This project has been a progressive one—as the funds have come in and the help has been available.  The new addition of a permanent fence and entrance area, which was started by Shane and Tracey Crowley during the first part of the year, is complete!

Richard had expressed his desire to Pastor Carlos for the last stage of the church at Tierra y Libertad to be finished—if Pastor Carlos could find help with the thin-coat, painting and gate. Not only did Pastor Carlos find help, but he and his youngest son, Joshua, helped as well.  One of Pastor Carlos’ associate pastors, Escary, rounded up a couple of his youth and the group finished the entire project in one day. The project looks wonderful and we want to give a special thanks to Pastor Carlos, Joshua, Escary and the fine young men from his youth group!

Pastor Carlos calls his church plants ‘missions’ and Tierra y Libertad is one of them. The church has an outreach breakfast on Sunday mornings at 9:00 a.m., followed by Sunday School. The worship service, which we have been attending for almost a year, is held at 4:00 p.m. The mid-week bible study is held on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. and prayer meeting is held on Fridays at 7:00 p.m. The church is only running an average of thirty people, but the presence of the Holy Spirit is heavy and the worship is passionate.

Please remember to pray for all of Pastor Carlos’ churches; the mother church (Lomas del Sol), Valle del Cabo, Caribe, and Tierra y Libertad.

We again would like to thank the generous donor from West Michigan who helped fund this most recent phase of the church at Tierra y Libertad. Thank-you all for your prayers and generous giving that makes all we are able to do in Los Cabos possible! Great blessings to all of you.

Back in January-March 2011 when Richard and I came for our first work project in Los Cabos, Pastor Carlos had just purchased a small, humble partially-built home. His plan was to “camp” on the property with his family of five (including his baby at the time, Joshua) and to build his first church building in front of the house. Having not much, if any, construction experience, he was crying out to the Lord for direction.           

Within a few days, Richard drove up with our trusty Blazer and covered trailer, along with his expertise and a plethora of tools. I arrived a little over a week later with my ability to shop for building products (and paint when the time came). When we left in mid-March of that year, there was a humble addition added to Pastor Carlos’ house, running water, wired electricity, and the foundation and beginning of the existing church. From that leap of faith at the Lomas del Sol property, Pastor Carlos and his wife, Janet, have realized they needed more space and a home not located in back of a church in a Mexican barrio, where the needy, the bored, and the lonely are often at the door day and night.

It was just a year ago, when we came back from our Christmas break in Michigan, that we found out Pastor Carlos had bought another “fixer-upper” in that short period of time. Since that time, Pastor Carlos−as he has been able to save a little money−has been hiring brothers from the church to work on the house. Then, the blessing from Shane Crowley’s diligence in Michigan surfaced just before it was time for Shane to come. One of his material suppliers in Michigan offered a generous donation for the mission work Shane would be helping with. A good part of that blessing was gladly budgeted for Pastor Carlos’ house.

With funding, Shane and Tracey, and the brothers from Pastor Carlos’ church, who we were able to hire with the donated funds, made great progress laying the blocks for the upstairs of the families’ new home. In addition to the construction, the donated funds were also used to purchase a stove and refrigerator for the home.  We were able to take Janet and her family shopping for appliances. 

It may seem like very slow progress to anyone not living in Mexico, but with all factors considered, this project is moving along quickly. Pastor Carlos and his family have now been living in the home for several weeks and there is an end in sight.

The labor pool necessary for all the finishing, electrical and plumbing virtually dried up this spring/summer. We have had so much new construction in the area over the last year and a half that anyone who wants to work can be working.  Pastor Carlos hired a couple of men who helped Shane and Tracey, but when Shane left, their work ethic left with him. With Pastor Carlos in such a desperate situation, Richard knew he might be the only one who could get Pastor Carlos and his family into the home. Consequently, Richard added countless hours of work on Pastor Carlos’ house to the work he was already doing, including the finishing of the latest phase of the church at Tierra y Libertad.
There are still some finishing touches that will have to wait for the workman who has committed to do the thin coat over the blocks; as well as the welder who still says he will make the front gate (which is badly needed to secure the home). However, even in this condition, Pastor Carlos, his wife Janet, and their three children Paola, Carlitos and Joshua, are thrilled to be in their new home!

