In Mexico, many families live in a cramped city environment and rarely have the time or the resources to get away and relax as a family. Many churches also have a great deal of trouble finding a suitable place for family and couple retreats. Mike has a strong desire to resolve both of these occurrences. His desire has been to purchase land near their house and church to build a retreat center.
Nearly two decades ago, God called the Richardson’s to establish a local ministry to the isolated people in the mountains, and they have remained committed to bringing the believers there to maturity in Christ and reaching others who live in the outlying areas.
Since all of their outreach efforts focus on developing a godly family unit, a natural outgrowth of their church, conference, and evangelism activities was to build a family camp—a place where parents could bring their families to get away from the cramped, violent city life and spend time together as a family.
A few years ago, most of Mexico incurred increasing violence and threat of terror due to drug cartel. Mike and his family had a burden for the soldiers and residents within these violently and hotly contested areas between Monterrey the USA border. Seeing the violence firsthand, and witnessing the heartbreak and terror in the lives of everyday people spurred Mike on with his vision to build a Family Camp—a place where families could spend time together and the greatest danger was a bear or a rattle snake, not a guy with a machine gun!
The first parcel of land was purchased and is now under development. The family camp, like the conferences and magazine, are available to Mexican families free of charge. The family camp would be made up of rustic cabins spread throughout the property with a central meeting place. It would give families a peaceful environment to bring their families, relax, and learn more about the Lord. To date, the Richardson’s have already hosted many family camps.
Mike negotiated and prayed about buying three more tracks of land for over seven years. One trusted Mexican advisor said, “I believe the Lord has been making changes in your ministry to make it broader and more effective. The possibility of buying these large tracts of land appears to be part of God’s plan. Let’s pray and believe that resources come to take this step.” Another one of Mike’s Mexican advisors told him, “Do not buy just one of those lots. You need to buy both of them!”
In a matter of a few weeks God provided $23,000! Over the next year the Lord provided the entire purchase price of the two larger tracts of land. All that remains to be paid are government fees and closing cost. They come to about $12,000.
The third tract is a small lot of about two acres. It is in the middle of the rest of the property. Half of the purchase price has been paid. The remaining $7,500 will be due at closing.
Would you take a moment and ask God if he would have you give a special one-time gift for the camp or if he would have you begin making a recurring donation? If the answer to either or both of these questions is yes, then click here and select family camp to make your one-time or recurring donation.
Vida Nueva Ministries was founded in the early 90’s to bring the hope and light of Jesus Christ to the Mexican people and the Spanish-speaking world. It is our desire to equip and build the Christian family, and advance the Kingdom of God in this culture. Thank you for all of your prayers and support!
