To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: – Ecclesiastes 3:1
We lean on the Lord for His guidance and wisdom in His perfect timing.
Five years ago, we purchased 17 acres of land that we planned to build permanent residences and learning facilities for His Workmanship Academy. We have been trying to finalize the paperwork for years. Still, unfortunately, this property is zoned “common-use” land, and under the land association, they only allow this property to be used for agriculture or cattle. We still believe the Lord brought this property to us for His purposes and to support our mission in serving believers and communities here in Mexico. As we have written in previous updates, we have planted 800+ mango trees that should start producing fruit in one to two years. The local agriculture market for fresh mango is extensive, and the produce of these trees should yield a yearly income in the will of the Lord. This can help offset some of the ongoing costs of running HWA and further support our mission to spread the gospel through purchasing and sharing Bibles, gospel literature, and other on-the-ground ways to reach people with God’s message in our area.
We are thrilled to announce that we have officially started formal classes this month in the warehouse/office space with a few local brothers in Christ! Due to their local responsibilities and obligations with family and work, they are unable to take on weekday classes this month, only weekends. However, Lord willing, in September, we will be able to host classes with them three days a week. They have expressed that they have been enjoying the lessons so far and look forward to continuing to deep dive together in studying God’s Word and learning to weld.
We continue to pray for the Lord’s guidance and wisdom to know what is the next step He wants us to take. We are grateful that the Lord has brought us the warehouse/office space to start classes. Still, we feel it is a stepping stone for us to transition to a permanent location. Our rental agreement allows us to use the area for a year and a half upon writing this. However, if the owner chooses to sell the property, it would be challenging for us to find a suitable alternative place to continue this ministry effort.
Early this month, another property that we’ve been praying about has come up for sale. The owner is a long-time friend who has chosen to sell it to us, knowing what we plan to do with it. It is 10 acres of private property, and we wouldn’t be under any local land association restrictions on how we build. The transaction would only be between the owner and ourselves. We would like to build facilities for HWA on this permanent private property in the will of the Lord.
In the future, our goal is to host several more students at a time, including living in on-site housing on permanent property alongside us. This will allow us to have daily classes together over the course of 9-12 months and allow students to enjoy a more focused environment without the distractions of their regular home life.
Seeing the sizable financial commitment this will be and after talking with several godly mentors, we have decided to make this project known on a larger scale to reach those who would like to support how the Lord is working through His Workmanship Academy. We have decided to open a public fundraiser on the Christian faith-based platform, Give Send Go. This allows us to share what God is doing through this program with many all over the world. You may learn more about this and the Give Send Go platform by going to https://www.givesendgo.com/hisworkmanshipacademy
We are excited to see how the Lord continues to move and guide this ministry. We ask for your continued prayers for our students, this program, and us so that we may serve the Lord to the best of our ability. We pray our students and generations to come will be blessed.
One other exciting note, we are expecting our fourth child in the will of the Lord, due February 2023. We would appreciate your prayers specifically for Emily during this pregnancy as well.
Thank you!
Here are a few pictures of one of our recent classes.
Thank you again for your prayers and support for His Workmanship Academy!