We all send a huge thank you to the generous donor from West Michigan that made the majority of this project possible. Thank-you, Tom, and may God bless you and your business!

We were blessed to have the honor of hosting a crusade with Pastor and Healing Evangelist Gamaliel Sosa this last month.  The event was originally scheduled to be a three-day crusade held June 14, 15 & 16. This, however, is Mexico! Our warnings for Hurricane Bud started early the week before the crusade, when the storm was far away in the Pacific Ocean (and for the record, this isn’t really the time of year we expect hurricanes). The hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm by mid-week, but, by that time, its path had switched to a perfect beeline towards Los Cabos. We knew this was nothing to be concerned about and we do get most of our badly needed rains as a result of tropical storms, but we had a three day crusade starting on the day Tropical Storm Bud was scheduled to hit.

The winds were not bad and we received a manageable amount of rain, but obviously we had to cancel Thursday night’s crusade. The rain had slowed down by late evening on Thursday, but the sun didn’t come out until Friday afternoon. Since many of Pastor Carlos’ faithful workers live in housing that is not waterproof, they couldn’t be asked to be at the crusade site early Friday morning to begin preparing the property for a crusade. The property owner graciously agreed to allow us to use the property for Sunday as well as our previously reserved day of Saturday the 16th. This turned our three-day crusade into a two-day event. We did gather on Friday night, the 15th, to scout out what would be needed for additional power, as well as what was needed for the restrooms to function, since we were planning on using an abandoned restaurant building on the property.

It Was a Powerful Crusade

Pastor Carlos had put together seven teams of ten persons each.  The teams worked on evangelism and publicity a month ahead of the crusade (which is a long time in Mexico); and as usual, his people were trained, efficient and faithful. Gamaliel, who we call Gama, flew in from the mainland the Wednesday before the crusade was to start.
Richard estimated crusade attendance at close to four hundred people for each of the two days. The worship team and Gama’s preaching were both powerful. Several people came forward for salvation or to recommit their lives to Christ. Even more came forward for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit and many came forward for prayer for healing. As of this writing, we do not have a head count of first time commitments to Christ or any testimonies of physical healing, but we will definitely share those we might hear.

The reason we chose to have the crusade on the Quinta Real property was to ‘marinate’ the property in the Holy Spirit. We are still asking the Lord to make a way for Pastor Carlos’ main church to be able to have use of the property by the end of this year; at which time he must vacate the empty lot next to his church that he has been renting for several years. Whether we just receive permission to use the property, the funds to rent it for a year or the funds to purchase the entire two and a half acres, we still believe this is the direction the Lord has faithfully been leading us these last eleven months.

Again, events like this are made possible by the generosity of all of our ministry friends. Pastor Carlos’ church and his mission churches help as much as they can, but your faithfulness continually makes up the difference.

The photos definitely say more about this event than a blog can describe…

The Lord just gave us a major breakthrough by placing the Avanza sin Tranza program into all 90 of the elementary schools in the Municipality of Los Cabos; and it was made possible by each of you!

The Lord just opened a huge door—one we have been knocking on for a long time—this last Tuesday! Richard and I (and whoever we can bring with us) have been traveling to San Jose del Cabo (just northeast of Cabo San Lucas) for the governmental patriotic ceremony that is held each Monday morning at 8:00 a.m. for just over two years. We started attending on Mondays to fulfill a commitment to our precious Mayor, Arturo de la Rosa (Presidente). We had promised to pray for his administration and our municipality, and we still have not felt released.

In the last six months, we have been blessed by Mayor Arturo as he has publicly thanked “those who pray for him on Monday mornings” in a televised speech. We have been in one of the local newspapers, are graciously thanked by members of the government and press for praying, and, if the mayor is at the public ceremony, he always smiles and nods to us. In addition to praying for the administration, we have also been praying for the timing to approach Presidente Arturo with the offer to pay for Avanza sin Tranza for the heads of the municipality’s departments. The Lord, however, had a different idea—one involving doors only He can open!

