Saludos from Chile, where the weather and the activity are hot. God is moving in grand ways as we struggle to get details ready for the construction of Colegio Cristiano Conosur (CCC), our K-12 Christian school for the families around Talagante, Chile.
Does our community WANT Colegio Cristiano Conosur?
We're pretty sure that the answer is "yes." I don't know if I ever told you that CCC will be the first and only Christian school in an extended community that includes about 400,000 people. People say that they want the quality education we promise them, along with the uniform and loving discipline, and the cross-cultural opportunities.
So, it shouldn't be a surprise that we have 300 families who have expressed enough interest to put themselves on our CCC mailing list in Chile. And our marketing guy, Cristian Godoy, has accomplished that all through personal contacts, without one word of advertising and without leaving the city limits of Talagante. Soon he will begin work in Padre Hurtado nearby, which I believe is the fastest-growing community in Chile right now. Our goal is to have 720 families signed up by August. That is 2x the number we hope to enroll in August-November, or 360 students. Imagine the blessing of having a waiting list! It could happen.
Preparations for construction are moving rapidly!
The engineers and architects who are designing the specialty projects, such as construction engineering, electrical, potable water, sewage, etc., are making a heroic effort to have all drawings and calculations ready for review by an independent reviewer by February 23. Then, our own Independent Reviewer will check the calculations, and we will present the information to various construction firms for bids.
At the same time, the plans go in for approval at the Municipality of Talagante. We have had three impromptu meetings with the top guy in the Works Department, each time with good results, so we're hoping our permits to build will come quickly.
PLEASE PRAY FOR PLEASANT SURPRISES ON THE BIDS! Even if God may shock us with costs higher than we want, we are trusting him to open and close doors in clear ways.
The bank continues to send positive signals, asking for more information to keep our file updated.
Did you ever have that feeling about something you prayed for for a long time, then there's that scary moment of "Yikes, God is giving us what we asked for! Now what?" With bank approval and building permits in place, we could be building in early April!
A couple of great advances on the financial front.
Great news on this front. Since our last letter, we have received gifts or pledges totaling $47,800, which becomes worth $95,600 with the contribution of the contributor who will match funds 1-to-1. We need to have $260,000 in hand when we sign the final deal with the bank.
Please consider how you could help make this start-up a reality. God has been fantastic, but he always does it through His people.
Contact me at the email above if you are interested in making a loan to CCM, transferring appreciated stocks, or making a donation specifically for startup.
Cheryl and I and all the Conosur team pray for God's richest blessings to overflowing in all of your lives! Thank you for being partners with us as we work to see Jesus Christ glorified.
Jim Green
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Nervous time in Chile - Would you be nervous with us?
Greetings from HOT Chile (no pun intended)! I (Jim) arrived on Monday from cool Palmdale to torrid temperatures in Santiago. But I have a lot of lizard in me and love the hot weather.
Progress toward construction
Friends, we are moving rapidly now toward the goal of starting the construction of Colegio Cristiano Conosur later in the North American Spring. I just got back from a visit with the engineer designing the electrical system and a group whom we may choose to design the computational networks for the school. It was really fun, but as always God touched my financial nerve as every suggestion from the experts had the smell of money.
God knows our areas of greatest weakness (= least faith), and seems always to hit us at those points to encourage us to overcome in faith.
In any case, we've been pretty successful so far at finding hungry contractors who will give us a good price. Our engineers contracted at 1/2 the price we had been offered in a couple of previous cost estimates through building contractors.
BancoEstado continues to be surprisingly willing to work with us. When we presented a tentative business plan to the agent, he said that they could do nothing until we had hard figures for engineering, construction, etc; however, he said, leave me the document. He passed it along to the risk department of the bank. The first person to analyze the report said, "I like it," and passed it to the top. The last response from that person was, "When will you have the property in a position to be used as collateral. We view this as a very positive signal, and an important reason why we must continue to raise start-up capital (see below).
Financial Progress
We still are a long way from the start-up capital we need in 2012, but this is a project that God has blessed to this point. He will provide. We need $260,000 in hand to pay start-up costs, such as salaries, computers, curriculum materials, and classroom furniture. Since instituting the one-to-one matching plan, we have available $55,000, leaving us with $205,000 more to raise.
