Mid – February 2024 Prayer Letter
Dear Beloved Brethren and Co-Laborers,
A cordial greeting from your laborers in Costa Rica.
We pray that you will take time to read this letter in its entirety and pray that you will be sensible to the Holy Spirit as He speak to your hearts. At first I was intimidated writing this letter, to be franc afraid. But the Lord rebuked me with a quick reminder that He is the Owner of everything, to trust Him (Matthew 7: 8; Luke 11: 10) and that I must be humble not proud (1 Peter 5: 5)
Our vision ever since we answered and surrendered ourselves to the call as Missionaries to Costa Rica was to establish Independent, Fundamental Baptist Churches as well as a Baptist Seminary and a Christian school. After an in depth research of the area of Santa Ana, I have come to a conclusion that we are the only Independent, Fundamental Baptist Church; also, there are no Baptist Christian School either. Above that, we will be the first Baptist Christian School in the whole country that I am aware of, now granted there are a lot private (including Catholics) and public schools but they are very liberal.
The Missionary era that we are living nowadays is not the same as 40 to 50 years ago. During those earlier time, land were giving free to missionaries to spread the gospel in Costa Rica, but now it is totally different. Be it as it may, Costa Rica is still in need of the True Gospel of Christ and we have to make a difference because we are supposed to be different as God’s children.
After much prayer, supplications and wisdom to our Almighty Eternal God, Savior Jesus Christ and the guidance of His Holy Spirit, we come before all of you, Pastors, Churches and Personal Friends to express and elaborate on a prayer request which was mentioned to you in our last prayer letter in January regarding properties for the Church, Christian school and Seminary.
As you continue reading this letter, you probably will think that I am crazy, perhaps I am, crazy for God as I continue spreading His word, making a difference, without compromise.
For four plus years, now, we have been praying and asking God to guide us to a property, in our area Santa Ana, which will served as the main headquarters for the complex. After seeing and checking many properties, we believe the property that God has put in our way in Santa Ana, Piedades, this time, is where He wants us to be, but again it is according to His will.
I want to mention again what was written in our last prayer letter and it is the following:
Pray about a possible property for the church, school and seminary close by to where we are meeting at the moment, about a five minute drive. The property is an excellent location, on a main road in the city with surroundings houses all around. The property is about 4,471 m2/ 44,556 SF and the cost is about $17.80 per square foot; that is an excellent price being in the city. I will give more information in our next prayer letter or before. I am meeting with the real estate agent Friday February 1st at 2:00PM to discuss more regarding the zoning and other things. This is a property that I believe God put in our way, after much prayers, which cannot be ignored. Pray as the Lord guides me to make decisions for His glory.
To elaborate further, I did meet with the Real Estate Agent and the local architect, but I have to do some preliminary work on my part such as preparing Architectural sketches so we can present them to the City and Zoning Department in order to see if the property is suitable for the complex as stated above. As I am writing this letter, I am preparing the sketches so I can submit them to the Officials for their approval this week sometime. We are praying for two things to God. First is the zoning approval from the city of Santa Ana, if is approved then we are on the right track; the second thing is the financial aspect. Now there are three parts to the financial aspect, first is the land, second the preparation of the documents (Civil, Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing) and the third is the construction.
The FIRST and foremost important is the purchase of the land; it may sounds like a lot of money but in fact it is not after my research in the area comparing with other properties, especially the location as I mentioned in the previous paragraph written in red. The same property in the center of town will cost you doubled if not tripled.
The owner is asking $864, 545.00 Dollars which is about $17.80/m2 (per square meter); but I believe we can get it down to $773,300.00 dollars which is about $16.26 dollars/m2 (per square meter). It will be a very favorable deal.
We are praying for the Lord to use God’s people in a great way, 100 churches including private and business entities. The amount for each of the 100 people will be about $7, 733.00 Dollars if we pay cash for it, if not the bank will have to get involve and it will cost much, much more due to the interest; here in Costa Rica the interest rate to buy properties including land is extremely high. You may ask this question: Why 100? First and foremost, praying then searching the scriptures and the Lord reminded me of His parable regarding the 100 sheep’s (Luke 15: 4).
The SECOND aspect is the preparation of the construction documents, fees for the City, insurance fees and the appraisal fee. Below is an itemize cost of each discipline:
- Civil, Architectural, Structural, Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing __$ 55,000.00 Dollars
- City fees _____________________________________________________ $ 6,000.00 Dollars
- Insurance _____________________________________________________ $ 7,800.00 Dollars
- Appraisal fee __________________________________________________ $ 1,200.00 Dollars
TOTAL ______________________________________________________ $ 70,000.00 Dollars
**These fees above do not have to be paid right away, it could be during the course of the project (pre – construction and construction).
The THIRD aspect is the construction part. This will be done in Phases. Phase I will be the church building and the Seminary. Phase II will be the school from Kindergarten to 12th grade. We do not know the final cost until all the construction documents are complete and get an estimate. If we do get to that point, I will be involve with the local architect to get that done and also during the construction process.
**Regarding the construction cost, pray for the growth of the church and perhaps by that time, we will have enough members to pay for it.
Beloved Brethren, ¡WITH THE LORD NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE IF THAT IS HIS WILL! This is God’s work and my vision to enlarge God’s kingdom and leave a legacy behind for His glory.
Enclosed you will find a Pdf copy of the aerial view, site plan of the property and its location of where we live and meeting at the moment. Also all the design sketches which I have prepared in order to submit to the Zoning Department for their approval (that in itself would have had a cost of about $5,000.00 if another architect had done them). I will be helping and get involve in the project with a local architect (in order to save money) of whom I am dealing with, he will be doing all the construction documents as mentioned in the previous paragraph and as well sealed them.
PRAISES
- Praise the Lord in advance for whatever He will put in your heart to give toward this project. You will all leave a legacy behind and it will be to God’s glory.
My Beloved Brethren, we are truly and extremely excited to see what God is going to do; we are under His wings and His will.
Beloved Brethren, may the Love of the Almighty God, the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you All. Amen!
Brother Jean-Claude & Sister Matilde Guilbaud
Reach the World, Reach for Christ; Under His Wings Reaching the World for His Glory!