Daniel Valles, the head of Avanza sin Tranza, had arranged to visit Los Cabos last week.  Since Daniel was going to be in town, Richard brought our last Avanza sin Tranza packet with him and asked God to have someone walk up to him. This was exceptionally interesting since the mayoral election is this Sunday and very few members of the administration were present this last Monday. Actually, Richard and I were standing out in the open by ourselves. All of a sudden, it was like a ‘spot light of favor’ came upon us. One brother in the Lord, who is high up in the government ranks, came right over to talk with us. Then another dear brother who we have often prayed for came up, and then−out of nowhere−a young man came up to see what we were showing them. At, just a glance of the program material, he told us he was a teacher and they needed this in the schools. Then he asked if we wanted an appointment with the Directora of Municipal Education, Marlen Carballo. We tried to tell him that Daniel wasn’t arriving until late afternoon the next day, but the appointment was made for 11:00 the next day at Municipal Education Office and we were not going to miss it.

We called our faithful friend Jonathan−who always helps us at a moment’s notice−to translate for us. Mrs. Carballo was excited to see us, since she has tried to get a program on values and basic life skills into her elementary schools for four years. But the funding had never been there—until we walked into her office. We left our ‘one last packet’ with her and she graciously gave us an appointment two days later when Daniel could be there.

On Thursday, when we arrived with Daniel, Pastor Pasalagua from La Paz (who is an old friend and also a lawyer), and another brother from La Paz (who has committed to being the Avanza sin Tranza liaison for their city), Senora Carballo and her team were ready and excited. Daniel explained the typical cost of the program, but then told Senora Carballo that our ministry had committed to pay for the program because of our love for the children and our burden for the reprogramming of the minds of the Mexican people. Neither she, nor us, could believe this was happening, as she expressed the joy of a new hope for the future she now has for the thousands of children in her care. None of this would be happening without us, and this would surely not be happening without all of your prayers and financial help.

Daniel will be back in mid-October to train 80 teachers from her administration, who will train the students in this powerful material containing biblically-based values and life skills (although not stated as such). Senora Carballo holds an appointed position in Mayor Arturo’s government and the news of this powerful program will spread quickly. As the students bring home the material and talk to their parents, these values will spread into their homes and touch countless families.

Please keep praying for the spread of Avanza sin Tranza in the Municipality of Los Cabos. Since we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, we have a vision of this program spreading to train law enforcement, government officials, the business community, and every sector of society—first with Los Cabos and then with all of Mexico!

Warming up for our crusade with Evangelist Gamaliel Sosa on June 14, 15 and 16, Pastor Carlos and his team held a “pre-crusade” on April 14 in the Colonia (neighborhood) of Las Palmas. The official starting time was 7:00 p.m. (before dark), but as you can see in the pictures, the crowd really didn’t arrive until just after dark, around 8:00 p.m.

As we learned and experienced from the Carlos Annacondia crusade in April of 2016, extensive training of a crusade’s ministry teams is essential. We were required to begin preparation for the Annacondia crusade one year in advance. Although the preparation included more meetings than we would have ever chosen to attend or host, we saw the positive results—the power of the prayer and the excellence of the ministry teams.

With this experience in mind, Pastor Carlos began sending out teams−made up of a total of 70 of his people−to evangelize the area around the Colonia of Las Palmas. Armed with flyers, they went from house to house introducing themselves to area residents and inviting them to church and the upcoming crusade.  In addition, those in the ministry teams began relationships with many new people. These connections included the offer to pray for any specific needs the families had.

An estimated 350 people attended the crusade, with close to 150 receiving Christ for the first time! Many also requested prayer for healing, the results of which have not yet come in.  This “practice run” began to prepare the spiritual atmosphere of the area for the larger crusade in June. It also trained the workers for the many committees necessary for the upcoming crusade.

We believe the time has begun for the reaping of the last day harvest (with only the Father knowing the length of time this will be). In response to the cries of His people, the Lord will be sending an increased presence of His Spirit to earth. This increased presence will lift Jesus up and will draw all who will come to faith in Christ. This drawing will include the removing of the veil from the eyes of many who presently do not acknowledge Jesus as God or as the Messiah; or as the only way to renewed fellowship with the Father, resulting in eternal life.

