In the Beginning
To help you get a feel for our history and maybe even help you feel like a part of the family, I thought it would be helpful to give a little history on Calvary Chapel Chandler for those that have recently joined us.
The beginning of this story actually started more than 20 years ago when a friend and I drove to visit our mothers in Arizona. I was heading to Tucson and was going to drop my friend off here in Chandler. When we arrived, it became very apparent to me that it had been a long time since my friend had visited his mother. Because when we got to Chandler we had to pull over at the intersection of Chandler Blvd and Alma School Road to stand on the hood of my car while scanning the horizon for MOM’S HOUSE! Well, as my friend kept looking for his mother, I began to hear that still small voice. It was then that I heard God tell me that this was where he was calling me to minister. In most cases this would be cause for total elation, except that when I was standing on that intersection many years ago, there was nothing but farm land! All I could think to myself was, HERE? Then it hit me, there I was, staring out at a bunch of sheep and then it made all the sense in the world: This is where I have called you to feed my sheep.
Wow, I still have to fight back the tears when I think of that day. Well, after many years of ministry preparation, that day came when the Lord finally said, It is time to go to Chandler, Arizona. That is where this store begins.
In May of 2000, my wife Debbie, daughter Cheyanne, and I moved to Chandler to follow the vision that the Lord placed on my heart many years ago. I must admit that when I first got here I had no idea of just how much that would mean. The Lord continually does more than I ever expected Him to do. This venture of faith always reminds me of that scripture He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.
When we first arrived in Chandler, we believed that God was leading us to immediately find a building, rather than the normal approach of meeting in a school or home fellowship setting.
When we started our search for a building, we drove everywhere. What is really interesting is that we drove right by Warner and Arizona Ave. When we saw that street called Grace Lane, I remember telling my wife, Oh man, that would be perfect: Calvary Chapel on Grace Lane! But at the time, it was a little out of our price range for building space, so we continued. After a long search we finally found the building located at 590 N Alma School Road. Now this is truly amazing! You remember that intersection that my friend and I stopped at? Well for those of you not familiar with the area, 590 N Alma School is exactly one block north of Chandler and Alma School. Whoa, how is that for a God-incidence! So there we are one block from the place that God spoke to me, and this venture of faith has only just begun!
Our First Building
Question: should we take this building and start a church? We have NO house, NO job, not even a church member! Hey in the eyes of man, that is an easy decision: are you crazy! But, in the eyes of a mighty God, the answer was yes. We still wanted confirmation of what we believed the Lord was leading us to, so we decided to make some pretty unrealistic requests from the owner and prayed, Lord, if this be of You, then You make it happen. So we presented it to the owners and not only did they accept each and ever request, they also agreed to give us six months free rent (we only asked for three)! Once again, exceedingly above all that we had asked. Shortly after moving into our home, we starting remodeling our new, and still empty, church. During that time we were praying for the Lord to send the workers and those whom he wanted here. Because we wanted Him to do it all and get all the glory, we decided not to do any advertising, but just wait and see what God would do.
Imagine our surprise when Kendal walked in the door and told us that he just felt led to stop by! It was amazing how many came saying the same thing, God just led us here. Well, we finished the building, and were getting ready for our first service when again, with no advertisement at all, we found this empty little church was 100% full on our first service! Praise GOD!
The Battle Has Begun
I don’t want to sound presumptuous or prideful, but it was not very long before we realized somebody was getting really nervous! Satan was getting a little concerned about this little church in Chandler. I say this in total recognition that God was doing the work, and all we were doing was waiting to be used. What was really funny was five weeks into this venture, I ended up with appendicitis and had to go to the hospital where I had to spend almost two weeks, and another three weeks at home, recovering after a surgery that went wrong.
There I was, in the hospital with a church that was only five weeks young. What in the world am I to do? What is going to happen? These were the questions plaguing my mind. So you can only imagine how I felt when I got a visit from Kendal who said, Guess what? The church is growing! Well after repenting, I realized, Lord you have some awesome plans for this church, and I realize, this is indeed your church, and you don't need me, but I have the privilege of serving you and your people. We began to hear just how nervous the enemy really was, when story after story came in of the unusual and difficult trials and persecutions that people were enduring. They did not reach their intended purpose because all that happened was that we grew closer to the Lord and to each other. Truly, the battle is the Lord’s!
God Guiding and Providing
This story is such a testimony of God’s guidance and provision. We were at our first building and it wasn’t long before we could see that we should think about looking for a bigger place, in say maybe a year or so.
Silly man, we were wrong. Six months later we were in two services and were already looking for our next building. Then we figured that since we were in a building that was 1,734 square feet, that if we could find a building at about twice that size, we could fit everything in there. Now, we are hunting for our next building.
You remember when I said there was something interesting about our first search? You thought I forgot about that didn't you, well I didn't. In that first search we came across that street called Grace Lane. Well if you turn left on to Grace Lane and hang a right into the parking lot, it will take you to the East Valley mall shopping center! That extends out to be, the new home of Calvary Chapel Chandler! That is two God-incidences!
We start talking to Len Noel the owner of the mall and it was very obvious that God was already preparing the way. Nine months after starting at Alma School Road, we were now moving into a 4,000 square feet building. In addition, while we waited for our new sanctuary to be built, Len was going to allow us to use the entire theatre for free!
Ready for this? Before we even started building the new sanctuary, we found that we had already out grown it! So we went to talk to Len again, he then offers us 2,200 more square feet and yes, you guess it, with six months free rent! So that is it, time to settle in for awhile, so we thought. Shortly after that, Len approaches us with an offer to take the other 4,000 square feet right next to our sanctuary. This allowed us to build everything together instead of having our children’s ministry around the corner. Of course, he gave us free rent, and half rent deals until once again we could not help but realize God’s hands were in this once again! Just when we thought: This is just too much Lord! Len calls me up and says We have a problem. I thought to myself, Of course, there just had to be one sooner or later. He says, The problem is that according to your lease you are required to have a sign for your building. That was a definitely a problem, because it would cost $5,000.00! But remember, where God guides, he provides. What do you think Len said next? I have decided to pay for it as a donation!
What Great Things the Lord Has Done
We have been so blessed to be a part of the work that God is doing here in CCC. We have now taken lease of just over 12,000 square feet. The children’s ministry has its own classrooms. We also have a youth center, a fellowship hall that is being remodeled, and we have a section that we are debating whether or not to make into our offices or into a bookstore. But more importantly than all that stuff, we continue to see healings, salvation, marriages reconciled, we help in missions to the Philippines, and the list goes on and on. What gets me is that this is just the beginning!