By Kim Ousley

A local women’s ministry in Clovis, New Mexico, has shown that being small doesn’t mean you can’t be mighty in serving a small community. The local chapter of Christian Women Connection created excitement and joy for a certain segment of the population having a very difficult time in the midst of the pandemic.

Bonetta Hutson, the newly elected chair of the group, said she wanted to do more for the community of Clovis by getting the CWC to minister to those who are being neglected during the COVID shutdowns. “Sometimes, we get so caught up in “doing God’s work” we forget that he wants us to be his hands and feet,” said Hutson. “We are to go out and touch people, not just pray for them.”

Hutson says their flower arrangement project began because of a woman who was a long-standing member of the Clovis CWC. Sue Lodgson had become a patient at a local nursing home. The only way to contact her or other residents was through a phone call. “It broke my heart that she could not have a hug or see us face-to-face as she was preparing for her final transition from this life into the arms of Jesus.” Hutson thought, “How many other people in our nursing homes are feeling even more isolated and lonely?” With New Mexico’s shelter-in-place order, the nursing home had stopped all visitation from family and friends.

Hutson, along with Paula Stevens, the vice-chair of the CWC, and Adela Veloz, one of the members, got together and picked up some vases, flowers, ribbons, and glass beads from the local Hobby Lobby. They asked Lorraine Rupe, from the Kingswood Methodist Church, to come and demonstrate and show the group how to make flower arrangements.

Hutson shared, “I saw that Lorraine had quite a knack for creating simple and elaborate flower arrangements, so I reached out to her to see if she would come and be a special guest at the CWC.” Hutson was very excited when Rupe eagerly said yes. “I saw how our ladies could once again bless our community.”

On July 7, 2020, at the first Tuesday-of-the-month meeting for the local Clovis CWC group, there were quite a few ladies from age nine to eighty-nine who showed up to learn how to make the flower arrangements. Lots of laughter and creativity flew among the twenty-two ladies who attended. Rupe reminded the ladies to “pray over your vases as you arrange the flowers.”

Then, on July 10, 2020, Hutson and Veloz delivered the vases to the nursing homes. These twenty-four flower arrangements were well-received. The card in each of the arrangements had a beautiful message—“To all of the wonderful residents: May your day be filled with all kinds of beautiful, bright and sunny things. On behalf of the Christian Women Connection at the Living Word Church of God, we just wanted to brighten your home with these flowers. You are thought of…prayed for…and loved. Be blessed.”

In June, the group also got together and made eight delicious pecan pies using the recipe of a member known for her extraordinary bakery goods. Sister Vivian shared her famous recipe with the ladies. Sixteen members made the pies and provided them to the men and women currently enrolled in a recovery program at the Lighthouse Mission.

The Clovis CWC is a group of women who love the Lord, and wish to serve their community by ministering to other women and helping to spread the gospel. They support their local missions as well as state and national missionaries associated with the Church of God. Lighthouse, Hartley House, and Children’s Hope Center continually benefit from this group of women with servant hearts.

Help churches like these respond to urgent needs in their communities as a result of COVID-19:

Kim Ousley is a freelance writer from Anderson, Indiana.

Learn more about the response of Church of God Ministries to the coronavirus (COVID-19), including resources for you and your church, at www.jesusisthesubject.org/theway.