On May 3, we were blessed to be a part of the re-opening of Pastor Carlos’ first church plant—Cabo Valle, led by Pastor Miguel.  Pastor Carlos referred to the festivities as the church’s inauguration.  After looking up the definition, I couldn't agree more.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, an inauguration is:  “A ceremonial induction into office.”  I can’t think of a better concept then inducting the building and the church family into the official office—Preacher of Jesus Christ.

The original church structure (on rented property), was twisted and tore down last October during a cyclone that sat spinning in the Cabo San Lucas Bay for nearly 24 hours.  Shortly after the storm, one of our ministry partners saw the need and provided money for new materials to rebuild the structure.

Shortly after the first of the year, Pastor Carlos, his team of faithful men from his church, and volunteers from all three church plants, as well as Richard and Shane Crowley, spent the next few months excavating, putting in a septic tank, water lines and a fully-functioning bathroom—all on a newly purchased lot.  The resulting structure was sturdy and impressive for the investment.

Pastor Miguel and his team handed out invitations to the surrounding neighborhood for the church service and festivities—including a carry-in dinner. The excited church family dressed up for the occasion!  The presence of the Holy Spirit was strong. Pastor Carlos spoke to the packed church.  The elders (including Richard and I) anointed the posts and entrance to the building. The prayer for the new work was powerful.

Please pray for the church plants at Cabo Valle, Las Palmas and Caribe!

As many of you know, one of our goals for 2014 is to continue to ‘prayer walk’ the streets of Cabo San Lucas. Prayer walking is specific prayer for a street or area – systematically covering each street and each section of an area with targeted prayer.  This also includes, when possible, having a church, Christian family or individual help by ‘adopting’ a street or section. Adopting an area can include: continually monitoring the section for prayer needs, ministering to people living in the area, letting the people know you are available for prayer if they need it, and speaking blessing and peace to the area and the people that live in it.

We started looking for a printed or printable map showing all the streets of Cabo San Lucas. The internet would only print a very small portion at a time and would not give us the overall layout of the city.  Bookstores didn’t have one.  The gas stations didn’t have one and neither did any of the tourist shops. We finally started asking a variety people and were sent us on a number of wild goose chases over a period of several months (as we had time to pursue the map-quest). Finally, one helpful employee at the Delegacion told us to go to Catastro (I now have the spelling. At the time, I wasn’t sure if I understood enough to even search for it on the internet).

The employee gave us instructions as to where the Catastro was and told us the office was actually northeast of us in San Jose del Cabo. When our daughter and grandson, Amber and Roman, were here in March, the three of us started walking according to the directions I had received. We finally found the government office, the Catastro, which is actually the register of deeds. The lady at the desk told me I had to bring a letter to them in order to get a map (which was a fun challenge considering the language barrier).

We returned home to Cabo San Lucas and I later returned to Catastro with a letter, which—not knowing exactly why then needed in the letter requesting a map—asked for a map because we were a Christian ministry wanting to pray for all the streets in Cabo San Lucas.  The receptionist had an interesting look on her face!

I was then sent to the back of the building where a very kind man told me he was just filling in for his parents that day and it would be the next day before they could prepare an official map for me. Two days later, I made it back to get the map. The kind man then asked me if I had my passport so I could purchase the map (that thought never occurred to my either)! Knowing the struggle I had endured, he asked his boss if he could buy it for me, so I wouldn’t have to drive up there again. They graciously allowed me to purchase the map that way.

It was quite an adventure just acquiring the map.  I can’t wait to see what God has in store as individuals, churches, and families begin to ‘adopt’ each section of Cabo San Lucas!

We’ve posted a picture of the map here.  I’m not sure how it will print, but if you’re inspired to do so, please print a copy, remember us, and pray for the transformation of Cabo San Lucas, as well as all of Los Cabos!

We have known Pastor Carlos for four years now.  He was our first translator when we first began our journey back in February of 2010.  He was with us as we were first sent to tell the area pastors, churches and individual believers that God intended to invade Los Cabos with His Spirit.

In January 2011, we were by his side as he finished a humble home on the backside of the property he had purchased to build a church—in a place where many of you might not want to get out of your car. He chose that lot because he believed God wanted him in the barrios—even if the land was more expensive and the conditions were worse. This first church now has Sunday school, as well as three packed services every Sunday. They also have two mid-week services because everyone cannot fit into the church for one mid-week service.

His first church plant (his church only being three years old), has passed its one-year anniversary!  We inaugurated the structure on purchased property on May 3, in addition to two other church plants (which I will be blogging on at a later time).

This all leads to what I’m really sharing today. On April 13, Pastor Carlos had Richard speak in the Sunday evening time slot. Since Richard was speaking, we had our new translator with us, Nester, who is a special gift from God. Since Nester translated every word that Pastor Carlos said for us, we heard a part of the service that our limited knowledge of Spanish had missed. Pastor Carlos walked back and forth on the stage several times during worship, encouraging his people; “Speak with your mouth these things out loud! Holy Spirit, I surrender to you. I submit to you. Have Your way in my life. Fill me, for without You we can do nothing.” Pastor Carlos continued to cry out to the Lord for His presence to come into the church and into the lives of his people—”for we cannot go on without Your presence.”

As Richard and I sat there (I almost in tears), we knew why God had chosen our friend to take the Kingdom of God to the barrios of Los Cabos. Pastor Carlos’ vision is to start fires (smaller churches) all over the barrios until they unite into one big fire that will set Los Cabos ablaze.

Please remember to pray for Pastor Carlos and his churches!

On Sunday evening, April 27, Pastor Carlos blessed me with the opportunity to preach at his church. The opportunities to speak in a culture where women are still very oppressed are few. The Lord gave me a specific word to proclaim, “The Kingdom of God is Coming—Get Ready.”

I prepared my message on basic scriptures that explain the Kingdom of God being within us, and the Lord said, “It’s not going to sound like that.  The Kingdom of God is coming.  Be ready.” I again restructured my message with more of a prophetic challenge, although I didn’t know if these young believers were ready for it. Several days later, the Lord again spoke to my heart, letting me know it still wasn’t right. I rewrote it once again, expecting the Holy Spirit to rearrange the message as needed while I spoke.

I did get through the first three scriptures, but as often is the case, the last half of the message wasn’t what I had planned on in my first, second or third drafts! The presence of the Lord was very heavy and the people responded with open hearts.

Please pray for the continued outpouring of God’s presence in Los Cabos!