It’s taken some time for the dust to settle on the auction for the historic Miracle Valley property. We wanted to come to you as quickly as possible with information now that everything is settled! I’ll endeavor to answer some questions we know you may have.
Who participated in and won the auction?
Miracle Valley Oasis Center and two other parties bid in the auction. A niece and nephew from Phoenix, along with their elderly aunt and uncle from the local area participated together and came in as the high bidder. They bid against ourselves and also Melvin Harter who had previously had possession of the land about 1999-2008.
We were surprised that Melvin Harter participated in the auction (even though he was supportive in saving the property from demolition). He thanked me early this year for saving the buildings so he could bid against us. Just weeks before the auction, Melvin told me that if the property minimum bid was set to higher than $10,000 he would not participate and that he certainly would not pay hundreds of thousands for it.
What did the property sell for?
In the end, Melvin Harter’s highest bid was $100 short of winning at $201,600 and the highest bidders came in at $201,700. The winning bidder was responsible for an 8% auction house fee, plus $25 admin fee. This would total $217,861.
We believe strongly that the Lord has given us this Levite land and we must be patient with His timing.
Why did Miracle Valley Oasis Center not win the auction?
While other parties were raising funds and planning how to purchase, we had an entire volunteer team working with me for 20 months to protect the property from demolition. Along the way, we had to spend on legal help and materials to aid this effort and spent countless hours working towards this goal. It was a costly and time-consuming process but we preserved every bit of funds by me working voluntarily full time with our volunteers. We had to trust God with the finances while we focused our attention on ensuring the buildings are safe. We’ve achieved this! The County can no longer harm the property.
Ultimately though, in an auction, it’s all about who has the funds. Last year the unsuccessful auction for this property had three bidding parties who all had participated without the funds to purchase. We can speak for ourselves that we chose to bid with integrity in this auction and we did not bid beyond what was already in our bank account at the time.
Last year as we were about to enter the auction process, we heard that there may be what the County later referred to as “bad actors” in the auction. We prayed about this, spoke with a handful of our largest donors and asked them to hold onto their funds so we could back out. We did not feel peace about holding onto their large sums for what, at that time, was an undetermined amount of months or years. God’s word to us was that He would bring us the property another time. These donors were prepared to help last year but when the auction started to unfold this year several of them were occupied due to the timing of the auction and so we did not get their needed financial support to win the auction. Others told us that God had spoken to them to give and they did not have faith to do so.
While we can see the enemy has worked hard to ensure we did not end up with this property at this time, we know God’s hand is at work in all of this.
Is this a “done deal”?
Cochise County has now informed us that the winning bidders have paid for the property and as such, they consider this a finalized sale. They have now returned our bid deposit in full. They are required by law to award the title to the winning bidders within 60 days from the end of the auction (which was October 4, 2024).
While this sale may feel final, we know the Lord has given the land to us. We’ll be patient and trust God for His perfect timing and method of helping us take the land.
Can you tell us about the winning bidders?
At the time of writing this article, the winning bid family have not made themselves known publicly and we will respect their privacy. After prayerful consideration and legal advice, we believe we should share some facts.
- The winning bid family did not participate in any efforts to protect the buildings from demolition during the County ownership.
- No petitions were signed by them and they did not attend or speak out to help save the property at any County meetings.
- They set up a nonprofit two days before the auction began.
- Early this year the niece had offered to help in a volunteer capacity. She was later replaced due to concerns about her suitability to support our vision. After the auction we found her on our email list.
- It was discovered after the auction that members of their family misled members of our dedicated team on a handful of occasions to gain assistance with preparation to bid against us.
- The family has made it clear that one of their goals in participating in the auction was to “steal” the property from us.
- To our knowledge, their vision has not been documented anywhere publically. What we do know of their vision privately has led us to conclude that we cannot support their Biblical views or ideas for the property under any circumstance.
- It is our understanding that the family did not do any fundraising, have no experience in public ministry, are not ordained or under any particular covering, nor have experience with restoring historic property.
- We believe the family are not likely to harm the buildings. It remains to be seen if they are able to manage and restore the property which no other party has been able to adequately do in the 56 years since A. A. Allen passed.
What does this outcome mean for Miracle Valley Oasis Center?
We believe this is delay, not denial. We believe strongly that the Lord has given us this land and we must be patient with His timing.
This historic property has inspired many over the decades to pursue ownership. It’s been like a war over possessing the land. Some have told me they “can’t access their anointing without access to X part of the property”. Some have wanted to tear it down. Some have wanted to make it a paint ball shooting site. Some have wanted it to be their home. Some have wanted it to be a fairground. Some have wanted to chop it up for housing development. Some have wanted it for cult worship. The County even wanted for a jail! A. A. Allen dedicated this property to help spread revival to the ends of the earth. It has always been Levite land, dedicated for God’s purposes. What many have found is similar to what happened to the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4-6 when they stole the Ark of the Covenant from the Israelites and after a series of troubles, gave it back. God and what is set aside for Him must be respected and treated as He wishes for His blessing to abide.
We strongly believe Miracle Valley Oasis Center is called to restore the property back to its original intent when the time is right. God has moved my husband and I, all the way from England to purchase a home and establish this ministry and church here. He has helped us protect the property from four demolition attempts! We look forward to sharing in the coming weeks and months all God has helped us achieve so far and where things are headed as we wait!
What is next for Miracle Valley Oasis Center?
Proverbs 24:27 says, “Prepare your outside work, Make it fit for yourself in the field; And afterward build your house.”
We believe God has been with us in making the property fit for the future. Now, we must build the church and ministry. Waiting is an active thing. As we wait, we need to get on with building what God has called us here for. We’re not here for buildings. We’re here for ministry which will in the future include this property. How can I say this with confidence? Because God has already given us the land.
When God gave land to the Israelites, He would tell them it was given to them and then instruct them to go possess what He had already given them.
In December 2022 God spoke clearly to me and said, “It’s time to take the land and recover all”. We believe now was when God intended for us to take possession of the land, but He is working things out even better during this delay. Now it’s time to “recover all” as we wait on the next part of taking the land. We’ll be patient and in the waiting, we’ll build our house. When it’s time to possess the land, we can refer to Proverbs 6:31 “…he must restore sevenfold; He may have to give up all the substance of his house.”.
For necessity, we’ve had to put a huge emphasis on this historic property over the past 20 months and we’re so grateful for your participation in this leg of the journey of taking the land. Our vision is bigger than simply restoring these buildings. It is fully able to continue unfolding as we partner together for the future. Please bear with us over the coming weeks as we pivot to express more fully the overall vision we have always had and what exciting things God has in store as we partner with you for such a time as this.