Important: Things Move Up a Notch

Greetings everyone,

 

It’s been a while since we’ve written regarding the property, as things have pretty much kept the status quo for the last 5 months. However, today things have taken a new step forward.

 

Up till now, the agreement that we have had with the owner in regards to the large 45+ acre property is that, in lieu of rent we would maintain and do reparations on the existing buildings. We have been doing this and made 3 of the 5 structures livable. All of this has been a verbal agreement, with no actual paperwork being done.

 

Today, the lawyer in charge of the property came to visit with us and talk about putting things into a more definite form – an actual contract/lease. During the conversation the lawyer revealed to us that:

1)       there has been an offer of R10 mil. (aprox $1.3 mil. USD) by another potential buyer

2)       The owner is still open to leasing to us for 2 – 3 years under the current agreement

3)       Likely, if the owner decided to sell (anytime during the lease), we would have to either counter the offer, or give up the property within a given time period

 

In response we shared the following with him

1)       We would like to buy the entire property (all 45+ acres)

2)       We would like a 5 year fixed agreement on the purchase. In other words, the owner would give us a full five years to come up with the purchase amount, during which he could not sell it out from underneath us.

3)       We would agree on certain projects over the next 5 years, that if we defaulted on purchasing, he would still have a benefit of our being here.

4)       If the owner did not agree to the above, we would maintain our current agreement and would still have right of first refusal

 

The lawyer (who is a very nice man) will be getting back to the owner with our suggestions and be hammering out a more permanent agreement soon.

 

I believe we can do it.

 

Our vision has grown significantly over the last 8 months and we are envisioning a large University of the Nations campus, which could house 300+ students per quarter to be trained in the areas of Primary Health Care, Biblical Studies, Arts, Media, and Discipleship training – very similar to the existing  UofN Kona. This goes along with our initial word from the Lord (on which we move here) that we are to see Swazis take their place in world missions. In a nation where the sole university isn’t even open ¾ of the year, I see this as an amazing opportunity.

 

Would you be praying for us? This Monday we will be having a day of prayer and fasting on the YWAM base for the property and God’s direction. We would appreciate your being part of some sort of prayer on behalf of YWAM Swaziland.

 

Prayer Points:

• That the conversation with the owner would go well and he would be willing to agree to a non-conventional offer.
• The lawyer would be able to open doors for us with the owner
• That the doors for talk and negotiation would stay open – that the owner would not sell to another, and interested parties would lose interest
• For Lisa and I as we will be taking a 2 day retreat in early April with the sole purpose of putting the larger 20 year vision onto paper
• Our ability to connect with people whom God would put on their hearts to invest substantially in the future of YWAM in Swaziland

 

In the meantime we are finishing up our current School of Biblical Studies (SBS) – a first for Swaziland(!), and have 2 DTSes planned for the remainder of the year. We are taking on new staff (and releasing some of the older ones to their own works), and are considering how to maintain the SBS and pioneer the biblical department for long-term sustainability and impact in the community.

 

 In short, we are continuing to expand. Please be praying for us that we could continue to grow here on Ukuthula Compton.

 

With blessings,

Jim & Lisa