Finding seeds of hope in dry seasons

By Jean Floyd

Jean and Tony’s journey with SIM began in 1997 after watching a video about ministry work in Paraguay. Inspired by the idea that church planting is simply using the skills God has given to build relationships and share the gospel, they felt called to take part. With Tony’s carpentry skills and Jean’s gift for teaching English, they knew they had something to offer. Arriving in Paraguay on December 31st 1997, they spent the next 25 years immersed in the adventure of church planting and raising their three sons in a rural community.

Jean’s piece today comes from a season of brokenness, where God met her in the depths of pain and spoke into her heart. In our lament, the safest place we are is with Jesus. It’s here, when we sit with him in our grief, that his whispers are the loudest. He hears us, welcomes our cries, knows our pain, and restores us. 

This is the God we long to make known and the gospel we are called to share.

For now, Jean and Tony are based in the US, where they are working with church planters around the SIM world to help them network and to equip them for more effective ministry in their respective regions. They stay involved with the SIM Paraguay team in a myriad of ways.

I am so grateful for the beautiful place where we get to live for this season of our lives. In the spring I planted some zinnia and marigold seeds in a garden space that we cleared. The flowers did much better than any vegetables that we planted. In fact, they were quite prolific.

They added even more colour to the wildflowers in the field of that little valley and a bright border between the yard and the garden. The flowers lasted well into the fall, adding vivid splashes of gold and orange and pink and red to the languishing landscape as the leaves started to fall off the trees.

Now I look at the landscape and everything is completely brown and dry. It looks like there is nothing left and no hope for beauty to come from this place.