John and Chelsea were married in 2018 and have served as pastor and worship director respectively since 2020 in a local church named The Well. They have a deep desire to see people discipled and equipped to love and follow Jesus so that they may be transformed.
John and Chelsea have a daughter named Lydia and one child on the way.
HOW WE GOT HERE
This all started with a desire to purchase a home. Back in 2019 John and Chelsea were living in an apartment in Annapolis and preparing to take a first time homebuyer program to prepare financially for a home. After completing it, the pandemic hit and were forced to limit their search to Redfin and Zillow in the midst of one of hottest housing markets in recent memory.
GOD STARTED SPEAKING
In February 2021, Chelsea felt compelled to write down the things that her and John wanted in a home: three bedrooms, two toilets, natural light, and a gas stove. While that was a hope, they were ready to compromise on any of those.
March 2021 came and a friend named Christopher shared a prophetic encouragement with Chelsea. He told her that God had already selected the future home, but it was not ready. Christopher could see angels "spring cleaning" the home and wanted to encourage the Barzals that while it may not be immediate, God was preparing their future home.
A few weeks later, Christopher reaffirmed "keep your head up and don't be discouraged." Chelsea shared that she had been keeping feelings of discouragement at bay because she saw the time of finding a home as a time to start a family. Christopher said "I know," and proceeded to share what he saw prophetically: he saw a home where John was able to walk in the cool of the day with the Lord and space for Chelsea and the child. Chelsea asked Christopher if he was actually able to see the house in that vision and Christopher responded "it's an odd blue with white trim...not teal, but a weird blue."
They largely played the waiting game, but in the same month John had a dream. In the dream, he and Chelsea were living at Towson University— the school John attended for his undergrad. The dream was brief and only involved them packing to move because the semester was coming to an end and John was graduating. As John was waking up from the dream he heard God say that they would find the house that they were to move into when Towson University was holding graduations. May 18th through the 21st were the days that graduation was being held, so they marked them on their calendar.
May rolled around and on the 18th a house appeared on the market, the first single family home in their price range in months. The next day the pictures went online and revealed that the house was move-in ready. They immediately contacted their realtor and scheduled a time to see the house.
OPEN AND CLOSED DOORS
They pulled up to Victor Parkway on May 21st at 2pm. It was the hour that the last graduation ceremony began at Towson University. The house was small, but exactly what they wanted: three bedrooms, two toilets, natural light, and a gas stove! The Barzals could not tell if the house was gray or green or blue until being right next to it, but it was indeed blue with white trim. Walking on the property, John felt God say "I've given you the land."
They quickly made a decision. They contacted their realtor and put in an offer. The next day they found out that someone had outbid them by $40,000 and that the seller had happily accepted the offer.
The next day, some friends stopped by their apartment saying that they felt that God had shown them that they were to give John and Chelsea $12,500 towards a house. John and Chelsea shared with them the news that they had just attempted to put an offer on a home, but had been outbid by $40,000. Ultimately, the couple wanted John and Chelsea to have the money a a gift for when God provided the right house; they wanted to sew into the impact they foresaw the Barzals having in Annapolis.
REMAINING HOPEFUL
About 2 months passed and the house on Victor Parkway still had not gone to closing. Still holding out a faint glimmer of hope, John and Chelsea asked their realtor if there was any possibility that it would go back on the market. The realtor indicated that it was highly unlikely and a date was set for closing.
Less than one week later the house reappeared on the market. John and Chelsea were amazed and immediately contacted their realtor to put in another offer. The offer was put in, but once again the sellers chose another offer. This time John and Chelsea were convinced, if God reopened the door once, then he could do it again.
This time the wait was shorter. Two weeks later the sellers contacted John and Chelsea asking if they wanted to purchase the house. It had happened. God fulfilled his promise.
MOVING IN
Although John and Chelsea were under contract, there were still many loose ends to be tied up. The contractors who flipped the house added a bathroom the house without pulling the necessary permits. As a result, the house sat under contract until they were finally able to get everything squared away. It was November 10th, 2021 when John and Chelsea finally signed on the dotted line.
Immediately upon moving in, John felt strongly that there was supposed to be church meeting at the elementary school just down the street. And that was the seed for what is happening now with Victor Haven Ministries.
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