We have been praying for some time along side the leadership of the growing church movement here in Lajas to have a permanent place of worship---meeting on Sundays for worship in our gazebo has worked very well but we all knew that was only temporary--to help the church get started--last summer we tried to purchase a property here in Lajas and that is still the hope but this property is owned by a local cooperative. A government agency here that oversees cooperatives has put the sale on hold while they investigate the history of this cooperative---this really is for the best for our church to ensure that the property can be legally purchased. So we wait on this...
In the meantime, we have kept our eyes and ears open for a property to rent and we have prayed---a few months ago a new member of the church approached Pastor Jose Miguel to say that he and his family would be moving into a new home they had just built and perhaps the church could rent the home they had been living in---so our leadership moved forward to investigate this possibility. In hind sight we can see God's hand in all of this...Our leadership negotiated with the owner and were able to rent the building for the rest of this year at a very reasonable rent, one the church itself can pay through the monthly offerings--they came to share the good news with us--so proud and in awe of how God worked in this--the photo above shows their excitement!!
It is a three bedroom block home with a very big living area for worship, a side garage and a back patio and front porch
Pastor Jose Miguel really rallied the troops and many members got involved helping transform it into a church---
Painting the church name on the front...
Repairs...
Cleaning...
We held the first Sunday service last week--the place was filled with excitement and wonder...
Our worship leader, Joel, and his team led us in songs of praise and gratitude...
Anthony and his class of 7--12 year olds met on the back porch
Rebekah and her class of 6 year olds and under met in what was "a pink bedroom"...
This past week we set up a "prayer corner/library" in the room off of the main area--people can come during the week for times of prayer and quiet reflection and we have plans to set up a library where members can check out books...
One of our members, Alex, works at a storage warehouse and found a "pulpit" for Jose Miguel---he and his wife Yeimi presented it to our pastor and he took it to a local shop to repair the base and later paint it---he gratefully stood behind it at the Wednesday night service for the first time...
As always, we thank you for coming along side us and the community here---this is a great "next step" for the local church here---there are many possibilities to bring the light of Christ to this community and be a blessing here to many. Please keep the church, its leadership, and us in prayer as we walk forward together--that we stay in line with the Gospel and in step with the Spirit in all we do.
Please take a look at the side panel for an update from our daughter Rachael and our latest prayer requests.
By God's grace and for His glory,
The Dave Schwulst family