In response to what we believe God has begun in many locations around the world, including Los Cabos, we want to be ready for our part in this great outpouring. The relatively small crusade at Las Palmas was just the beginning of what we believe will come to Los Cabos, Mexico, and to the ends of the earth.

If you have not read about our ‘Perimeter People’ initiative, an effort to cover the area of Los Cabos in prayer each and every day, please read the blog posted just before this one.  Pray. Ask the Lord which day you could commit to praying for Los Cabos.  Then, e-mail us and let us know when we can count on your prayers. Please, do not wait.  We will begin to put together a calendar of prayer partners and commitments roll in.

We can never thank-you enough for every part each of you play in the transformation of Los Cabos. We would not be here without you!

We published an article in the last newsletter entitled, “Consistent, Intentional Prayer.” We are now ready to launch this extremely necessary initiative in an attempt to bolster a continued, systematic prayer covering for the Municipality of Los Cabos.

In that article (available on our website), I shared the origin of the term “Perimeter People.” I also shared the difficulty we have had in organizing consistent prayer in our area. We desperately need committed Christians who have a passion for the power of prayer and have a burden for the area of Los Cabos−even though living elsewhere. If you are reading this article, you may be one of many the Lord may prompt to commit to this initiative (For those of you who live here and are willing to commit to consistent prayer, thank-you as well. At this time, please send an email to info@newlifeoutreach.us. I will notify you when we launch our local prayer initiative).  

• The Purpose of this project is to have consistent prayer coverage for each day of every month of the year. This prayer coverage will be as a canopy of glory, which will begin to protect the Los Cabos area from the influence of the enemy and will reverse existing enemy strongholds.

 

• We will try to assign your day of the month on a first-requested basis. For any months shorter than 31 days, the prayer partners for the unused days for that month will pray on the last day.

 

• You may commit to praying for the Los Cabos area as an individual, a couple, a family (immediate or extended), a small group of friends or coworkers, a youth group, a Sunday School class, a Bible study group, or an entire church or business. We are asking for a minimum of fifteen minutes of prayer on your assigned day—up to coverage throughout the entire day for larger groups.Please feel free to be creative and have fun with your commitment.

 

• We do ask that at any time you find you are unable to continue to fulfill your or your group’s prayer commitment, simply let us know so we can reassign that day of the month. We are extremely grateful for any amount of time you are able to cover the Los Cabos’ area in prayer.

 

• I will attempt to send each person/group an email each month (near the end of the month) listing the following month’s prayer requests.

 
Since there is no time or distance in the spirit realm, the future of the Municipality of Los Cabos can be touched by caring members of the Body of Christ from around the world—just as though you lived here! Please start praying now as to what part the Lord would have for you in this project.

To get started today, please send us your name, along with your contact e-mail address (in the case of a group, please e-mail the name of your contact member, along with his/her contact information). Even if you are unable to make a commitment to be part of the “Perimeter Project,” we still want to thank-you for your concern with what the Lord is doing in Los Cabos, Mexico!

Evangelist Gamaliel Sosa is again coming to Los Cabos for a very special crusade—one we anticipate will be held on the “Promised Land” (If you are not familiar with this vision, this amazing story is on our website under “Blogging Cabo, 2/21/18”). The crusade is not until the nights of June 14, 15 & 16, but we are asking you to start praying now! New Life Outreach and the Cristo es el Camino Churches (Pastor Carlos’ churches) are bringing Gama in for a special “city-wide” event.  After our extensive planning experience from the Carlos Annacondia Crusade, we are ready!

Although ‘Gama’ has been a friend of Pastor Carlos’ since his youth and is now a friend of ours as well, we chose him because of the call of God on his life (we just have the privilege of being able to be blessed by his ministry before his calendar is continually filled years in advance). Gama is an evangelist with a precious call from the Lord, a powerful heritage in the Lord, as well as a powerful anointing for healing and evangelism. In Gama’s humility, the Lord will be able to use him mightily in the coming days of end-time harvest.

