Camp Yahweh

 

Did you know that there is a ton about real estate, and even real estate investing, written in the Bible? There sure is.

For instance: The oldest recorded deed that I’m aware of is found in the Bible. Now I wrote to you about this a long time ago. As a matter of fact, it was in 2016. So just to remind you, the column was titled “The oldest recorded deed” and it was based on the story found in Genesis 23.

In that passage Sarah has just died. And Abraham is stricken with grief and has no suitable place to bury his beloved wife. So, he goes to the town where he is living at the time and approaches a man by the name of Ephron to buy his field and the cave that is in it called Maḵpĕlah. They strike up a deal and at the end of the chapter the land is deeded to Abraham which gets recorded in the public records of the Bible, complete with witnesses and a legal description.

 

Pretty cool, huh?

 

I have written to you before in a column titled “The Proverbs 31 woman” where I noted that among her many virtues, she is not only a fashion/ clothing entrepreneur, but she is also a real estate investor. In verse 16 of that chapter it says, “She shall consider a field and buy it; From her profits she shall plant a vineyard.”

 

Now we don’t know if she was in the business of flipping raw land or if she bought it and leased it to a farmer in exchange for a share of the crop. Either way, she was a flipper or a landlord, and that investment gave her enough of a profit that she could re-invest her proceeds into another income producing property — her vineyard.

 

There are many more stories you can look at in scripture that have real estate at their core. We see house building, land leasing, and even things that look like options. I’m not kidding. If you look at it right, the Torah talks about the right of redemption associated with property in the Promised Land. One could say that that is a first right of refusal option, a straight option or maybe a buy-back option. The latter is probably most correct since it says that the land is not to be sold beyond reclaim in Leviticus 25:23.

 

Anyway, I find it neat that the profession that I’m in is represented in the books that tell the story of my forefathers and my faith. And looking at it through that lens makes me feel connected in a way.

 

Speaking of making connections, I don’t think I have ever told you of one my biggest dreams. With Yahweh’s help I want to build a religious camp that will be called Camp Yahweh. And it is going to be a multifaceted facility.

The first, and why it has its name, is it will be a summer youth camp complete with cabins, canoes, and all the outdoor fun we can muster — and it must have a blob and water slide. There will be fishing, archery, bb guns shooting, basket weaving, ropes course and … you get the idea.

 

The purpose of the youth camp will be so that Yahweh’s children can come together and make meaningful connections with other kids in a positive fun-filled environment. And my sincere hope is those kids will forge friendships there that will last a lifetime.

 

But that is not the only thing that will be happening at Camp Yahweh. Our classes and activities will be peppered with faith-based team building and self-development principles to help those kids become stronger inside so that they can grow into better adults.

 

Speaking of adults, Camp Yahweh will have a convention center onsite that will host biblically based personal development seminars. Our topics will range from family skills like how to be a better parent and how to have an awesome marriage along with courses including money management, business building and other life skills.

 

But my heartfelt goal with these seminars will be to uplift the people of Yahweh and to put a dent into Satan’s agenda of making them feel like they will never be worth anything. Instead, I want them to understand the maker of the universe has chosen them to be His and that He calls them His treasured possession in verses like Deuteronomy 7:6.

 

Y’all, I look so forward to this.

 

I don’t know when it will come. All I know is that we have been working on it. We have been taking ten percent of our net sales on our flip projects and putting them into a fund for Camp Yahweh. And recently, we were able to put those funds into a purchase money note that is secured by a nice three bedroom two bath brick ranch as a rental property that is going to bring the camp a nice return.

How awesome is that!

 

My friend David Richter pointed something out to me. In 2019 we lost $72,000 in our business. That was a really bad year. But since then, we have been able to donate more to the Camp Yahweh fund than we lost. And another realization that he pointed out is that we’ve been able to use our real estate investing as a way to fuel our passion that will one day make a huge impact on the future. And just knowing that what we are doing daily is kingdom building work feels amazing and makes the work worthwhile!

 

I’m looking forward to when it comes, and I just can’t wait to see Camp Yahweh!

 

Joe and Ashley English buy houses and mobile homes in Northwest Georgia. For more information or to ask a question, go to www.cashflowwithjoe.com or call Joe at 678-986-6813.