After prayer and logistics analysis, a few months ago we decided to set August 14 as the grand-opening date for Abundant Grace Baptist. The next task was to go out and look for possible sites to rent. We quickly found out that finding a place that is suitable for a church is more complex than what we initially thought. Some places are great auditoriums, but no room for classrooms. Some have awesome classroom space but not enough space for an auditorium.
However, last week we saw an answer of prayer to this request, and once again we saw God do a miracle in a way that only a loving, caring Father can perform one. Let me briefly tell you about it. A few months ago we came acquainted with Brian and Dany. They are a wonderful couple who recently accepted Christ, got baptized, and are growing in grace and maturity. He has openly expressed a sincere and serious desire to serve in ministry in the future and is currently looking to enroll in a local Bible institute. Brian is an Uber driver and a couple weeks ago God used him for this miracle. It is awesome! He and I talk constantly and send info about places we see for possible church sites. He called me two weeks ago to let me know that a couple of guys called for an Uber. He answered the call and when they got in the vehicle they told him that they wanted to go to a number of places that were vacant to see if they could find a good site to rent for a business they were starting. Brian took them to several places. They would get off, visit the place , look around, get in the car again, and go on to the next one. One of those places was too big for their needs so they weren't too interested, but it was located in an awesome area, where lots of cars go by, several apartment complexes around, and a brand-new open-air mall. Immediately Brian wrote out the number and called the owner who told him that the rent was $800 a month. Brian and I talked and decided to go and take a look at the place. Rebekah, the kids, Brian and I went to see the location. We loved it. There are already a couple classrooms, an auditorium, and space to grow to up to 90 people if we need it in the near future. It was awesome! I went outside to talk to the owner and I asked about rent again. He then said that rent was $682 a month. We are not sure why he had said a much higher price to Brian but we know God was involved in the discount! Today, I called the owner one more time to let him know that we felt that God was leading us to rent his property. As if it was not enough, he proceeded to apply another discount to the rent. He said he wanted $650 a month, which is awesome because when we started praying for a place we asked God to provide a place that was no more than $700 a month. God answers prayers! Additionally, the owner said that as part of the contract he would freeze the rent for two years so that we didn't have to pay more after one year! Finally, he said that he would give us the keys to the place immediately so that we could start remodeling it, but that he would wait to get the rent until June. We praise our God for his goodness. Now, we understand that the church is not a building. So now we ask you to joins us to pray for souls. The need is urgent. You know what? Just a few days ago we went back to see the site one more time this time with my parents. After that, we went to eat at Carl's Junior which is right in front of our location. We gave a tract to the waiter, but the family eating right by us heard us talking about the church. They approached me and asked me if the church was near because they had been looking for one. I said, almost. In a few months you will have a church in this area. Please pray for us. Pray for the birth of the church. Pray for the preparations of planting the church. But above all, pray that many come to Christ in this church. What else would we be planting a church for? Thank you for your interest in our ministry and stay tune for more awesome news! In Christ, Josué & Rebekah Ortiz.
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Josué&Rebekah OrtizA two-minute insight into our ministry in Mexico City. Archives
December 2020
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