Working for The Lord

One of my last views of Spain. I miss it so much.

A few weeks ago I flew out of Pittsburgh to visit some friends and look for work. While going through the security checkpoint, a TSA worker initialed my boarding pass and greeted me with "God is good -- all the time!" and grinned. We chatted a while about ministry and God's goodness. I was wearing the t-shirt for my church's campus ministry and he quipped, "nothing like working for the Lord!" 
I didn't have time to explain to him that I hadn't been working for the Lord because I was too busy trying to find a real job.
I need reality checks like that TSA worker. When I tell a friend how God is working in my life, I'm working for the Lord. But it's not for my credit. I don't get a fancy benefits package or a big salary. It's for His glory. And he deserves my work for Him. He alone is sovereign.

Although I don't snag a six-figure paycheck, I do earn benefits. He provides for me, even if it's not the job I envision. And He sends His peace -- and assurance that when it's quitting time for me on earth, I can go to eternal rest.
I doubt many CEOs' retirement plans include eternal comfort and restoration.
So in whatever career path you find yourself, working for the Lord's the best gig! Keep working!

Seeking and Finding

Last night I presented about Spain to Ransomed, my church's campus/young adult group. All of Friday I was excited to share about what God did this summer, but God reminded me of the necessity of being obedient to him about two hours before I started talking to the group. My brother, Jesse, called me from outside the church with the insistence that I come downstairs and "use my Spanish."

I ran down the stairs and found my brother out on the church lawn talking to a Mexican man. "Qué quieres, hermano?" I asked. "What do you want, brother?" The man, a migrant worker, was lost and needed to get to the bus station so that he could work on another farm farther south. So my brother and I walked with him to the station, and along the way, got to talk about what we believed. I never caught his name, but he was excited that "church people" would help him. And as he left us, exultant that he reached his destination, he commented "I am Christ to you, and you are Christ to me."
It really convicted me, then, because I started to wonder whether I was being a good representative for Jesus. Are we seeking opportunities to talk about Christ every day? Are we praying for missionaries that they would be unafraid -- even in light of persecution -- in sharing the Gospel?

The incident with the Mexican man made me so grateful for my experience in Spain, and gave me a reason to keep praying for the work there and in all Spanish-speaking areas. So I ask you, please ask God to show you how you can pray for Spain. You may find that it's a reminder as simple as an e-mail update, or a man standing on your church lawn.

Glimpses

It's been nearly a month since I've been in Spain, but God gives me reminders to pray for the work there. A few weeks ago I was walking through the university campus and saw a student coming across the Oak Grove in a Spain soccer jersey. After doing a double take, I started hailing the youth in what I thought was his mother tongue -- with a few Es-pa-ñas thrown in for good measure. He looked confused and managed a "Uh, sí, hemos ganaron" (yes, we won) with a strong American accent. Disappointed and a little embarrassed, I beat a retreat.

But whether it's misidentifying countrymen or whining about sub-par American coffee, we can turn would-be negatives into a chance to ask our Savior to bless our brothers and sisters in Spain. Even though we can't all go to Spain, each one can have an effect in God's kingdom by remembering our fellow laborers in prayer.

So in your own prayers, ask God how you can pray for the work in Spain. The Holy Spirit will show us how to pray, even when we don't know the specifics.

Pray also that I would utilize every opportunity. I can practice my Spanish while chatting with migrant workers who go through my checkout line at the grocery store. Pray that I would be a light to them.

