How God Buys a House

The permanent facility for Casa de Esperanza was fully paid for in June, and I am finally taking time to tell the story. . .and I think it's a good one.  Many of you have heard bits and pieces, but here is the big picture of what God has done in the last 18 months.

In March of 2015, our ministry had about $3000 saved to put toward the purchase of land on which to build a house.. It seemed to me that God was making it clear it was time to start looking.  Due to the needs of our guys, there were some specifics the lot would have to meet. . .including being walking distance to a school and some type of stores, park, etc.

I was astonished to find out that, while I had been told I could purchase land for $30,000, this was only in very isolated areas, or for very small pieces of land.  Any lot near a town would run between $65,000 and $70,000 for land, and to build the type of home our guys need, we would need at least 1.5 to 2 lots (lots are pretty small down here).  I looked at some spots, but the price was overwhelming.

At the advice of our realtor, I began looking at existing homes. I saw some beautiful homes, but none that would serve well of our ministry.  The prices were running more than $235,000, and I was in sticker-shock to say the least.  Each night I would go back to God saying, "Really?  Are you sure? Okay, HOW?"  I was not discouraged, but only because I was so sure God was going to move, and was wishing He would hurry up and do so.

About three days before I was to come to the US in April, 2015, for our second fund-raising dinner, I received a call from Tere, my realtor.  "I know you're busy, but we just listed this house and you have to see it.  God built it for you!"  We arranged to meet the next day.

As we pulled up to the condominium entrance (here gated communities are called condominiums.), Before I could say anything, Tere told me, "Don't yell at me!  I know it's a condominium, but this house has a private entrance." (I had been very specific that I wanted a home where "normal" Guatemalans could easily come one go; condominiums here are designed to keep these people out!)  As we walked across the beautiful ground, and around the club house and swimming pool, I was thinking, "Surely this is not the place for us.  It's too "rich" for a ministry like ours."

When I walked through the door, though, God took my breath away.  It was an open concept house, newly remodeled, and, Tere was right.  It was perfect for wheelchairs. One floor and lots of outside level space. The bathrooms were small, but I figured we could make one large bathroom by knocking out the wall between two of the bathrooms, and make due with the one large one in the meantime.  So this house had two things I had never encountered in Guatemala:  a private entrance to a house in a condominium, and an open floor plan.

I held my breath as I asked the price.  I thought I misheard when Tere said $170,000.  In fact, I asked her to go back to the office and check the amount.  Now, $170,000 was still a huge amount of money, but the land that this house was sitting on was 2+ lots, so I figured we had at least $120,000 just in land.  There was no way I could build this type of house for only $50,000, so I figured she had to be wrong.  Later that night I got a call.  The price was $170,000 firm.

So I made an offer of $160,000 with $17,000 down and left for the US.  Now remember, I had $3000 in hand at this time, but I was sure God was leading me this way.  (Never, in being a single woman in ministry had I felt so alone and out on a limb all by myself.  And never had I been so sure God was leading me to do something.  Talk about blind faith. . .)

A few days before the our dinner, I received word that there were three other offers on the house, and ours was the lowest, so we, in all probability, would not get it.  I was disappointed, but excited, too.  Now I had a floorplan to use in designing our own house---someday.

We held our dinner, and God more than blew my socks off.  In two weeks, we raised more than $50,000.  I had never been responsible for that much money in my entire life.  I returned to Guatemala anxious to begin looking for land once again.  After seeing this floor plan, I knew we shouldn't settle for something that would not really serve our needs.

I made an appointment to meet with the realtor, and she surprised me when she explained that the owners still had not accepted any offer, and her boss thought we should make another offer for the full $170,000.  (The night before I left to come back to Guatemala, an older couple who have been my faithful supporters since the beginning of this ministry had me to dinner.  When I was leaving, the gentleman handed me an envelop saying, "Raise your offer."  When I got home, I found a check for $10,000.  This seemed a confirmation!)  When she asked me if I could raise my down payment, she was amazed when I offered $40,000.

Our offer was accepted that same day, with a payment schedule over the next year.  Our second payment of $13,000 was made, using the $10,000 from fundraising and the $3000 I had saved.

Our third payment of $117,000.  I had no idea where this money would come from.  As the due day approached, we had more and more unexpected expenses, and what I had been saving was rapidly used up.  It was the most humbling experience to go to the owner's attorney and ask for an extension of 12 months.  He was sure the owner would not accept this, and I was mentally preparing to start looking for a new place to live.  (We would get 75% of what we had paid returned to us, but still. . .)  We would meet again the following Tuesday to go over the owner's response.

I went home and wrote an email to our friends and supporters, asking them to pray with us over the next four days that the owner's heart would be moved to work with us. As I was writing the letter, I was praying and suddenly stopped, telling God, "I have done what I thought you wanted.  It hasn't worked out.  Now what are YOU going to do?"  I got a clear answer of one word, "Watch."  I finished the letter with renewed hope and a sense of expectancy, anxious to see just what He was going to do.  I really had no idea if He meant He would find our a new house, give the owner a new heart, or what would happen.

On Sunday I received an email from a couple who had already heavily invested in our ministry.  They explained that God had recently blessed them financially, and had even indicated that the funds were for me.  Then they received my email.  They were giving our ministry $100,000 toward paying off the house--only string attached was that they were to remain anonymous.

I could hardly breathe when I read their response.  Then I cried.  When God told me to "watch", he had already provided what I needed to these friends.  He had even indicated it was for our ministry.  He had it all in control.

When I returned to the attorney, saying I had $100,000 of the balance to give him, he didn't believe me.  He actually thought that I had been holding out on them.  I didn't know what to say except, "We prayed, God answered."

Needless to say, they accepted the $100,000 and would give us three more months to raise the rest.  With fees and taxes we still needed about $20,000.  Through donations God provided $10,000 and reminded me of a small retirement account I had from when I was changing jobs.  There wasn't much in it, but, when I checked, if I cashed it in I would receive. . .you guessed it. . .$10,000.  So I did and we paid off the house.

While I never had any problem donating the money (after all, if I asked others to invest in our ministry, why wouldn't I?), I sort of felt that perhaps I was taking things into my own hands and now trusting God.  As I prayed this through, however, I realized that once again, ten years before I ever knew I would need it, God had led me to put aside funds that He would use to pay for a house in a country I had never seen for a ministry I had not even dreamed of.

It is rather scary buying property in Guatemala.  There are no escrow accounts, holding money until the title is transferred, so much is done on "faith."  It seems at every step in the process, another fee is required, but, once again, God has provided what has been needed. . .never ahead of time, but always on time.

So, how does God buy a house?  By bringing us to our knees. . .and that's the best place to be.