Favor

There’s a saying, that says "I’d rather be lucky than good", but I will add to that… I’d rather have the favor of God!

The short story is we planned on a three day scouting trip in Mexico to finalize plans for our November Mexican national pastors RPLNISH Experience where we were planning on replenishing 30 Mexican pastors by doing three trips back to back to back. We had to look at properties, arrange for meals, transportation and activities. We didnt know the location, so we were planning to do lots of research. God had other plans, we had everything done in 10 hours and were able to leave early!

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The long version

Planning a RPLNISH Experience takes lots of prep work, especially when we are going into a new location. The end result of our Expriences is a chill event where participants get to know each other, have incredible fellowship over amazing food, rest, relax, refuel, conquer some outdoor activities (usually adrenaline things like fishing, hunting, hiking or shooting or riding). We want to same vibe for out Mexican National pastors and leaders.

We initially met pastor Pablo on our first RPLNISH Experience for international, non American pastors in Campeche Mexico in 2023. He caught the vision. His level of engagement, the questions he asked, the copious notes he took, they all showed us this guy really got what we were all about.

So, we blocked off about 2.5 days to travel, plan, see locations, confirm facilities, scout activities, plan, plot, pray, etc. When we landed either God or Pablo (probably both) took over and everything came together so quickly and favorably, we knew we were onto something. Not only was the facility inviting and perfect for RPLNISH, but we found out that we could do five groups in one week instead of three weeks. Yes, this will be a new paradigm for us but we are excited. We will do five RPLNISH Experiences at the same time in the same location. We will have five facilitators leading five groups so we can still maintain intimacy.

We literally had everything we needed in hours. Here is an example: we needed a restaurant in the town near the facility. The facility has an amazing kitchen and cooking there is a great opportunity for volunteers but we discovered that a dinner in a nice restaurant was something our pastors don't get very often. So we visited a couple of places that were okay. I asked Pablo to take us to the best place in town because we wanted to treat him to an amazing meal. While we were eating, the owner (and former mayor) introduced himself to us and before the end of our meal, we had a restaurant booked. Not only did we book the nicest place in town but at a crazy, really crazy price. Angels no doubt went before us, as was our prayer but God really put this thing together, right and quick. So much so, that we were able to change our flights and head back early. For a bonus we even got to eat at a five star Michelin taqueria.