Testimony – Breaker Team Partner
Hello Patricia,
We thank the Lord for your coming to Maine! My pastor and friends were so blessed by your visit!! We are taking every teaching and applying it to our lives. It was very refreshing and such a blessing to be part of a group of people, in love with Jesus! It was very encourging to us, because we want the outpouring of His Spirit in this area! We received everything that was taught, and imparted, and will forge ahead to what the Lord wants in this wonderful state of Maine. We shall continue to pray for all of you, for strength, favor and blessings of all kinds to advance His kingdom!!
with much love & gratitude,
L.R. – breaker team partner
Testimony – God’s Timing in Sale of Rental Property
A little over a year ago, I began to understand that I needed to sell a townhome (my former residence) that I have kept since February 2007 as a rental property. Sale of this property would not only free up the equity to be used for Kingdom purposes, it would allow me to become debt-free, with the exception of the mortgage on my current home. I also had a sincere desire to simplify my life, reducing the number of directions in which my attention must be focused during the course of a month.
The first challenge in selling the property had to do with the personal situation of my tenants: a dear Christian couple, with two young children. The wife and mother had survived a failed suicide attempt in August 2008 (thank you to our web congregation for your prayers for Lynn during that season), and in spite of intensive treatment and spiritual counseling throughout the fall and winter, was still in a very fragile state. I hesitantly informed the husband, in February 2009, that I sensed God telling me that 2009 was the year to sell the townhome. At the time, he could not imagine how his wife would take the news of an impending move. So, I continued to pray about the timing. In May, I presented them with formal notice (per the requirements of the lease) that I would be putting the home on the market in June. Thankfully, as it turns out (God is so faithful), Lynn’s condition had improved sufficiently that her husband had told her of our February discussion just a few days before they received my notification.
I knew I did not have the energy or expertise to do “For Sale By Owner”, so I contacted a realtor I knew from a church we both attended in years past. I had had only occasional contact with him and his wife for the intervening 3-4 years, but he has a Kingdom perspective, and if I was going to be paying anyone a commission, I wanted it to be him. My property was formally listed in June 2009, and I must be frank: there was very little market interest. As many will understand, the real estate industry shifted (basically stagnated) nationwide in 2008, and even in highly desirable locations, things were moving slowly (if at all). Although there was not much movement on the sales end of things, God did open up an amazing opportunity for my tenants. A mutual friend of ours was shipping off to Bill Johnson’s ministry in Redding, CA for an indeterminate period of time, and needed to find renters for her house during her absence. After 2-1/2 months of living in a townhome that could potentially be sold out from underneath them, the prospect of renting a stand-alone home, with yard, and garden, next to a creek, was a Godsend, and my tenants moved out of my townhome in late August. (An unexpected by-product of the move was that Lynn began to flourish in every way almost immediately following their move.)
As soon as my townhome was vacated, I had it thoroughly cleaned – inside and out, top to bottom, including garage and windows. Surely someone was going to be enthralled with the place: pleasing floor plan, very nice architectural lines, beautiful surroundings, etc… Zilch. September, October, November… going into the winter in the mountains of Colorado, things were looking bleak – this is not the time of year that properties sell. During the month of December, there was not a single showing, and I was becoming a bit anxious. Each month that the townhome remained vacant depleted my savings further, as I carried the mortgage and utilities. This could not go on indefinitely, and the “practical” thing would have been to get another tenant, even short-term. Perhaps you can imagine the conversations I was having with the Lord: repenting for any and every possibly unwise use of the funds to which He had entrusted me; declaring my trust in His perfect timing; pleading with Him to pleeease bring along the right folks to buy the home; reminding myself that it all belongs to Him, anyway; wondering aloud why my tenants had been so blessed, while I was still waiting for my own relief.
I visited the home regularly, worshipping God there, thanking Him for the healing I had received while I lived there, calling forth the future owners, speaking blessings over them, etc. And still, nothing. Expenses mounted, savings dwindled. I reduced the price twice, hoping to appeal to a broader market. So many prophetic words that were given during this time, both personally and to the body, spoke of God’s provision and His redemption of things that had been stolen in the past, or just not grasped and held on to. This included some of Patricia’s teachings recorded for the web church. By God’s grace, I continued to faithfully support the various ministries I had been contributing to financially, trusting that He is the God who sees. Isn’t it interesting how sometimes He lets us Feel the Need so acutely before He answers? In February, a young couple returned for a second visit to my townhome, and ultimately made an offer. We closed the deal on March 23rd, for much less than I would have hoped to receive, but overall I am so grateful for God’s provision in this season and the financial freedom that the sale has entailed. I do not know what the remainder of [the year] will hold, but I know that my Father is never late, and that He sees and remembers me. I am also extremely grateful for those (including our web fellowship) who have stood by me in prayer during this time.
May you be blessed in even greater degree than I have been blessed by you!
M.T. – Colorado