Looking Back and Looking Ahead

I've been almost two weeks back in the States, but I'd like to tell you about the experiences in Zaragoza, at the World Expo.
Imagine, for a second, that a group of churches (in different denominations) in your country get together and work together to make a pavilion (really a large presentation in a space a little bigger than the average mall store) to share the Gospel in a place where people from all over the world are gathering the praise their own work, their own efforts. Agua Viva was such a place. The volunteers at the "Living Water" booth share Christ with people visiting the Expo, showing an audiovisual presentation, passing out pamphlets and talking with people. The other pavilions at the Expo represented other countries, with information as to how the country is progressing with water management and sustainable development. It amazed me that people would visit these pavilions and wait long hours to see a short presentation. In fact, the wait for the Kuwait pavilion was 3 hours long -- feel free to insert your own punchline here.
The SEND short-term team kept with our operating motto "be flexible" and volunteered wherever the permanent Agua Viva staff wanted us. Some duties included greeting people, gaving pamphlets and answering questions, ushering for the audiovisual Gospel presentation, jumping rope and making balloon animals for children outside the pavilion and dressing up in crocodile and dog costumes to greet people and attract attention to the pavilion.
You can find more about Agua Viva on their Web site and view the audiovisual here.
All too soon we completed our stint in Zaragoza and drove to Torla, a small town in the Pyrenees and only twenty-odd kilometers from France. We camped there and hiked around Monte Perdido (Lost Mountain), stopping occasionally to refresh in the glacier-fed stream. After enjoying God's beautiful creation for those days, we returned to Azuqueca until our departure.


Since returning to the States, I've become acutely aware of the "foreigner" feeling SEND headquarters warned us we might experience. Everything seemed huge at first -- big cars, buildings, elevators, etc. It's been hard to get re-used to American schedules, mannerisms and attitudes.

But God is faithful and He watches over both Spain and the United States. So please continue to pray for workers for Spain and the States. Pray that God would send me where He wills.

The entrance to Agua Viva represents the desert. The other side, once you exit the audiovisual, is painted in lush, blue water tones.

A view of the Expo from Agua Viva -- the Aragon (a territory in Spain) display towers to the right.

Catching Up

In nearly two weeks, we've volunteered with the Agua Viva evangelical pavilion at the World Expo in Zaragoza -- this year's theme was water, so what better opportunity to tell the world about the Living Water, camped in the Pyrenees and played in glacier-fed streams and enjoyed a time of fellowship at a farewell/housewarming/birthday bash (for Casiana, Becky, Whitney and Grace) barbecue at the Hendricks' chalet in Guadalajara.

I'll post all about the work in Zaragoza soon -- The Holy Spirit is working in the midst of a huge, international meeting!

Tonight we're staying up the night to send off our first return flight, Ryan, who flies back at 6 a.m. Madrid time. I have the second flight at 9:55 a.m. The three girls fly together. Praise God, the Lufthansa strike on short-haul flights has not affected their travel plans.

It grieves me to leave all the spiritual family members I've met in Spain, especially after I've seen the work God is doing through the people here and the enormous need for workers.

Please pray for these faithful men and women who are working for the advancement of the Gospel. Heaven's going to be so much more joyful when we all get together there.

Starting the Descent

In these quiet moments of early Sunday morning, I'd like to share some prayer updates.

Praise:
A huge, almost unprecedented by Spain standards (so I've been told) turnout of children and parents for the Azuqueca campaign. Each day most of the seats in front of the stage were filled with children excited to sing songs and hear the story. In the evening, parents came and watched Gospel films such as "The Cross and the Switchblade" and "The Climb."
New friends in the Barcelona crew -- and grace to understand each other despite different dialects!
Having the opportunity to visit the Alcala church plant and see how God is growing a garden in the desert -- the church meets in the heart of a more worn neighborhood, surrounded by bars and clubs.
A farewell party in which neighborhood adults came into the church and met church members. This is important as again, many Spaniards will not walk into an evangelical church.
New missionary friends -- Ken and Allison, a British couple who have served in Spain for 23 years.

Prayer:
Continued energy for work at the MK school this week, various excursions and the journey to Zaragoza on Saturday.
That God would place us in volunteer spots there at the Expo that would bring Him the most glory.
Continued linguistic and culture awareness. After about 11 p.m. fluency tends to decrease due to tired brains and bodies.
Protection for long-term missionary families. Their role here is indispensable, but the Accuser would love to see them discouraged and therefore ineffective.
That individually and as a team we would be inspired to pray continually and depend solely on God (and not our own skills, though each member has been richly and diversely gifted) for everything.
That God would send more workers into the harvest field. There is so much work to be done, and time is running short! Jesus is coming soon.

And our time in Spain is running short, as well. We'll be flying home in two weeks.

