The garden of the Lord

The garden of the Lord

On Wednesday we visited the south of Quito. It is a very poor area, so poor that the residence say that even the virgin has her back to them. The virgin is a statue that is on a high hill looking over old Quito so the virgin statue is facing north.

We visited an area where Mercedes lives. This unique lady has had a profound impact on her neighbourhood as well as all of South America in an indirect way.







Mercedes has a garden. In fact she has used all the area around her house for garden. In her garden there are flowers, fruits and vegetables. Flowers can add beauty to an otherwise dull world and the church can and should be like that. However the church should be like the fruit and vegetables. They both nourish and reproduce. I think the church in Santa Rosa is like the potatoes that grow in Mercedes' garden. There is very little show but it is growing away from most of the world's view and it will nourish the residents of the area.


We went up a long hill to a home where two men and a young mother with a special needs child gave their testimonies. You could see the love the Lord in their faces.





The one man told us that he came to faith because of Mercedes ministry and his daughter.

We then returned to Mercedes' home where we met with a number of others from the neighborhood. We heard their testimonies, listened to the children sing, gave them Bibles and enjoyed their hospitality.




What a delight to see their faces when we gave them Bibles. As the Bible president says, "What the world needs more than anything else is the living Word of God."



This lady works with the children. You will notice she is missing part of one arm.

This lady has a verbally abusive husband but has learned to love him and serve the Lord by making embroidered pictures which they sell to support the church. They have no church building and the 130 people can gather together when they can do it outside.



Mercedes may not be known outside her neighbourhood but she is a true hero of the faith. She has helped plant nine churches and her son is one of the leaders in the Multiplication Network which is training church planters to reach all of South America with the gospel.