How does the Holy Spirit lead?
// George DeTellis, Jr.
In Romans 8:14 the Scripture tells us, “...the children of God shall be led by the Spirit of God.”
Like you, my life is filled with work, responsibilities, and dreams of goals I hope to accomplish.
What I have discovered is that the book of Romans is the most important book in the Bible for Christian theology, and Romans chapter eight is the key to our relationship with the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:14 the Scripture tells us, “...the children of God shall be led by the Spirit of God.” This Scripture has become my daily prayer. Like you, my life is filled with work, responsibilities, and dreams of goals I hope to accomplish. We need to be led by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:5 we are told, “...those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” Every morning I pray, “Holy Spirit, lead me this day.”
In January 2015, we celebrated the construction of our new church in the village of Playa Laguna. My wife Paula and I traveled to the Dominican Republic for the dedication service. Francesco, the contractor who built the new church, attended the dedication service along with his wife. He’s originally from Switzerland, and has been living in the DR for over 20 years. Francesco said to me, “I have found a piece of land for sale that would work well for the new school and church in Redemption.” Francesco is a Christian, and has a heart for our ministry. We do not own the land where our school is in the village of Redemption, and the building is in need of repair—with no room for expansion. We have been looking for land to build our own school and church for over five years without any success. The next day, Francesco took us to see the land. It was right off the main highway, on the corner of two streets. It is high land with a beautiful view of the mountains. But, the price was $127,000—which is quite expensive. As I walked the land and took pictures, I felt in my spirit that we needed to buy this property. In the natural, this was not a good business decision. The total projected cost to build a new church and school (including the property) is $500,000.
We have 300 children in the Redemption school—most of whom are Haitian. At our board meeting last year, we voted to buy the land. Now begins the hard work of fundraising. I started sharing the vision and showing pictures of the land at my speaking engagements. At each church, I told the congregation that whatever money they gave that day would be designated for the new church and school in Los Castillos—which will replace the school in Redemption. Then, last summer, someone called our office and made a donation for the balance needed to purchase the land. In February 2016, we completed the purchase of the land in Los Castillos. This month, I will be meeting with the builder, Francesco, and we will be staking out the location for the new buildings. Now we need to raise the money for the new church and school. In His timing, I know God will provide, and we will have a great ministry in this village.
