We did our second health program under the giant mango tree. An old story says that a long time ago a king came for a visit up north and brought a mango with him. He ate the mango next to this old run-down tata (house). When he was finished, he tossed the seed into one of the old rooms and went on his way.

Some time later, this tree began to grow. The owners of the land didn’t know what it was. They discussed cutting it down but finally decided to let it grow and see what it was. As the tree grew, the old tata continued to vanish as termites ate away the wood supports and the rain beat down on the mud walls.

Finally the tree produced a few mangos. The men tasted them to find out if they were worth eating. “Hey, these are good!” they said. “I am going to plant one at my house.” So they each took seeds and planted them at their houses. As the word got around that the fruit on this tree was good, people came to see it and get their own seeds. Pretty soon there were mango trees all over the place. Many years passed and the trees grew up and produced their own fruit and that fruit produced more trees.

Now, this mother of all mango trees is the meeting place of the first Adventist church group in Manta. We pray that people will taste and see that the Lord is good and that the gospel will take root in homes everywhere, just like those mango trees.

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