Why the excitement about the crusade being on the Promised Land? At this point, we are only able to afford to rent the property for the three days of the crusade, but please don’t forget this property is a huge, two and a half acre site in an easily accessible Los Cabos residential/commercial area. We will be praying over the site from now until the event and the presence of the Lord will fall on that property and ‘marinate’ it with the Holy Spirit during the nights of the crusade.

We are praying not only for the crusade; for salvations, deliverances and healings, but also for the ability to secure the land itself for continued ministry. Our first goal is for the new location of Pastor Carlos’ “mother” church—with only God knowing exactly what else He has in mind for the Promised Land!

This year was Shane and Tracey Crowley’s fourth winter in Los Cabos!  Shane, having a masonry business in Fremont, MI and a heart for missions, asked Richard how he could be of help in Los Cabos. Since that first visit, Shane has worked his way up to five weeks of hard labor—working with our Mexican brothers on different construction projects. His wife, Tracey, joins him each year.

The largest project this trip was enlarging Pastor Carlos Maciel’s new house. Way back in January-March 2011 when Richard and I came for our first work project in Los Cabos, Pastor Carlos had just purchased a small, humble partially-built home. His plan was to “camp” on the property with his family of five (including his baby at the time, Joshua) and to build his first church building in front of the house. Having not much, if any, construction experience, he was crying out to the Lord for direction.

Within a few days, Richard drove up with our trusty Blazer and covered trailer, along with his expertise and a plethora of tools. I arrived a little over a week later with my ability to shop for building products (and paint when the time came). When we left in mid-March of that year, there was a humble addition added to Pastor Carlos’ house, running water, wired electricity, and the foundation and beginning of the existing church. From that leap of faith at the Lomas del Sol property, Pastor Carlos and his wife, Janet, have realized they needed more space and a home not located in back of a church in a Mexican barrio, where the needy, the bored, and the lonely are often at the door day and night.

It was just a year ago, when we came back from our Christmas break in Michigan, that we found out Pastor Carlos had bought another “fixer-upper” in that short period of time. Since that time, Pastor Carlos−as he has been able to save a little money−has been hiring brothers from the church to work on the house. Then, the blessing from Shane’s diligence in Michigan surfaced just before it was time for Shane to come. One of his material suppliers in Michigan offered a generous donation for the mission work Shane would be helping with. A good part of that blessing was gladly budgeted for Pastor Carlos’ house.

With funding, Shane and Tracey, and the brothers from Pastor Carlos’ church, who we were able to hire with the donated funds, great progress was made in laying up the blocks for the upstairs of the families’ new home. At the end of February, Shane and Tracey had to head for the North Country, but the blessing of the donated funds is allowing us to continue helping Pastor Carlos towards the finish line of moving the family of five (plus Pastor Carlos’s mother, Margarita) into their new home.

As you look at the slide show, you may recognize the church building at Tierra y Libertad, which was funded in part by Aerovision of Norton Shores, MI. Richard wanted to finish/secure the front of the property with a cement fence along the bottom for an even higher retaining wall and add a “no climb” wire fencing spaced between cement pillars. Plenty of lighting was also added to help secure the church. Shane, Tracey, and the crew did a thorough job with the foundation and completed beautiful cement work so that Richard can continue the work of finishing the new fence/outside wall.

We want to give a huge thank-you, as well as send a huge blessing, to Shane and Tracey Crowley and the generous donor from the West Michigan area!  Thank You!

Surging forward into 2018, we know one thing for sure—God is up to something in Los Cabos!  He continues to lead, provide, and make divine appointments that never cease to amaze us!  As we look to projects for the new year, one such divine leading led us to what I like to call, “the Promise Land.”

We’ve been faithfully following His lead since mid-July on what could be a significant piece of the overall picture of the move of God in Los Cabos. In Habakkuk 2, the prophet is instructed to write the vision the Lord gave him in order for it to be sent to others for encouragement. In this case, we are sharing the vision for everyone who has a burden for a new Los Cabos−not just for a revival, but for lasting change.

