The following is a letter from Hawatthia Jones and Byron Benitez concerning a great opportunity to purchase property for the Latin American Theological Institute. Please read and give prayerful consideration to helping this great work! I could not open the attachment with pictures of the property, but if you are interested, please contact me and I will get pictures to you.
djb
Greetings Family, Friends and Supporter of Mission Guatemala!
It is our hope and prayer that you are enjoying this holiday season with your family and loved ones. It is also our prayer that God will bless each of you a prosperous 2013.
Many of you have told us to notify you when we have specific special needs. Well, at this time, there is a very important need for your assistance and we pray that you will be able to participate. Please excuse the general e-mail, but this is the quickest way to contact many of you at the same time.
We have been blessed with a special opportunity to buy both the house we are renting and the house where ITL, our preaching training school, is located. The owner of our house is the son of the lady who owns the property where ITL meets. Due to circumstances beyond their control they need to sell both properties and have given us first option to buy both of them before they place them on the market. We believe that it is a great opportunity for our work and want to take advantage of it.
Please allow us to give you some details about the properties. First, the owner of our house plans to ask $95,000 for his house but is willing to sell it to us for $70,000. It is a four-bedroom, 4 1/2 bath house, with two additional rooms that can be converted into bedrooms. We have priced property in our neighborhood and have found that the $95,000 that he wants is reasonable since property in the Guatemala City area is quite expensive, especially in neighborhoods that are still deemed safe. We have lived in this neighborhood since we arrived to Guatemala in March of 2000.
The second property, which joins our house, is what we presently use for ITL. It includes a three-bedroom, 3-½ bath house, a two-bedroom, one bath apartment, and a studio apartment. Presently, our students live there and all of our classes for the school take place there. Remember that we have both a full-time program and a Saturday program. This property belongs to our landlord’s mother. She is willing to sell us her property for $80,000.
So, the total for both properties will be $150,000 and we presently have approximately $80,000 that we have raised to purchase property for ITL. We say approximately due to the exchange conversion rate. We will need to only raise $70,000 to purchase both properties.
We believe in using the monies we are entrusted the best way that we can and we believe this is a good way. The following are only some of the advantages for this purchase:
- The price for both properties is good for the area where they are located.
- We will no longer be paying rent and that money can be used in other areas of the ministry.
- Since the properties are next to one another, this provides an opportunity for the expansion of ITL as it grows.
- We are already in the facilities. We have lived in our house since 2000 and have rented the other property for ITL since 2009.
- The properties are centrally located for both the full-time students and for those who study on Saturday. Our full-time students are close to shopping and the other things they need for daily living. It is a fairly easy commute for our Saturday students to come where we are presently located.
- The properties are located in a safe area. Since we also have teachers who come from the U.S. to teach, this is very important.
- By purchasing the property, we will avoid the additional costs entailed in having to move our residence and the location of the school, and having to rent another house and another facility for ITL, which would likely be much more expensive than what we are currently paying for both.
We are calling on you to help us purchase these properties. If you can help us, we assure you that you donation will be put to its greatest use. We are also asking to inform as many people as you know about the great opportunity with which we have been blessed. We need to say “yes” to the sellers very soon. So, we need to hear from you as soon as you can to let us know if you can help. You have more than one option to get your donation to us. You can go to our secured website and donate online by clicking here. You can also send your tax-deductible donation to our overseeing congregation at the following address:
Kingsley Terrace Church of Christ
c/o Dwaine Himes/Guatemala Mission
2031 E. 30th Street
Indianapolis, IN 46218
Please note on your form of payment “Guatemala Property Fund.”
We are attaching pictures of the properties. We are also attaching an electronic “Property Donation Intent Form” to this message. Whether you donate online or through regular mail, please, send us this form through e-mail so that we can know more precisely the funds that have been raised for this purchase. We will keep everyone posted as we raise funds.
THANK YOU so much for the love and concern that you have for the Lord’s work in Guatemala. Thank you also for helping us to achieve this milestone in our work. Again, please help us get the word out to as many as possible about the opportunity we have with the purchase of these two properties. Please remember to keep the work in Guatemala and us in your daily prayers.
May God continue to bless. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
We love you! Happy New Year!!!
Hawatthia
Byron
“Teaching the CENTRAL MESSAGE in CENTRAL AMERICA!”