Skip to main content

Land

To See the Two Lots click Here

For years I was considered a “wise” missionary because I had an investment that would be wonderful when it came time to retire. That was until the financial crisis hit. Now if I tell anyone that I have a house in Michigan I get that, “Oh my! You poor soul!” look.

Isn’t it funny what we consider a good thing? Our house in Michigan hasn’t changed much over the years. We’ve had and have great renters. The income pays the bills each month. But when the crisis hit our “investment” took a tremendous hit.

Here in Brazil, which promises to be an “up and coming” country it is interesting to watch people clamor for their piece of that “good investment” pie. I have been informed that I need to jump on that bandwagon. I would if I had any money!Smiley envergonhado

Our tiny church is taking a “David” (ie. David vs Goliath) step of faith just now in this up and coming real estate climate. Lots here at the north end of town have skyrocketed in price in this last year. When they were more in our price range we didn’t have the cash. Through out this past year and the faithful giving of many Brazilians God gave us enough to by a lot. But now the lots are double the price.

To make this long story shorter just this last Friday Alexandre talked with the owner of two lots. The man wanted R$85,000 for the two. Samuel and Alexandre “talked him down” to R$79,000. So, we have a verbal agreement. If the zoning restrictions check out and we can indeed build a church there we’ll begin the process of building.

With the money we have in the bank we can make a good dent in the R$79,000 but we’ll need to borrow too. That will mean two years of R$1000 per month payments. Which to the average American church member seems like pocket change. But to a tiny church of 35 mostly kids it seems like a fortune!

So if you would pray for us and for God’s direction in this huge, for us transaction we would greatly appreciate it. If you would be interested in helping us we’d be open for that possibility too. Thank you for upholding us in prayer and financial help.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Daughter and dog...

About six months ago we discovered that Ann was pregnant and were very excited for she and Jackson. We will have babies on this side and that of the Atlantic. We weren't prepared for that news and we we were even less prepared for the news that our little dog is pregnant. To date we have spent more on the dog than on Annie (don't tell her... Ann that is). Ann has yet to discover whether her baby is a boy or girl. Both ultrasound images were inconclusive. Though I did some further investigation of my own and was startled with what I found. to me it looks as if the baby is definitely a boy and has some resemblance from both sides of the family. Take a look for yourself and let me know what you think.
3 comments
Read more

Urgent Prayer (part 2)

Does God ever give you a gut punch? He did that just a few days ago when I watched a missionary story from the other side of the world. It was short but poignant, and it punched me in the belly button and brought a few tears too. One thing that shook me was the final statement that the missionary made. He was questioning himself and said, I wonder if what I have done will make a difference. This question comes to a missionary's mind now and again as they ponder how vast God's world is and how tiny one’s work is. As I thought, and identified, with his sentiment, the Lord brought a verse to mind that I had used recently in a youth talk. It was this one in John 12:24, “ Very truly, I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. ” When, in Matthew, the sower sowed his seed, it was the Word of God. Here in John, Jesus indicates that the seed is the life of the servant. Jesus talked of his comi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living Up to Expectations

walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called (Ephesians 4.1) I’m sorry but I cannot imagine being primped to be a duke, prince or king! I have always thought of Prince Charles as a big wuss in waiting. His whole life has been spent preparing to be “the next king of England.” This poor guy has gone above and beyond the call of duty in being groomed for a position that Elizabeth II, his mom, doesn’t seem to want to give up. Elizabeth’s mother, the Honourable Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon, lived for 101 years for Pete’s sake! Does Charley have a chance? Doubt it. Why this talk about princely preening? Well my friend it is because we as God’s children are in a similar process. In Ephesians 4.1 Paul goes into some interesting details. He tells us the following. I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, The word vocation trips us up. I went through my career at GM working my best so that I would plea...
Post a Comment
Read more