As a reminder, you can participate in several ways to keep the project moving forward:
• Donations by check (see the letterhead) or via PayPal;
• Unsecured loans, repayable in late 2014 or early 2015 with 5% annual interest;
• Use of a Self-Directed IRA to allow you to loan funds without having to expose them to current taxation (hit "Reply" with your questions);
And now, you can contribute appreciated securities, such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds to the CCM account with Fidelity Investments. Please open the attached file to see that it is as easy as ABC. One family has already indicated their interest in transferring a quantity of Apple stock. Very, very, thankful we are. If you look into it, you will find that this method of donations has a double tax benefit.
Upon arriving in Chile, I began meetings with Nélida, the future Principal of the school, making great progress toward the policies, administrative structure, and curriculum of the school. In March, we will have a visiting pastor David Espinoza and his wife Mona from La Trinidad Church in San Fernando leading a mini-revival in our churches in Chile. At the same time, CCM board member Kathy Downs will be in Chile presenting to the team a school-wide discipline program we would love to see instituted in Colegio Cristiano Conosur. More details later on this very effective program.
We need your prayers for God's coverage and protection. If you or someone you know can work with us on raising the capital we need, your efforts will be directed in a way that bears eternal consequences. Thank you all for a great 2011, and we look forward to an even better 2012.
Love in Christ,
Jim and Cheryl Green
Progress toward construction
Friends, we are moving rapidly now toward the goal of starting the construction of Colegio Cristiano Conosur later in the North American Spring. I just got back from a visit with the engineer designing the electrical system and a group whom we may choose to design the computational networks for the school. It was really fun, but as always God touched my financial nerve as every suggestion from the experts had the smell of money.
God knows our areas of greatest weakness (= least faith), and seems always to hit us at those points to encourage us to overcome in faith.
In any case, we've been pretty successful so far at finding hungry contractors who will give us a good price. Our engineers contracted at 1/2 the price we had been offered in a couple of previous cost estimates through building contractors.
BancoEstado continues to be surprisingly willing to work with us. When we presented a tentative business plan to the agent, he said that they could do nothing until we had hard figures for engineering, construction, etc; however, he said, leave me the document. He passed it along to the risk department of the bank. The first person to analyze the report said, "I like it," and passed it to the top. The last response from that person was, "When will you have the property in a position to be used as collateral. We view this as a very positive signal, and an important reason why we must continue to raise start-up capital (see below).
Financial Progress
We still are a long way from the start-up capital we need in 2012, but this is a project that God has blessed to this point. He will provide. We need $260,000 in hand to pay start-up costs, such as salaries, computers, curriculum materials, and classroom furniture. Since instituting the one-to-one matching plan, we have available $55,000, leaving us with $205,000 more to raise.
As a reminder, you can participate in several ways to keep the project moving forward:
• Donations by check (see the letterhead) or via PayPal;
• Unsecured loans, repayable in late 2014 or early 2015 with 5% annual interest;
• Use of a Self-Directed IRA to allow you to loan funds without having to expose them to current taxation (hit "Reply" with your questions);
And now, you can contribute appreciated securities, such as stocks, bonds, or mutual funds to the CCM account with Fidelity Investments. Please open the attached file to see that it is as easy as ABC. One family has already indicated their interest in transferring a quantity of Apple stock. Very, very, thankful we are. If you look into it, you will find that this method of donations has a double tax benefit.
Upon arriving in Chile, I began meetings with Nélida, the future Principal of the school, making great progress toward the policies, administrative structure, and curriculum of the school. In March, we will have a visiting pastor David Espinoza and his wife Mona from La Trinidad Church in San Fernando leading a mini-revival in our churches in Chile. At the same time, CCM board member Kathy Downs will be in Chile presenting to the team a school-wide discipline program we would love to see instituted in Colegio Cristiano Conosur. More details later on this very effective program.
We need your prayers for God's coverage and protection. If you or someone you know can work with us on raising the capital we need, your efforts will be directed in a way that bears eternal consequences. Thank you all for a great 2011, and we look forward to an even better 2012.
Love in Christ,
Jim and Cheryl Green
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)