The goal looked impossible when Pastor Jacob Wiebe stood before his congregation and asked if they would “trust Him to do the impossible!”
The goal had been on the horizon for ten years: buy property where the Calvario congregation in Mexico could build their own church. According to Linda Wiebe, “We need more space.” They needed space that they owned, not space they rented.
“We started meeting in a store. When the owner realized we were having services there, she would no longer let us use it. Then we met in a house and moved around renting places,” Linda said.
Even though small, the members wanted to help spread the Good News so they traveled to a church in the mountains to help them build a meeting shelter. It astonished the mountain church that folks who had traveled a long, hard trail to help them build did not have a permanent church home.
First, Calvario needed property. About 10 years ago a small congregation in El Dorado donated a down payment towards a building. Wiebe put the donation into an account for purchasing property when they found a site.
Through the next nine years, members added what they could. No one contributed thousands of dollars all at once. Members at Calvario did not have a lot, according to Linda.
Finally in November 2025, they saw two small adjacent properties on the market. “We had enough on hand to pay off one of the properties, and half the asking price for the second. Even so, the remaining portion seemed so far out of our reach that we strongly considered nixing the deal,” Linda said.
Instead, Pastor Jacob stood before the congregation, explained the amount of money needed within two months to pay for the property without going into debt. He then looked each member in the eye and quietly asked: “Is our God too small to pull this off? If we truly believe that this property is His will for us, maybe we should trust Him to do the impossible!” He asked the folks to vote.
In telling the story both Linda and Jacob said, “The raised hands were trembling big time, but there was a unanimous vote to go forward.” They agreed to purchase and have faith that God would supply the funds necessary.
The Wiebes went home and hastily made a large paper thermometer to color in as funds were received. They tacked it to the front wall of the church. While trusting God to multiply their funds they held fundraisers: Bake sales, yard sales and a raffle when a family donated a breadmaker. They sold clothes and food at the local flea market.
“After each fundraiser, we anxiously watched as the red-Crayola ‘mercury’ on the paper thermometer gradually inched upward,” Linda said.
Unasked for, funds arrived from other ministries and individuals. “Two churches in California donated money. Jacob does a zoom study with them periodically. The other we do not know. One of the ladies in my Bible Study likes to help missionaries. A month or two later they sent $1,000. Two of the Mennonite churches that have served with Jacob on mission trips to the Indians, heard that we were going to build. They gave. The other church that we work with also put in a contribution.”
“Once word got around, there would be an odd jump upward every so often, but as the closing due date loomed ever nearer, the thermometer’s mercury line began its slow taunt, There is a fine line between faith and foolishness.’”
‘ In a letter to their supporters, the Wiebes wrote, “ladies and gentlemen, two days before the agreed-upon deadline, God proved to every ‘doubting Thomas’ in the group that He is absolutely capable of pulling off the ‘impossible’!”
With the paperwork in the process of completion, prayers and plans have already begun for the church’s building phases. The congregation, having seen God do the impossible in buying the property, now trusts He will provide for the building.