We know the Lord knows what He is doing. We often don’t know what He is up to, though, and must walk by faith. His ways are so much higher than ours that even when we finally get a glimpse of the “finished picture,” we are still absolutely amazed at how He brought it to pass. This is the case with what the Lord is just beginning to unfold on Monday mornings in the San Jose del Cabo town plaza.
Let me regress for a moment for a brief explanation of the Annacondia Crusade’s finances as the framework for this blog. The Lord clearly did not allow the crusade to be well funded in advance. One time, when I was discussing this issue with Him, He spoke to my heart, “I am withholding my provision for a reason.” This brought comfort for a season, but expenses still had to be paid, and we were past “the point of no return.”
This brings us to how the Lord provided the majority of what was needed for the crusade. Through a series of divinely-woven appointments, the new Mayor (Presidente) of the Municipality of Los Cabos (San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas combined) had promised Pastor Carlos Maciel (who had known him for over ten years) that he would provide the municipalities’ sound, light, and stage equipment for the crusade if he were elected−and he fulfilled his promise and more! However, the necessary, bureaucratic format for the requisition of the items, as well as scheduling the delivery to the crusade site−from several different departments of the municipality−required numerous visits by Pastor Carlos to the municipality offices in San Jose del Cabo. In fact, he just recently shared that during the two weeks leading up to the crusade, he was there every morning by 8:00 a.m.
The Lord was working for our good, according to His plan. If we had had the provision for the projected crusade budget in the bank, we would have thanked God for His provision and signed the contract for the goods. Instead, we, along with Pastor Carlos, had to continue going forward step-by-step, waiting on the Lord, and at the end we received great favor. Since Pastor Carlos had to go to so many departments, so many times in order to talk to so many heads of the different departments, the Lord was already building relationships with these government administrators.
This brings us to “Mondays in the Marketplace.” In Mexico, every government body, including schools, meet in their courtyards, recite their powerful pledge of allegiance (including God), sing their national anthem, and proudly raise their flag. This ceremony begins at approximately 8:00 a.m. every Monday morning in the government municipality courtyard in San Jose. The entire government staff is present and open to conversation. The mayor, himself, arrives for this event and is open to greeting people before the ceremony, as well as spending time with his constituents for a brief time afterwards, in order to hear appeals from the people he is there to serve.
Pastor Carlos, Isidoro (our friend and a long-time friend of Mayor Arturo), Richard, and I are hopping out of bed early every Monday morning for the drive to San Jose with the excitement of what the Lord is going to do that morning! Our small group is looking forward to continuing the relationships that Pastor Carlos has started. Our goal as marketplace ministers is also to serve, love on, and pray for people, whenever the opportunity arises, and we have already had significant opportunities.
We already have stories of Monday mornings that will have to be told another time, but we absolutely know that what the Lord is just beginning to do on Monday mornings is the result of His restraint on the funding for the crusade. We were feeling our discomfort, but He was looking at His big plan – our future!
Let me regress for a moment for a brief explanation of the Annacondia Crusade’s finances as the framework for this blog. The Lord clearly did not allow the crusade to be well funded in advance. One time, when I was discussing this issue with Him, He spoke to my heart, “I am withholding my provision for a reason.” This brought comfort for a season, but expenses still had to be paid, and we were past “the point of no return.”
This brings us to how the Lord provided the majority of what was needed for the crusade. Through a series of divinely-woven appointments, the new Mayor (Presidente) of the Municipality of Los Cabos (San Jose del Cabo and Cabo San Lucas combined) had promised Pastor Carlos Maciel (who had known him for over ten years) that he would provide the municipalities’ sound, light, and stage equipment for the crusade if he were elected−and he fulfilled his promise and more! However, the necessary, bureaucratic format for the requisition of the items, as well as scheduling the delivery to the crusade site−from several different departments of the municipality−required numerous visits by Pastor Carlos to the municipality offices in San Jose del Cabo. In fact, he just recently shared that during the two weeks leading up to the crusade, he was there every morning by 8:00 a.m.
The Lord was working for our good, according to His plan. If we had had the provision for the projected crusade budget in the bank, we would have thanked God for His provision and signed the contract for the goods. Instead, we, along with Pastor Carlos, had to continue going forward step-by-step, waiting on the Lord, and at the end we received great favor. Since Pastor Carlos had to go to so many departments, so many times in order to talk to so many heads of the different departments, the Lord was already building relationships with these government administrators.
This brings us to “Mondays in the Marketplace.” In Mexico, every government body, including schools, meet in their courtyards, recite their powerful pledge of allegiance (including God), sing their national anthem, and proudly raise their flag. This ceremony begins at approximately 8:00 a.m. every Monday morning in the government municipality courtyard in San Jose. The entire government staff is present and open to conversation. The mayor, himself, arrives for this event and is open to greeting people before the ceremony, as well as spending time with his constituents for a brief time afterwards, in order to hear appeals from the people he is there to serve.
Pastor Carlos, Isidoro (our friend and a long-time friend of Mayor Arturo), Richard, and I are hopping out of bed early every Monday morning for the drive to San Jose with the excitement of what the Lord is going to do that morning! Our small group is looking forward to continuing the relationships that Pastor Carlos has started. Our goal as marketplace ministers is also to serve, love on, and pray for people, whenever the opportunity arises, and we have already had significant opportunities.
We already have stories of Monday mornings that will have to be told another time, but we absolutely know that what the Lord is just beginning to do on Monday mornings is the result of His restraint on the funding for the crusade. We were feeling our discomfort, but He was looking at His big plan – our future!
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