As we were preparing to start our third church here in Cohabamba, there were a couple of different areas about which we were praying. One of those areas was Pacata, which is on the northeast side of town. I had been praying for this area for several years after one of the families from our first church moved there and it was too far for them to continue attending services.

There were also several other families that we knew of that lived in the area and were looking for a church to attend. After praying for several weeks and seeing the great need and opportunity, we decided that this would be the area where we were going to start. We started out having services in the house of one of the men that lived a little father out past Pacata until we could find a place to rent. We began walking up and down the streets in the area, asking if anyone knew of a place that was for rent. We went several times each week, driving all over the area, but could find nothing. There was even one opportunity that seemed really good, but the owner decided in the end that she wasn’t going to rent. After more than a month of looking,

I was getting really frustrated and even began questioning why the Lord would not open the doors for us to find a place. All this time, I didn’t realize that the Lord had bigger plans. I finally spoke to the family that had originally moved to the area from our first church, and they mentioned that their neighbor had a building they were looking to rent. I had my doubts that it would work out, but we decided to go anyway to see what they said. When they showed us the property, it was exactly where we wanted to start the church, and was actually the first place that we had looked at, but originally couldn’t find out who the owners were. Amazingly, they were getting ready to offer it in the newspaper the following week when we called. Shortly afterward, we signed the contract, and at that time made a special effort to invite the owners to come and visit with us for our first services.

Although they were very Catholic, surprisingly, they actually came and seemed to enjoy it. A couple of weeks later, at the end of one of the services, the owner’s wife raised her hand and was saved. She began to attend almost every service and afterwards would tell me how she was learning so many things that she had never understood before. She even asked if it would be good for her to bring a notebook where she could write everything down. I obviously told her that it would be a great idea. At that time it dawned on me that I had been in such a hurry to find a place for the church that I didn’t realize that the Lord was preparing this family to receive the gospel. Teresa is now one of our most faithful members and is always excited to be in church and learn more about the things of God.

It was a very humbling experience, and I had to ask the Lord to forgive me for not trusting in Him. I now know that when things are not coming together like I think they should to just trust in His timing and know He has a special plan for it all