Prayer Garden to be completed by mid-June

The construction phase has begun on a Blytheville project that has been several years in the making. Ground has been broken at the site of the Blytheville Prayer Gardens at First Christian Church, and work is expected to be finished by June 14, 2013.

The project was conceived and spearheaded by Susan Zimmerman, a Blytheville native who now lives in Denver but frequently returns to town to visit friends and the congregation of First Christian, the church she grew up attending.

The Gardens will feature a series of eight gardens that each highlight a component of faith: peace, strength, hope, trials, submission, forgiveness, love and praise. Each garden will feature plant life and stone features that accent the theme. According to Zimmerman, each garden will be connected to the others by a series of walkways, that take the visitor "on a faith journey that includes searching for the peace of God, finding strength in Jesus Christ, leaning on the hope of God, understanding how trials bring us closer to Christ, committing our lives to Christ, seeking or giving forgiveness and knowing the love of God."

Plans for the gardens describe each one's setting as it corresponds with the aspect of faith. The garden of peace will be "a place for the restless to find rest, reassurance and find the stillness of God," featuring peace lilies, azaleas, a bench inscribed with scriptures and bird baths. The garden of strength will focus on "finding personal power through Jesus Christ," and will feature a stone retaining wall, oak trees and boulders inscribed with scriptures. The garden of hope "focuses on the enduring promise of everlasting life and eternal love," and will contain plants with strong fragrances, an evergreen border and dogwood trees.

The rest of the gardens will also feature theme-centered features, such as rosebushes with thorns in the garden of trials and a waterfall feature in the garden of forgiveness, "to symbolize the living water of Christ."

Set in a circular pattern, the gardens will center around an open air chapel, the Garden of Praise, which will feature a 16-foot granite cross, a granite communion table, stone benches for seating, and granite boulders with inset stained glass panels.

"What people will see when they drive or walk by," said Zimmerman, "is an outdoor church. And we want everyone in the community to use it for church services, special events or weddings. This is a community effort and we want it to help bring the whole community together."

The gardens are meant to be a gift to the whole city of Blytheville, and will be administered by the church but open to all. The total cost of the project is estimated at $300,000, part of which has been received through donations.

Currently, the construction site on Walnut Street has been cleared of all buildings, and the land leveled so that irrigation systems can be laid. Residents who lived on the property were provided with new housing.

More information about the gardens, as well as an opportunity to donate, is available at www.blythevilleprayergarden.com.

sharris@blythevillecourier.com