I wanted to tell you about yesterday how God worked. After we looked at the chicken property, none of us had much peace about it. When we realized that Ramon was taking us to meet the owner, we told him that we didn't know if we were interested or not. He was irritated and told us he had already set up the meeting and that we should go. We reluctantly agreed. We all were feeling like we wanted God to lead us but couldn't see how He could change our mind about this property. As we walked into the owners home, we all just wanted to get the meeting over with and go.
As we were talking with them, It struck me that we were dealing with people completely different than the previous owners we had dealt with. The first owner was a voodoo shaman. The second owner was only interested in the money, and was dishonest with us. This family was happy that the property that they had loved for 40 years was to be used for an orphan ministry. They had lowered the price. ( last night we found out that they had lowered $40,000 from their original price!) They showed us hospitality and grace and were very pleasant int heir business discussions.
Their daughter, who is visiting from America, took over the translation and did a great job.
As we left their home, I realized that God had indeed changed my heart about the property. Suddenly all of the positive aspects became prominent in my mind. The extra work of removing the chicken coops seemed insignificant, in light of getting this fresh perspective on the history and the heritage of the property. I realized that while we were looking at the amount of work that it would be, that God was providing us with something far more significant. That the heart of the people that He is using is His priority. He could use any property to fulfill this ministry, but He was showing me that the heart of the previous owners was important to Him. I walked out of their home believing that this was God's plan all along.
When we got home to Ramon's house, we went up on the roof to pray and worship. As I described my feelings, Mike and Josh were nodding in agreement and saying that they had the same exact response. They both described how bummed they were on the ride to the owner's home and that they both thought maybe we should just come home and wait and see what God was doing. When the elevator stuck, it seemed as if we were being thwarted at every turn. They walked into the owner's home feeling like me. Let's get this over with and go home. They both realized that as they left, they were sold on this property. That God had indeed changed their heart, though none of us knew yet what the others were feeling. As we all described our feelings both before and after the meeting with the owners, we realized that it would not be that significant if one of us had changed our mind, but it was not one or even two, but all three of us were describing the exact same feeling and experience. Of having our hearts inexplicably changed, in a matter of minutes, without even being aware it was happening. We all just suddenly realized our mind had been changed, when we felt certain that it would not. Quite the coincidence don't you think? We realized that only God could do this. We thanked Him and had a great time of worship and praise to Him. What a mighty and gracious God we serve. He works in the hearts of men in spite of our short sightedness. When we least expected it, He blessed us and worked in our hearts. When we were focused on the immediate, God revealed the important. Glory to His name.
Even if this deal does not go through, we will praise God for showing us this. he has renewed our confidence in Him yet again and we are in great anticipation of what he is going to do.
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