Extreme Church Makeover

When 'Extreme Home Makeover' became the hit of prime-time TV on Sunday Nights several years ago, we became captivated at the ability of ABC's crew to construct a home in 48 hours with the help of a building crew and a local crop of volunteers.

If you're in a home you watched build from the ground up ... wasn't it like a 3-4 month process?

Nope, 48 hours -- and that includes themed bedrooms and custom features from the workspaces in the garage to the backyard. There's a difference between tricked out and cracker box.

Of course, we didn't see all the behind-the-scenes work that went into the makeover before ABC's crew arrived on the scene. Applications were scoured and potential homeowners were interviewed and local partnerships were sought before anyone began formal planning.

It hit me tonight on our van ride from our church plant in Southern Cali to dinner back on the north side of town: our team of 10 (5 Americans and 5 translators) actually oversees two "Extreme Church Makeovers" during the first five days that we are in Cali.

For our team of 34 Americans participating in this Cali expedition, the total will be 14 "Extreme Church Makeovers" from the time we began on Sunday morning until the early evening of Thursday.

And yes, there is substantial behind-the-scenes work in our project too, well before our arrival on Colombian soil. Pastors and their churches are hand-selected by E3 Colombia personnel and local partnerships are also sought in the form of translators who simplify our communication barriers in communities.

And then there's the power of prayer from hundreds of Colombians and Americans ... not an after thought in any way but a priority, every step of the way.

So here we are ...

- We spent Sunday reviewing the "blueprints" that our expedition hosts, E3 (Partners) Colombia, carefully prepared for us in each barrio. On Sunday night, our team met with church leaders from the two churches we were assigned to review the plans and to make sure we are on the same page for our two-day build.

- Two days later, (tonight), our building crew (our team of 5 Americans) and local volunteers (translators) presented the homeowner, AKA Pastor Rodrigo and his church family, with the "keys" to their new home. In this case the "keys" were a stack of cards detailing information on 206 members of his community that we personally visited during the past two days. Of that group, 188 put their trust in Jesus and as newby Christians will desperately need a church to connect with others and to grow in their spiritual walk.

Pastor's Rodrigo's current church, where we visited on Sunday morning, has been in existance for 10 years and with 160 members his building is simply not large enough to handle their growth.

In 48 hours, God opened the door for us to meet with more than 200 people, with the majority being less than a couple blocks from the church plant. Like the tricked-out home with features catered to the homeowner's tastes, these names we presented to Pastor Rodrigo all submitted and approved to the doctrines of the church plant and a large majority indicated a need for a church home.

Amazingly, our van pulled away from the church after our "reveal" in the early evening and we returned to the hotel after dinner at 8:30 PM. At 6 AM on Wednesday, we will begin in prayer at our hotel for our "blueprints" for our second church project, with vans departing outside the hotel at 8:45 AM.

We will land at our second site around 9:30 AM, with a renewed commitment to give our second set of "homeowners" our best effort. The "reveal" from last night is in the past ... it's a new neighborhood, with dozens of remarkable life changes God will place us front and center to experience.

It's comforting knowing so many have been and are in prayer for us, and that God is in control. His artistic hands, which created the world in six days, can open hundres of doors for us and transform a community in 48 hours.

Perfection has its perks.

(Our picture tonight is our team praying over Pastor Rodrigo [pink shirt] and his church family after delivering him the "keys" to his new church ... the reveal. No dry eyes this time, either.)

Blessings,

Dave