This is just an update on the outcome of our house in the old El Arco Trailer Park. I'm including this report as a blog since some of our faithful friends and family have been standing with us in prayer over this situation.
In the spring of 2013, we had the opportunity to purchase a home (that would have been condemned in the states) in an old trailer park on the outskirts of Cabo San Lucas. Prior to this time, we had been renting in La Playita, which is a small town near San Jose del Cabo, on the N.E. end of the tourist corridor.
Unlike what we would think of as a trailer park, the occupants owned their homes but rented the land from the Ehido, which are Mexican Indians with the legal right to control a large amount of the land in Los Cabos. Through the years, many of the residents had added to their homes until there were several very nice homes in the park. On Thanksgiving day of 2014, just a little over two months after much of Los Cabos was destroyed by Hurricane Odile, the residents of the park received a letter saying the park was going to be closed and we all had to leave. The older residents of the park had originally been given a letter telling them the money they had put into their homes and property would be reimbursed at the time they were asked to leave. They retained a land lawyer with expertise in dealing with the Ehido, but were told they would have no recourse against the Ehido, let alone receive money for the money they had put in their houses.
Fortunately for us, since we did not have the money to rebuild our home after the hurricane, we were notified of the eviction before putting more money into the house. We were given until December of 2015 to take what we could from the home. We had continued to pray and hope we would be allowed to remain in the house to possibly be the caretakers of the land (necessary to keep squatters off property in Mexico). Not only did we have money invested in the property, but we really needed the large garage the house was built upon. One day in November, we felt a strong leading from the Lord to go to the Ehido land office that day and ask for permission to stay, especially since we do a lot of work in the barrios for the poorest of the Mexican people. When we arrived, the main Ehido officials were seated in the waiting room of the office. We told them why we were there and asked for permission. Part of the men present did at least listen to us and one also took our business card. However, in a short period of time, the President of this particular clan declared we would have to be off the land by December 31 as originally stated.
Earlier in the year, we were given the opportunity to rent a condo from a lady who attended Cabo Church with us—in lieu of continuing to live in our 20 foot round guest room that survived the hurricane. We had continued to live in the park in this room for the seven months after the hurricane. We are very thankful for the lovely condo to live in, but we have no office space, storage, garage or workshop. For a little over a month, we moved everything into the condo, a storage unit and two covered trailers. Pastor Carlos Maciel came daily with a crew of his men for several weeks. They were able to remove all of the beams that originally supported the roof. Pastor Carlos had them chip up all of the tiles from the floor of the living level, remove windows, doors and the supporting beams of the garage roof, plus much, much, more. Most of the materials will be used in the Tierra y Libertad Church building project and some will be used for other housing projects. We can't thank Pastor Carlos and his faithful men enough for easing our pain by being able to salvage much of the materials in the house.
For those of you who knew the story, we want to express our gratitude for your standing with us in prayer. It didn't turn out like we thought it might have, but of course we know God always knows what He is doing, even when we may not know. We will continue to go on step-by-step as He unfolds His provision for our present needs of office space, a work shop area, as well as storage. We know that exciting days are ahead of us!
In the spring of 2013, we had the opportunity to purchase a home (that would have been condemned in the states) in an old trailer park on the outskirts of Cabo San Lucas. Prior to this time, we had been renting in La Playita, which is a small town near San Jose del Cabo, on the N.E. end of the tourist corridor.
Unlike what we would think of as a trailer park, the occupants owned their homes but rented the land from the Ehido, which are Mexican Indians with the legal right to control a large amount of the land in Los Cabos. Through the years, many of the residents had added to their homes until there were several very nice homes in the park. On Thanksgiving day of 2014, just a little over two months after much of Los Cabos was destroyed by Hurricane Odile, the residents of the park received a letter saying the park was going to be closed and we all had to leave. The older residents of the park had originally been given a letter telling them the money they had put into their homes and property would be reimbursed at the time they were asked to leave. They retained a land lawyer with expertise in dealing with the Ehido, but were told they would have no recourse against the Ehido, let alone receive money for the money they had put in their houses.
Fortunately for us, since we did not have the money to rebuild our home after the hurricane, we were notified of the eviction before putting more money into the house. We were given until December of 2015 to take what we could from the home. We had continued to pray and hope we would be allowed to remain in the house to possibly be the caretakers of the land (necessary to keep squatters off property in Mexico). Not only did we have money invested in the property, but we really needed the large garage the house was built upon. One day in November, we felt a strong leading from the Lord to go to the Ehido land office that day and ask for permission to stay, especially since we do a lot of work in the barrios for the poorest of the Mexican people. When we arrived, the main Ehido officials were seated in the waiting room of the office. We told them why we were there and asked for permission. Part of the men present did at least listen to us and one also took our business card. However, in a short period of time, the President of this particular clan declared we would have to be off the land by December 31 as originally stated.
Earlier in the year, we were given the opportunity to rent a condo from a lady who attended Cabo Church with us—in lieu of continuing to live in our 20 foot round guest room that survived the hurricane. We had continued to live in the park in this room for the seven months after the hurricane. We are very thankful for the lovely condo to live in, but we have no office space, storage, garage or workshop. For a little over a month, we moved everything into the condo, a storage unit and two covered trailers. Pastor Carlos Maciel came daily with a crew of his men for several weeks. They were able to remove all of the beams that originally supported the roof. Pastor Carlos had them chip up all of the tiles from the floor of the living level, remove windows, doors and the supporting beams of the garage roof, plus much, much, more. Most of the materials will be used in the Tierra y Libertad Church building project and some will be used for other housing projects. We can't thank Pastor Carlos and his faithful men enough for easing our pain by being able to salvage much of the materials in the house.
For those of you who knew the story, we want to express our gratitude for your standing with us in prayer. It didn't turn out like we thought it might have, but of course we know God always knows what He is doing, even when we may not know. We will continue to go on step-by-step as He unfolds His provision for our present needs of office space, a work shop area, as well as storage. We know that exciting days are ahead of us!
RSS Feed