A Property
We finished 10 weeks of school and have less than 2 left. Estamos aprendiendo bastantísimo! In addition to the language, we’re learning patience, resourcefulness, and sensitivity to the Father and each other. More, Lord!
And things are beginning to shift.
After MUCH looking, on Wednesday we’re buying a buseta (like a 15 passenger minivan). It’s a red 2004 Toyota Hiace. We’re naming it Ferdinand…like the strong, kind bull. The seller is graciously delivering it to a town only 30 minutes from here, where our lawyers are. She lives over two hours away! We were totally amazed and blessed that she would do that. Then it'll be about a week to get new license plates on it, so we can drive it.
After much prayer and pursuing the counsel of our prayer community, we plan to move forward with purchasing the property that would become our mission base. This coming Saturday, we are looking at it (for the second time) with a trustworthy builder who will inspect it. If all goes well, we'll sign an agreement to buy within 3 months, along with a $10,000 non-refundable deposit (it goes toward the purchase if we buy it, and we lose it if we don't.) Please pray with us that we would pay close attention to the Lord and allow Him to close any door He chooses.
One thing that we're amazed by is that after saying that he didn’t want to fix anything, that the property was being sold as is, the owner has now agreed to fix a few leaks in the roof and seal the wet wall. PTL!
With our $20,000 down payment, we have secured a private loan for $150,000, and want to give you, our community, the opportunity to give toward the other $120,000 (which includes $20,000 in repairs/appliances/necessary updates). We're praying that we could even be in by Christmas.
In our next update, we'll share the vision for the property.
Here’s some of the backstory of the journey thus far.
After over a year of looking (online, and then, since our arrival, in person) - we have found a property that is about all we could've imagined. Click here for a video of it.
When we arrived, the housekeeper (Kattia) had a crackling fire in the fireplace and homemade tortillas and coffee on the stove for us. Our children enjoyed playing with her children too (8, 10, and 11). Both realtors brought their elderly parents with them. More than simply a real estate showing, it felt like a house built for hospitality.
In our spirits, it felt special. As we started walking through it, we began to whisper with excitement. We learned that the bricks in the huge fireplace were all salvaged during the rebuilding of a famous 200 year old catholic church. And there are decorative plates lining the rafters which represent countries from around the world that the owners had visited.
This particular property was presented to us after several other showings that left us feeling disappointed and disoriented. I, Dave, had looked for more properties and found another promising one that had recently been listed. I told our realtor that we wanted to see it. She reached out to the seller's realtor and mentioned our 6 children, and the other realtor suggested that she might have another house that we would like even better. That house was this one. That is to say, we didn't even "find" it online ourselves like we have all the others we've looked at. It came from one step after another that led to something better than we could've expected.
We could literally move in tomorrow and host some people next week, it's that ready. Yes, there are things that need to be repaired and other things that could be updated, but it's amazing to find something like this (the acreage, the size, condition, style and location) in this price range. Especially, because we are not just looking for a house for our family to live in, but we are looking to create a place of respite for church leaders - a retreat of sorts. And this property is located in a more expensive and desirable area than the other places we've seen - yet it's much more affordable. They are asking $270,000, fully furnished (PTL, because we sold all of our furniture in the states!!!) The other properties - with three times the acreage, but a third of the house - were between $400,000 and $600,000. Also, the roads leading to this property are wider than the roads leading to the other properties we saw, and better maintained.
There is another group interested in it, a church, who also wants to make a retreat for missionaries out of it!! So, it seems we're on the right track! We don't know if the other client would want to live there or not, but it'd be interesting to find out who they are to see if there could be a way to partner with them somehow.
All the children are so excited about this place. They believe it was made for us. The rugged "yard" hill quickly became "the best place we've ever played tag on" - even with the rough amphitheater steps and uneven terrain. They are even all excited at the idea of sharing a room together with 4 bunks and two beds - we hope that sentiment lasts! LOL. Truly, it would be a fantastic place for these amazing kiddos too.
We like that it feels like a property that has a house that's both ready for us and also one that we’re confident that we could improve upon. Plus the surrounding landscape feels both unkept and undeveloped, so there is more exciting potential outside.
Lastly, in October 2018, Dale Mast had a prophetic word for us. He said "There’s going to be a joy, and I don’t know why, but I saw this big farmhouse and the word INHERITANCE." Louis, like he does, asked Dale "What color was it?" Dale responded "You know, when I looked at it I’m just going to be honest, it looked like white to me. I don’t know. Have you ever seen a big white farmhouse? I think you might be living in it, I don’t know, let’s just see." Here in Costa Rica, we certainly haven't seen any other white houses like this one!
So pray with us. Partner financially with us. Celebrate God’s goodness with us!
Dave, Heather, Aspen (Quique), Clementine (Gaby), Louis (Tino), Juliana, Huxley (Ooksley...he just doesn't respond to Sion), and Caspian (Cappi)
