From Seeds to Fruit
By Raemi Goen
Six years ago, a small group of us from the Impact youth team found ourselves driving slowly through the Irvington Village apartment complex with hearts full of hope. We brainstormed and prayed as we drove, asking God for a way to reach the families and children in the neighborhood we had somehow lost touch with. Impact had a long history of ministry there, and that very complex had before filled an entire VBS bus, but now we didn’t have a single contact living there.
As we circled the complex, looking for a way to reconnect, we were unexpectedly stopped and asked to leave by the police. That encounter was disheartening. It felt like a closed door, and our pursuit quietly ended. We moved on, assuming maybe it “wasn’t meant to be.”
But God wasn’t done.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. – Isaiah 55:8
Thankfully the Lord had other plans! Sometimes when prayers go unanswered or doors appear to slam shut, it’s tempting to become discouraged or believe God didn’t hear. But God is good. He sees the whole story. And in His perfect wisdom, He knows exactly when and how to answer prayers.
Two years after that prayer drive, three passionate young women moved from Lubbock to Houston. They had been summer interns at Impact, but were now moving to Houston as full-time elementary school teachers and committed members at Impact. None of them knew about our past prayers for Irvington Village. Yet all three ended up accepting teaching jobs right across the street from the very apartments we had prayed for.
Only God.
Since then, Geremy and I have had the joy of becoming “lunch buddies” for the 5th graders at their school—showing up year after year to love, encourage, and plant seeds of faith in those students’ lives. This summer, we saw those seeds bloom in a powerful way. Over 20 kids from that neighborhood joined our summer program, making up nearly a fourth of the children we picked up each day. For some, it was their first time ever in church. For others, it was their first Bible lesson, first worship song, first glimpse of Christian community.
And what a summer it was! These kids didn’t just attend—they grew. They participated in daily Bible studies, joined small groups, laughed and learned through fun activities, and even experienced Camp of the Hills. That kind of joy isn’t random—it’s the fruit of prayers sown in faith and watered by God’s perfect timing.
This summer, our middle school ministry studied the Fruits of the Spirit, and it couldn’t have been a more fitting theme. As we looked around at these kids, we realized we were seeing the very fruit of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness come to life. What began as a simple prayer years ago had grown into something beautiful right before our eyes.
I’m so thankful to serve a God who sees the long game, who knows exactly how and when to water a seed and make it “BEAR MUCH FRUIT, fruit that will last” (John 15:16)
He’s not finished.
