We were in preparations to host a team from Center City Church in Greensboro, NC. As we met with a local pastor friend of ours to talk about some coordinated events with the team, he mentioned to us that he was seeking a building to rent. He had been holding services in his home but needed more space. He said the dwellings he looked at were $500 and more and needed lots work to make them usable.
Immediately, a knowing was inside of us. Preston and I looked at each other and there was no question that God was putting the same thing on our hearts. We had a building and it was a lot less than $500 a month. As we presented the idea to Pastor Santiago and his wife, they saw it as a possible answer to their prayers.
After inspecting our building, they agreed that it would be perfect for their needs. It had the common area for services along with separate rooms for classes and a kitchen for community functions. The building was also located in an area of smaller, poor communities that the church had begun to reach out to.
Our first event for the building was to use it for the meetings with the visiting team from Center City. It was during this event that it became so clear that the building was being used for God's purposes.
Sometimes, we do not see the whole part of the plan in the beginning. The Lord continually uses people to help others. We had been chosen to prepare a space for a church for a local Nicaragua pastor. The pastor did have the funds to renovate a building nor the skill level to do the work. We had acquired the building for what we thought were our purposes, but God had other plans. Romans 8:28 ERV says: "We know that in everything God works for the good of those who love him. These are the people God chose, because that was his plan."
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