And Noah praised the Lord...

...And we do too because of God's goodness to us. The animal dances went well and nobody overheated, even with temperatures hovering around 40C (104 F). We had a lot of fun and the children seemed to enjoy the animals. See if you can guess the other SEND short-term team members (Kendra, Rebekah and I excluded due to the previous post).

Un, dos, tres, es super-guay!

Practicing our dance on Sunday night.

For the last week we've worked with a group of young people from Barcelona, headed up by a lady named Esther who's led the traveling "Isla del Tesoro" (Treasure Island) evangelical show for many years. The group packs up all they need and travels around Spain, stopping in different towns to present the Gospel through action songs, picture lessons, clowning and dances. Our short-term group has had the opportunity to help set up and tear down the shows, as well as dance in some of the segments. On Monday the four girls and Judith, a Barcelona girl, danced as the five vowel sounds (I danced as the O). Tonight the short-term team and a few others will dance in two songs as animals on Noah's Ark. Kendra will be the penguin, Rebekah the rabbit, I'll be the elephant and some of the others will be figured out this afternoon.

It's been a blessing to see how God has drawn in children to attend and participate in Isla del Tesoro, and even more so to see parents attending the Gospel movies (tonight we're showing the Jesus film) after the shows and asking for the Gospels of Luke and John that church members hand out. It's fairly unusual for Spaniards to take the initial step in asking for information, so please keep praying that the kids' shows and evangelical movies would nudge people's hearts into asking about a deeper relationship with God.

My dear friend in the Azuqueca church, Eva, writes a blog, as well. For a different perspective into life in Spain, visit http://elim-eloasisdeeva.blogspot.com/. Eva belongs to a Christian blogring and gives updates on evangelical events. I'm blessed to call her a friend.

Storming the Fortress

Mountains surround Aguilas, a sprawling town along the Mediterranean. A castle from Carlos III's era crowns one such mountain, overlooking the cliffs down into the cerulean waters. Aguilas is a fortress in many ways. But this past week, the Christians invaded.
From Sunday to Sunday the campers, ages 6 through 12, learned about being soldiers of Christ, the theme from Ephesians 6. Each day we'd have a devotional and breakfast, Bible class with songs, play time at the beach, lunch, cleanup, rest hour, English class, crafts, more play time, snack time (merienda), supper and group games, then make sure all were in their bunk beds. We had approximately 20 children, many of them immigrants.
The camp is about 50 years old, which is a considerable feat when you think that it ran through the time of Franco's oppression. Esther, the pastor's wife, told me stories of how her family held underground church services when the government closed the church. Despite persecution, danger and neglect (non-Catholics were not permitted ration cards), the church grew. For a few years the camp ceased, but this was the second year since the hiatus, and hopefully it will continue.
It was amazing to see so many children having the opportunity to hear the Gospel. And I was really affected by having the chance to meet and fellowship with the Lopez-Soto family. Paco not only is the pastor and accomplishes his ministerial duties without having any formal seminary training, but also has another job. In addition, he did much of the cooking during camp. Esther is the tourism director for the city and knows everyone, and speaks English, French, German, Italian, etc. Samuel, 23, teaches Sunday school, is finishing his master's in music paedegogy and served as the principal camp teacher. Abraham,18, the poet (and jokingly dubbed "the model" by the short-termers), plays violin and will attend the university in Murcia in the fall. It was such a blessing to be able to hang out and have discussions with Samuel and Abraham. They don't have any Christian friends, so our time together was precious -- we even got to watch a movie together the last night. What a dear family we have in Christ!

This week a group of 12 teenagers from the Barcelona area is putting on a campaign in Azuqueca. We set up their stage and they'll present the story of Noah, I believe. More on that as I receive information.
This morning the short-term clan went to Vicalvaro, another Madrid suburb, to help unload a truck for the church's food bank there. We transferred five tons of milk, muffins, sugar and flour into the storeroom and church sanctuary in preparation for distribution on Saturday. The mornings for the next few days will be devoted to helping Craig with assorted duties (helping at the MK school and cleaning up the SEND Spain office) and the evenings will be dedicated to aiding the Azuqueca campaign. Praise God for the strength and opportunities He gives!

