“Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to
the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful
to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and
courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7-9
Sometimes I wonder how people who were led by God appearing
in a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night, a God Who had opened the Red
Sea and fed them with manna and given water from a rock could ever have fear or
doubt, but they did.
But now the stakes were high because this is moment God had
in mind for them since they first left Egypt over 40 years ago. God had led
them to this would they trust Him to lead them through it!
When you follow God individually or as a family or as a couple
or as a church, there are those strategic moments that may only happen once or
twice in a lifetime. For example, in the hundreds of years that God dwelt with
His people there were only two times that he led them to the Jordan. They
whiffed on the first chance and couldn’t afford to miss this one. Hence, the
encouragement for them to be “strong and
courageous” and not to be afraid.
I think this is very relevant to how God is leading us at
FredWes. Over the past several years as God has favored us with growth we have
been exploring options to provide the space for continued health and growth.
Here are some of the things we have considered in our extensive search:
1) Purchasing the white building behind us and converting it
to Youth and Children Ministry space but the purchase price was too high and
renovation costs even higher. That was dismissed as an option.
2) We investigated the purchase of portable classrooms to
move onto the property north of the church building. But regulations and cost
factors ruled this out as a good option.
3) We spent one year and over $5,000 investigating the
feasibility of building onto the existing building and discovered it wasn’t a
cost-effective option and wouldn’t meet all of our needs.
4) We began looking for existing buildings and set criterion
for what we thought we needed:
·
At least
10,000 sq. ft. on one level
·
Adequate
paved parking
·
Visible
location
·
Adaptable
space
·
Within 15
minutes of current location
5) Nearly two years ago we approved listing the 6.2 acres we
owned out on Rt. 3 West of town. This past Summer we accepted a contract for
$300,000 for the sale of this property. We closed on that sale just last
Thursday, January 21. We realized a profit of $269,010.
6) We looked at several possible buildings and identified two
that we preferred.
·
A 14,200
sq. ft. commercial building in Cosner’s Corner retail complex with approx.
7,000 sq. ft. finished and 7,000 unfinished. It had 92 paved parking spots.
Good location with good location for $1.8 M.
·
A 22,500
sq. ft. industrial building at Rt. 1 and 606 off of Exit 118 in Thornburg. This
building had 300 paved parking spots and had been used by a church for several
years. It was within but on the edge of our desired radius and was also listed
at $1.8 M.
7) Recently we were made aware of an opportunity to partner
with Tricord Construction in their new residential development in the New Post
area of the County. The plan calls for 425 units, some apartments, some
townhomes, mostly single-family homes and estate homes. In every one of their
developments they dedicate land to a church near the center of the development.
The parcel they donate to the church is approximately four acres and the church
is required to pay Tricord $1,500 per parking space (244 paved spaces in our
case) for a finished parking lot and a 20,000 sq. ft. building pad with
utilities on site ready for construction. So, our cost to have a relocation
site ready to build in a prime growth area at a major intersection of US 17 and
VA 2 will be in the $450,000 to $500,000 range. Tricord is very interested in
working with FredWes. On Monday evening the Leadership Team unanimously voted
to recommend this site as our relocation option. If you vote to accept their
recommendation we will enter into a letter of intent with Tricord which will
allow your TEAM and Trustees to enter negotiation with Tricord on final
conditions and cost of the project before we sign a contract. We are in the
ballpark money-wise and will have time to raise funds or arrange necessary
financing if the numbers are right.
8) This is not exactly pillar of cloud or pillar of fire type
of guidance but the fact that this opportunity presented itself near the time
of our closing Rt. 3 property when we were seeking direction seems as though it
could be Providential.
Over 40 years of wandering through the desert God gave His
people just two opportunities to enter into His Land of Promise. Incidentally,
those opportunities were 40 years apart. That’s how rare these seasons of
opportunity and favor can be. If there is anything we learn from these first few
Old Testament Books it is the necessity of moving when God says move.
“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
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