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 [email protected]
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 [email protected]
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