This week has been a milestone for our Forever Flowers initiative—our first direct international shipment of roses! Led by Esther Moreria, the Forever Flowers team and Coshocton Christian Tabernacle, with help from Tim Eberhard (Santiago Partnership board member), teamed up for Valentine’s Day to order roses for the women in the church.

Before flowers were even readied, Esther’s persistence, problem-solving, and leadership made this shipment possible. Her work navigating the red tape, making contacts, and negotiating with the exporter was crucial to making this shipment a reality.

From the greenhouses, the flowers were cut, hydrated, and bundled before being delivered to the cargo plane that would carry them to the United States. Once they arrived in Miami, they were picked up by FedEx to be shipped to Ohio, where their final destination awaits in Coshocton. It’s been quite a logistical undertaking—full of learning curves, new processes, and plenty of prayer. We’ve asked God to guide every step and allow the flowers to arrive safely in Ohio.

This shipment represents more than just roses. It’s a tangible step toward our long‑held dream of making the home in Cayambe fully self‑sustaining. We’ve always believed in the importance of local sustainability, and now, for the first time, it feels like we’re truly close on the flower farm.

This order is a trial run—an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of international shipping and to understand what we’ll need to adjust for our first true export. To clarify, we are not the exporters of these flowers just yet, as we need a third-party company to export our roses for us. Please continue to pray for the completion of this important step of receiving our license to export our roses.

The timing worked out beautifully for Valentine’s Day, with a plan to give out roses this Sunday, February 15, to all the ladies at Cosochton Christian Tabernacle.

We’re incredibly grateful for the support and guidance we’ve received along the way. Heidi Flack from Kerns Florist and Greenhouse in Akron, Ohio, has been a tremendous help, offering advice and preparing to receive the roses. She will process them so they’re ready for us to distribute on Sunday.

Tim says it’s exciting to be part of the very first shipment. It hasn’t been without its challenges, but every step has taught us something valuable. And now, as we wait for the flowers to make their journey across borders, we’re filled with hope—hope for what this means for the future of Forever Flowers, for the sustainability of the project, and for the families in Ecuador who will benefit from this work.

Esther shares in her own words: “Seeing the flowers arrive in Ohio represents not only an export achievement but also confirmation that we are doing things right. We are on the right track! We’ve been harvesting Forever Flowers’ production for about three years. But February 3rd, when we harvested and put the flowers in the netting, was a different day. These flowers were going to be the first to arrive directly from our greenhouses to our friends, who had embarked on this adventure before us. We weren’t just sending flowers, we were sending our hope in different colors. The flowers were prepared and packed with great care at every step. When they were loaded onto the truck, we watched them leave as if we were embarking on them ourselves.

Since we harvested the first flowers, they were delivered to intermediaries and sold under other brands, and that’s how it’s been ever since. Our flowers have been in the United States, Russia, and other parts of the world from the very beginning. But this time it’s different. This time they bear our logos. We packed them ourselves, watched them leave on the truck, and now we see them being delivered, knowing those who received them know where they came from. They are Forever Flowers.”

We’re celebrating this moment. It’s a big one.