PUEBLA, MEXICO (December 29, 2003) – After nearly 10 years of using small houses for its church services, an Evangelical Covenant Church congregation in Puebla has purchased a 4,000-square-foot property that will enable them to host large worship services.
The church signed the papers on the $100,000 house and property last week, according to missionaries Jerry and Vicky Love. Pictures of the site can be accessed by visiting http://pacto.org/photos/OurNewHome/page1.htm.
“One of our men, Sergio Romo, found a place some time ago, but we didn’t want to bother seeing it because the owner was asking $180,000, twice what we have available for our church,” said Jerry and Vicky. “He finally convinced us to take a look and we talked with the brother of the owner. It is a fantastic place with a large house on a big property, built to take a second story, but with a large flat roof, which would serve for our sanctuary.
“It was a step of daring faith on the part of the church, but they were convinced it was the place the Lord had provided for us,” continued the Loves. “As it turned out, because of a continuing slide of the peso relative to the dollar, there was a bit left over to pay for the most necessary improvements. Inauguration Day is set for January 18.
The necessary funds required assistance from the local congregation and other sources. A mission project fund brought in $15,800. The church in 2001 received funds from a Covenant Vacation Bible School project, and project “Puebla Kids” brought in $15,400 to buy land. A woman from First Covenant Church in Iron Mountain, Michigan, left $10,000 for the church in a bequest. And a Sunday school class from Rolling Hills Covenant Church in Rolling Hills Estates, California, raised $62,000. Some from the class had visited the Puebla church and had helped with projects.
The Puebla church has been creative in finding ways to do outreach for its community, which has ministered to a large apartment complex in a city located two hours from Mexico City. Along with its annual Vacation Bible School programs to hundreds in nearby locales, the congregation hosted a large Christmas program that attracted more than 200, presented in an open-air market.
With help from the Rolling Hills congregation, the church also gave out 800 pairs of glasses during a 2002 outreach effort. And it hosted Friday night youth programs during the school year. The Loves are confident that the new church site will enable to further ministries that have already been meaningful to the community.
“We’re confident that what the Lord has begun, he will continue,” stated a recent email update to supporters of the ministry. “And our people are excited about pitching in with their own hands as well as fund-raising activities to supplement their sacrificial offerings. It’s going to be fun, and we can hardly wait.”
Copyright © 2011 The Evangelical Covenant Church.