It was following a morning service at Queen’s Park Baptist Church (QPBC) in Glasgow last January that Richard and Lidia first spoke.
The church was preparing to send a team through BMS to Ecuador that summer – and it was the last day for applications to join the team.
Lidia, from Spain, had come to Scotland the previous September 2008 to work as an au pair for a family who worship at QPBC, and with a love for mission and an ability to speak both Spanish and English, the Ecuador trip interested her.
Richard, originally from Carluke and now a medical student at the University of Glasgow, had been drawn to the possibility of serving God through medicine overseas. Friends at QPBC encouraged him to apply for the BMS team.
Leap of faith
Richard takes up the story. “There were factors which meant it was a leap of faith for us both to get involved in this adventure. I was hoping to extend my stay in South America in order to incorporate a medical elective but had been struggling to secure a placement; Lidia was not in the financial position to be able to fund such a trip.
“But the faith of Lidia and of Wendy (our team leader) was an encouragement to me and we both trusted God for our respective situations and applied to be a part of the team. In the proceeding weeks God provided a placement for me in Peru and the money for Lidia to join the group!”
Peace and trust During the next months, Richard and Lidia became very good friends and spent more time together. At the end of May, they started going out and their first occasion as an official couple was an Ecuador mission fundraising ceilidh!
Richard says, “Having been such close friends, we knew each other so well and trusted each other, even after such a short period of time. We spent an amazing June together, as I had finished university for the summer, and we fell in love.
“Because of the peace and trust that we felt together, the assurance we had through prayer that God had brought us together and the love that we shared, we talked about wanting to always be together before we even left for South America!”
Caring The couple – and the team – had a wonderful time in Ecuador. Lidia was vital to the team because she facilitated communication between the other team members and the Spanish-speaking locals, and translated during the church services.
Of Richard, Lidia reflects: “He was himself in all situations, endeavouring to learn Spanish Christian songs, caring for all those he met and making the whole team laugh!
“Por supuesto” Following the trip, Lidia returned to Spain, whilst Richard spent an additional six weeks in South America, completing his medical elective in Peru. During this time, they spoke once or twice a week and agreed never to be apart for so long again!
Richard updates the story. “On my return to Glasgow at the beginning of September, I bought the engagement ring and asked her father’s permission to request Lidia’s hand in marriage during a weekend visit to Barcelona.
“We returned to Scotland together and I proposed to Lidia (in Spanish!). She said ‘por supuesto’ (definitely, for sure, without a doubt!).
“We are getting married in QPBC – the church building in which Lidia thought she'd love to be married when she first saw it last September – on 3 July 2010, exactly a year after we left for Guayaquil with the mission team!”
Of course, there is more to BMS teams than only finding love – find out about how they can change your life, and the lives of others, in amazing ways, by clicking
here.