I would like to express my deepest gratitude to Pastors Ignacio and Nuvia Hughes of Ministerios Palabra de Fe in Douglas, AZ. It was an extreme honor and privilege to participate in their Mother’s Day Tea and to share a message to the women of their church. This was an enormous opportunity that blessed and refreshed my heart—it was a divine appointment for me! God is good.
Before going to the tea, I thought it would be interesting to do some research on the history behind a traditional English Tea. April tends to be a busy month for me so my research wasn’t as entailed as I would have liked.
But what I expected to find in regards to dress and ceremony were spot on; however, my research also led me to a little excerpt from another source that shed a little negative light on gathering together for tea.
The source (which will remain nameless) considered that drinking tea was sinful, and that when others engage in the ceremony of meeting together, the beverage contributes to gossip and the loosening of wicked lips against others. The little excerpt was written many years ago and the author had specific reasons for the comments. However, with a push of a button, the information was clicked aside.
The event was beautifully decorated in dazzling purple and soft lilac. Dainty sweet treats and various teas were splendidly arrayed at every table just waiting to satisfy a sweet tooth or to be crowned a new fav
orite, t
antalizing tea.
Many ladies donned with wide-brimmed hats and satin gloves added to the occasion–a fond reminder that playing dress-up never dies as a girl ages.
Ambience and fun aside, what I think impressed me the most was the fact that the leadership of the church made it a point to start this event late in the evening. Doing so would give ample time for their “hermanas” (sisters) to cross the border into AZ to participate in the festivities. (Note: Douglas, AZ is situated close to the Mexico border and many of the church members are from Mexico.)
What an awesome testimony that a church coordinated this event without bo
rders—time borders. Time was not an issue. The leadership made sure that those who were planning to join were not pressured or hurried to arrive.
It was a reminder that Christ isn’t in a hurry either. That spoke volumes to me! Time is such a precious commodity and I think many of us like to stick to our schedules. I fall victim to the clock sometimes, I must admit.
Sitting and engaging in conversation before and after the event brought back to mind the excerpt that I had read just days before about how tea contributes to loose talk. I laughed to myself because all these beautiful women did speak loosely: they let loose the praise that was in their hearts! They fellowshipped with one another and gave testimony about how tremendously awesome God is!
It was beautiful
to witness and speaks of the importance this church places on people. Meeting people’s needs clearly steers the direction of their mission to establish the kingdom of God! And this is done by loving God and loving people. All the ladies who were involved getting this event off the ground did it with a smile on their faces. They have learned from their pastors that people are much more important than time and loving God means serving with excellence. 
A lovely evening, a lovely reminder of time, and what an incredibly lovely church. I cannot express my gratitude enough. I will cherish this event always. God bless Ministerios Palabra de Fe, the pastors and its people. ¡Muchas gracias!
And all the people went their way…to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them (Nehemiah 8:12).