Throughout the last two years, the Lord has made it clear that we are to work closely with the leadership of Pastor Carlos Maciel. He has been our close brother since 2011, but the Lord continues to echo in all of our spirits, “A three cord strand is not easily broken” (Ecclesiastes 4:12). With this in mind, knowing Pastor Carlos was going to need to relocate the “mother” church of Cristo es el Camino, I had the impression that if Richard, Pastor Carlos and I prayed together over several pieces of property, the Lord would show us, without a doubt, where his church should relocate (the Lord often works best when I am clueless and don’t realize I’m really onto something). Due to our busy schedules, a time for the three of us to pray didn’t immediately open up.

Finally, at a time when Richard and Pastor Carlos were both going to be involved in building projects for some time, I asked the Lord if He would show me where the location was so I could save time and just bring the other “two strands” in later to pray over the property. I do want to make a disclaimer that God certainly doesn’t do this every time, but the Lord actually gave me specific driving directions, which I quickly wrote down.

I drove right to the property, and all I could say when I saw it was “Wow!” The Lord directed me to a very large tract of land with two buildings and a small pavilion in an easily-accessible, central location of the city, which appeared to have sat without much use for several years. That parcel of land, with sufficient buildings for the “mother” church, was definitely “exceedingly abundantly” above all that Richard, Pastor Carlos or myself could have ever asked for or thought of (Ephesians 3:20). The problem was, there was no evidence the property was for sale or rent.

As soon as it could be arranged, the three of us prayed around the gated, but neglected property. There was great excitement, but only God would be able to give us the land. Over the succeeding weeks−sometimes with others−we returned to the property to pray. Each time we prayed, the Lord graciously gave us more and more assurance that He was in this. During that time, we found out who the owner of the property was. Pastor Carlos’ nephew, Gilberto, had just been hired at one of the local resorts and the owner of the property was his new boss. Yet another time, there was a man who was setting up a new used-furniture business in the corner with the pavilion, but when we returned, the fence he was building was tore down and there have been no further signs of life.

Finally, on November 17, while Richard and Pastor Carlos were busy getting the mission at Tierra y Libertad ready for the church’s 8th Anniversary celebration the next day, the Lord moved on my heart to go to the property. That morning, there was a new sign offering the property for rent—with the owner’s contact information! With the weekend’s festivities, we didn’t get to the property until Monday morning following Marketplace prayer.

That morning, when Pastor Carlos saw the “For Rent” sign, he immediately called the landlord. The property had been a “flea market” type of business for a while, but now had no one using it. The owner said he would prefer to rent the property, which he was willing to divide into five pieces. Each piece would be approximately 2,000 square meters and would rent for $15,000 pesos a month, which at the current average exchange rate would be around $885 USD per month (although a large drop in the exchange rate could put this over $1,000 USD per month). His current asking price for the total 10,000 square meter piece is $500,000 USD. Pastor Carlos estimated this property could hold a 5,000-seat city-wide crusade, and would also have sufficient space for different types of ministries as needed.

With this information in hand, I asked Pastor Carlos if he was now comfortable with bringing in his inner circle of men to see and pray over the property. Pastor Carlos called the landlord to ask if this was possible and the following Friday at 7:00 p.m. (so the men had time to get home from work) we walked and prayed over the property with flashlights and flashlight apps. At the end, we gathered in a circle asking the Lord for specific instruction. All the men were in favor of the property, but the Lord would definitely have to bring it to pass. I specifically heard “establish a beachhead.”

The Meriam-Webster definition of a “beachhead” is: “a beach on an enemy's shore that an invading army takes and controls in order to prepare for the arrival of more soldiers and supplies.” We definitely established a beachhead in the spirit that night, but now we must wait for the Lord to send provision before any physical move to take the land can be made.

THE PURPOSE OF SHARING THE VISION−We are asking that you pray specifically for the Lord’s provision for this property; we are also looking for any specific insight the Lord might give you during your time of prayer. We know the Lord is in this and so, as we all pray, we will continue to wait until the One who started this vision brings it to completion!

