On the Move with Christ Alive!

Last Sunday we held church services in our new facilities; a beautiful building, whose existence neither Jerry or I had known of merely a week before. Not only did we have church there, but after the morning worship, we hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner, serving 50 pounds of ham and 75 pounds of turkey, with all the trimmings of course.

It came down this way: As many of you know, for the past year and a half, Jerry and I have worked toward establishing a church in Lake Havasu, AZ. A tremendous blessing has been the use of a large room within the Tiger Trenching building, which Mike’s friend Darin Craig supplied to us at no charge of any kind. We have paid no rent, nor any money toward the utilities we have used. We offered repeatedly, of course, but Mr. Craig always said, “No, there will be no charge.”

We outgrew that blessing, though, and must find a new place: suddenly, and quickly, it all moved into place. On Monday Jerry and I met with a broker who showed us various properties, several of which we thought would work. On Tuesday we looked again, and as we walked from a building on Kiowa, I strolled over to the empty place next door and peered through the windows. “What about this one?” I asked. There was no lock box, nor sale or lease postings on the windows.

“I don’t have the information concerning this place, but I can learn who the owner is through the tax rolls. ”

“Look, there’s a sign posted out by the street,” I said.

Sure enough, there was a large sign erected, the broker took down the information, made a phone call, and in minutes here came someone to open the building. It was perfect, but I knew instinctively it was much more expensive than what we could afford, by any stretch.

We had seen the reception area, noted the four office/classrooms, the minuscule kitchen, the fine bathrooms, and now as we rounded the corner that led into the warehouse section that would be converted into our sanctuary, I exclaimed, “Oh, no!”

“What’s wrong?” the lady who had brought the key asked, as she looked with concern at me.

“It’s perfect,” I responded, “but I’m sure we cannot afford it.”

But it was to be, and on Thursday evening, Jerry signed the lease. By Sunday morning, everything was in place for our first service. It was unbelievable how rapidly and smoothly the transition had been. On Saturday night, Jerry and I looked like this.

By Sunday morning, every detail had been arranged, including a computer generated sign which we stuck onto the door at our old location: We’ve Moved! Jerry was there at 9:00 to meet those who hadn’t heard of the move, led them to the new place, and about 9:15, the first words were spoken in our new Christ Alive! facility.

The meal afterwards was scrumptious. Tell you more later.