua and a 62 kid preschool. (Ricardo and I got to give academic excellence awards to two of the kids with special needs.)

Through the generosity of donors and the combined efforts of the church in this creative access country and the grace of God, they have purchased and are remodeling a property that will become a high school/technical school with space for 1,000 students. Education can break the cycles of poverty that are prevalent here. Also, the schools provide an excellent entrance strategy to share the Good News with the student's families! They are sewing hope here!

Please watch the video below for more details about the school.

Nearly 50 people ate dinner together on Saturday evening. There was a great mix of ages and educational backgrounds around the table but most importantly, there was so much laughter. It was more than a group of church leaders...it was a true community!

And there were two unusual components to this weekend's activities! First of all, Ricardo got to participate in the dedication of a baby...Carlos Thadeo. He is the son of the newly ordained and successful church planter and trainer, Rev. Carlos. Also, the conference welcomed a missionary family from Guatemala into their family. What a blessing to see how the members included them, played with their kids and, I believe, initiated a strong relationship of support and mutual collaboration.

Despite the very real challenges here...there is hope thanks to the ministry of the Free Methodist Church!

Iguanas are sometimes hard to spot...so now I wonder, if the tree is always full of them and I just can't see them? God is always at work...we just can't always see it! We ar so grateful for the opportunity He gave us this month to see His mighty works first hand!

As always, thank you for your partnership in ministry with us! We deeply appreciate each of you and pray for you regularly. We pray that you will also see God at work in exciting ways around you!

Blessings,

Ricardo and Beth

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WHAT

is

NEXT?

We are beginning a busy season of travel and would appreciate your prayers.....

Sept 25 - Oct 2 Guatemala for Mission District Re-start

Oct 8 - 19 Seattle for Impact Latin America meetings

Oct 19 - 25 Speak at Singapore Bible College

Oct 26 - 30 Bishops & Area Directors meet in Vietnam
Oct 31 - Nov 5 Better Together Conference in Thailand

And of course, not to be overlooked, Jonathan's 20th birthday on September 21. We celebrated early since we won't be there.