2007 – A Meeting That Changed Everything
It was 2007 when we travelled to Cancún, Mexico, for a holiday at the El Dorado Resort.
One morning, while enjoying the surroundings, we met a man named Ananias.
I greeted him warmly and, jokingly, asked him:
“Is your wife’s name Sapphira?”
It was a playful reference to the biblical story of Ananias and Sapphira, found in the biblical book of Acts 5:1–11.
Ananias looked at me.
Then he carefully looked around him.
Finally, he asked a simple but unexpected question:
“Are you a Christian?”
My answer was immediate:
“Absolutely.”
And with those few words, an extraordinary new adventure began.
Ananias invited us to join him on Sunday and visit his church.
What we found was not what we would normally imagine when hearing the word church.
There were a few poles set into concrete with corrugated metal sheets placed over them. That was the church.
Around it, walls were slowly being built.
As Ananias explained the situation, we learned that every year missionaries from Canada came to help. They would build one layer of the walls and then return home.
At that pace, it would take approximately twenty-five more years before the church could finally be completed.
Twenty-five years.
We could not simply forget what we had seen.
After returning home from our holiday, we started asking ourselves a simple question:
“What can we do?”
We began making phone calls and reaching out.
Churches were contacted.
Businesses were approached.
People were asked to help.
We even organised a sale of donated second-hand goods.
And then we organised a concert.
Step by step, people joined in.
What initially seemed like an impossible challenge began to take shape.
Within just two months, we had raised the amount needed to complete the project.
We could hardly believe how quickly people had come together.
The next step was to return to Cancún.
Together with Lub Loosman, we travelled back to Mexico.
For six weeks, we worked alongside 40 hired Imca Indigenous workers, who helped us build the church.
Day after day, brick by brick, the walls rose.
What had once seemed like a project that might take another twenty-five years was transformed in just six weeks.
It was an unforgettable experience.
But there was another beautiful moment still to come.
The owner of the El Dorado Resort arranged a special meal for 250 invited guests to celebrate the completion of the church.
It was a wonderful gathering filled with joy, gratitude and fellowship.
Looking back, what stays with us most is not the building itself.
It is the people.
The unexpected meeting with Ananias.
The question he asked.
The faith we shared.
And the many people who were willing to contribute their time, resources and energy to make something possible that had once seemed far beyond reach.
We returned home with full hearts.
Satisfied, grateful and deeply touched by everything we had been allowed to experience.
Sometimes, an adventure begins with nothing more than a friendly greeting.
A simple question.
A shared faith.
And a willingness to ask:
“What can we do?”
Because when people come together with compassion, faith and determination, even a dream that seems twenty-five years away can sometimes become reality in just six weeks.
Together, we can make a difference.