S.O.S. - The School of the supernatural
Introduction
In early 2016, Clara and Jose had been saving for a long time every penny they could spare so that they could buy Clara a white motorcycle to assist her with her various, and ever growing, ministries throughout the village of Bretaña. At that time they had no outside support organizations. Almost all their incoming funds went for the construction of the church at Bretaña, or for construction for the various remote village churches they were establishing.
As more and more remote village pastors were put in place, a tremendous need arose for a building that could be used as a central pastoral training facility, especially during the monsoon seasons. For several years God laid a new idea upon their hearts that was so massive that they called it the School of the Supernatural (SOS) because only through God’s amazing grace could anything of this size be paid for and constructed. This vision called for a two-story building for housing men and women on the first floor and an “Upper Room” for prayer and bible study.
God also impressed upon them that they were, by faith, to use all the monies they had saved for Clara’s motorcycle to pay for concrete and heavy steel rods so that multiple concrete-post foundations for SOS could be laid. The building had to be erected above ground-level due to occasional flooding of the land that was available for it to sit upon. They had no idea where any remaining monies were to come from to actually erect the building. Every decision was based on faith that God would provide.
Their vision for SOS was shared with Pastor Bobby Atkins when Jose and Clara met with him in his office in early 2017. When Bobby called Pastor Barry Clingan, he also shared this with him. Pastor Barry’s church has a formal Academy. Therefore, while planning their July 2017 first missionary trip to Bretaña, the school children collected spare change for months for Barry to give Jose and Clara for their ministry, once he arrived.
The children raised nearly $2000 which Barry took with him on that trip. While there, once they heard the story of the sacrificial gift of delaying the purchase of the motorcycle so the construction of SOS could begin, the entire missionary team took up a collection among themselves, added it to the funds Barry already had, and handed enough money to Jose to purchase the bike. With tears in his eyes he remarked: Had we bought the motorbike all we would have would be the bike. But with this gift we not only have the foundation set in place for SOS, but we also have a new motorbike for Clara’s use. And they bought a white one.
The Work Finally Continues
When Pastor Barry returned with his missionary team in July 2019, the only addition to the SOS project was a 100-yard concrete 3-wheeler roadway. This ran from the 3-wheeler road in front of the Bretaña church down to what would become the front entrance of SOS. It provided a pathway that could be used for future construction, even during flooding. It was finally built a few months before the team arrived as Jose and Clara now had two small partner churches in Georgia and Texas helping them with some of their financing needs.
On the first morning there, a “God-thing” occurred at the foundation piers. A 2.1 acre parcel of land, totally covered in dense forest, was next to the SOS property. Jose had been trying to purchase it for a long time to become a garden area to assist with the pastoral training that was to come. But no funds were available. He knew what he thought it would take to buy it and clean it off, and shared this with the group that was present. One of the team members set foot in the forest area, and immediately returned to tell Jose that he had just received word from God that he and his wife were to donate the monies necessary to buy the land, as well as clean it off. From the concrete pad in front of the piers, a call was made to this person’s wife, and funds were transferred to Jose’s bank in Iquitos the very next day. Within two weeks the land was acquired.
But now another issue arose. The ministry had extremely old and well-worn tools and equipment, of which most were just completely worn out from the various churches that had been built using them, so far. That same day, God spoke again to this team member and just before departing Iquitos to fly back to the USA, Pastor Larri, Jose’s son-in-law and ministry carpenter, went on a shopping spree with this individual and returned to Bretaña with nearly $1500 of new tools and much needed machinery.
This equipment was exactly what was required to finally be in a position to start actual work on the SOS building. Now they just needed for God to provide the funds for building materials.
But Delays Set In
While small amounts of funds continued to arrive for the purchasing of lumber and hardware to start construction on the SOS building, the worldwide Covid pandemic hit Peru and Bretana. Over the next year, Jose, Clara, Larri and his wife Jazmin would all come down with the virus, all at different times, totally delaying any construction on the SOS building for months on end.
The Work Goes On
Finally in 2021 work was able to proceed in earnest on the SOS building, but again only as funds arrived to buy needed materials to do so. Part of the building would go up, then nothing would happen for weeks while everyone awaited additional donations to arrive. But God is great and finally the support beams and roof were constructed. Then in December of 2021 the first-floor wood floor was put in place. Then in January of 2022 the first wall, the front wall of the building, was put up. In February 2022 more funds arrived and two additional walls were erected. Construction on the fourth- wall began in April of 2022.
$2000 arrived later in 2022 which allowed for the purchase of the sinks, toilets, light fixtures, and two large water tanks for the two bathrooms in the building. They are in storage awaiting donations that will allow for the purchase of the tile walls and tile flooring - which have to be installed first.
In June of 2023, a $2700 donation was received dedicated to the completion of the Upper Room within the SOS building. That area will be dedicated to being a room of prayer, a room for very specialized bible study/training, and any other unique needs the ministry may develop. The flooring, walls, stairway and rails were completed in mid-July of 2023 and the remaining work, the windows and screens, were completed in November of 2023.
In February of 2024, $900 was donated to finish and install all the windows to the first floor of the SOS building.
In May of 2024, $4800 was donated to complete the first two bathrooms within the building, to include the two septic tanks required. Also, another $1000 was raised to purchase new fencing badly needed around the 2-acre garden area. Once funds arrive, the fencing can be installed.
In July of 2024, $2400 was donated by The Church at Trophy Lakes to install the chain-link fencing around the SOS property. Also, in July of 2024, funds were donated to install a beautiful front door onto the SOS building.
Currently in June of 2024, the following fruit trees are growing on the SOS property: 7 types of Bananas, Limes, Guayaba, green and yellow Coconuts, red and green Yuca, Guava, Shimbillo, Papaya, and Cocoa trees.
A complete set of pictures is now available below for your viewing.
On the Donate Now page, there is a section called OUR NEEDS that lists the items needed to complete the building and furnish it. Everything still needed is shown there. Other needs are also shown, and the page will be updated regularly – going forward.