*This article was included in the January 2018 New Life Outreach Newsletter - His Leading.  If you haven't had the opportunity to check out this latest edition, read it here.  To be added to our email list, send your information to info@newlifeoutreach.us

Consistent, intentional prayer coverage—This is a project that has been a passion for some time, but one that God seems to be putting together even now. We have tried several ideas for gathering commitment for on-going prayer coverage for the streets of Los Cabos over the last several years. We know that the transformation of a geographic area requires systematic prayer coverage. We also know that in order for any victory to be sustained, our “canopy” of prayer can never be allowed to weaken. This cannot be a short-lived prayer initiative. We must occupy until Jesus comes!

At the end of last year, we were blessed to have Neil and Lee Woollacott from Australia spend time in Los Cabos ministering with us. Neil shared how the prayer initiative he was involved with in Australia divided their geographic area into sections. This immediately stirred in me as a possibility for Los Cabos. We had previously attempted an “Adopt-a-Street” prayer initiative with the area churches prior to the Carlos Annacondia crusade, but found this model probably was not going to work in our area. However, with the idea of getting promises of prayer for sections of the city, we could build a “canopy” of prayer through the help of many people.  

Neil asked if we had digital files of the maps of Los Cabos that we could send him to pray over. That was an idea I hadn’t thought of before. In 2014, we had purchased the official city street map of Cabo San Lucas. Then, in 2015, in preparation for the Carlos Annacondia crusade, we purchased the three-map set of the San Jose del Cabo area when we attempted the “Adopt-a-Street” program. We had copies of these maps made for every participating church, but I had never had digital files made. After hearing Neil’s request, I carried the (very large) maps to Office Max to see if this could be done. Their large scanner made the files with absolutely no problem, giving us the ability to make these maps available to all of you—to print and pray over!

We then had another “divine appointment” with a seasoned intercessor—Lani Swanson from Washington State. Lani came in to Cabo church and asked the greeter standing at the door (which happened to be me) who she could talk to about the churches’ intercessory prayer program (which also happened to be me). She asked if she could join us for our Saturday morning prayer session at Cabo Church that week. She came, and we enjoyed an unusually powerful session in prayer that week.

Lani shared with us the amazing story about the continuing transformation of Whatcom County, Washington. A major part of the victory they are experiencing is due to the canopy of prayer they have been able to establish and maintain over the last ten years. Richard and I have done a lot of research on revivals and prayer initiatives throughout the years, but while I was saying goodbye to Lani, the Lord whispered a “Los Cabos” strategy to me: “perimeter people.” (For those of you who might like to hear the story of Whatcom County, check out the full story at: http://lowpc.org/whatcomstory/ ).

The words “perimeter people” are important to each of you who are reading this newsletter, have a burden for what the Lord is doing in Los Cabos, and have a passion for the power of prayer. Due to the transient nature of the population of Los Cabos, we have a high rate of turnover in our churches here. We also have many families where both husband and wife are working in the highly-stressful, high-end tourist industry with very little free time. We also have relatively small churches, made up of many denominations, leaving even fewer attendees who have the time or passion for prayer.

This is why the words “perimeter people” are very important. Basically, we don’t have the mature Christian manpower for continued, systematic prayer covering for Los Cabos, but now we do have the maps of the cities in the Municipality of Los Cabos readily available in digital form. What I believe the Lord was showing me the day Lani was leaving, was that individuals, families, small groups and churches could covenant with us for sustained prayer for the area even if they never set foot in Los Cabos. These are mature saints with the character to faithfully pray according to their commitment.

At this point, I’m not sure what the organization will look like. It could be prayer slots of at least an hour for only one day a month, but with 31 groups, every day of each month would be covered. When we section off the city, it could be people/groups who would covenant to pray for one section of the city a day. Whatever the structure is, it will be designed for all of you, the “perimeter people;” those of you who, unknown to others, will be willing to join with us for the harvest in Los Cabos.

Consistent, intentional prayer coverage is necessary for “victory in Jesus!” For now, please make use of the map files and begin to pray as you are led. When the rest of the plan develops, we will send out a “Blog Blast” so that all who are willing can be included.

As always, we want to thank you for all the prayers and support you have already given for the work in Los Cabos. Blessings to you and your families in this coming New Year!