Grupo Alfa -- the campers I led with Ryan.

Samuel and the girls after church.

Abraham and Maria.

Ransomed Redux

This week we worked in Guadalajara, a suburb of Madrid and the capital of the eponymous province. Monday through Thursday we handed out tracts and talked with folks about Jesus in the public parks. At first I was nervous, but God worked in spite of our fears.

Gerry and Casiana Castillo are SEND Spain missionaries from the Philippines. They lead and host the house church in Guadalajara. How have they grown the church? By going to the parks daily and talking with people and handing out tracts. They have numerous stories of people coming to faith and calling their number on the back of the tracts, asking about Jesus. They fearlessly talk to people and are patient when hardened people curse them. Gerry and Casiana are true people of God and they live only to tell others about Him.

I had the privilege of accompanying Casiana in the mornings, since we were sent out in pairs. It reminded me a bit of Luke 10, when Jesus sent out the 70 ahead of Him. We walked up to people or sat on benches until people sat with us and started talking about life, then gradually brought the conversation around to God. We found a range of stories -- some Spaniards were so hardened they just instantly dismissed us (at one point I was handing out tracts and a woman cursed me out in the name of the Virgin Mary!), some were interested but afraid, and some were immigrant believers looking for a church.
Because of the lure of the Euro, may people emigrate illegally to Spain from such places as Africa and Eastern Europe. But if they don't have papers, they cannot work. Yet to obtain their papers, they must have a job. So the story of one Bulgarian I met is a similar refrain. He came to Spain ahead of his family, but lives on the street because he cannot rent a piso. He works during the night and sleeps in parks or wherever he can find. He said he was a believer and was so excited when we talked to him.

The main job Casiana gave me was to pray for people we talked with. On Tuesday I sat on a bench and prayed until a girl came and sat down next to me. We started to talk and I found that her name was Angelita, she was 16 and from Barcelona. She was interested in the church, although her family was Catholic and some of her extended family was in a cult -- read: Mormon, Jehovah's Witnesses or Evangelical. She said she was really glad to meet me and we talked until her friend shouted across the park for her to join her. Please pray for Angelita -- she's one of the many who are interested and seeking.

We held a children's outreach in the park on Wednesday night and sang songs, did a craft and Pablo, a member of the church in Azuqueca, told the story of the prodigal son using a sketchboard. Some of the parents stayed to watch the story and we had a good number of children interested.

But Thursday was my favorite night because we hosted a Ransomed-style event for jovenes (young people, age 18-26). For the first part of the three and a half hour event we played icebreaker games (rompehielos), had a time of corporate worship, then presented a skit about identity in Christ. I played a hippie who urged the main character to just love, think of the present and be happy, and we had other identities enter and counsel/confuse Dani, who was searching for his identity. After the skit and a monologue about searching for God, Dani (he's a missionary kid in a Guatemalan family working in Ubeda, in southern Spain) gave a message about our identity in Christ and how that should look. We played a few more games, had some snacks and ended in prayer. Many jovenes hung out and talked outside the church long after we ended. At this point I'll mention that we "borrowed" a Pentecostal church for the event. How can Brethren, Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians and Pentecostals work together? By being united in the same goal. In Spain this is easier because if you're not a true Christian, you won't be found in an evangelical (non-Catholic) church. The people from the Pentecostal church were positively tickled that the Evangelicals wanted to reach youth in Guadalajara and said they would love to continue hosting the event.

Saturday we will head to Aguilas, Murcia, a town along the southern coast. We'll be leading a Christian camp for kids age 8-12 for 8 days. So far we have about 15 signed up, but we'll get the final count when we get there. We'll be teaching an English class, have Bible lessons, excursions to the Mediterranean (only a few blocks away from the church), crafts and be counselors, since the children will sleep in bunks on the church property. We'll also rotate helping with cooking. Please pray that this will be a fruitful time and the children will learn more about Christ and see Him in our example.

Improvements in Fluency

When it seems difficult to speak with the people we meet, our group remembers this video.

How to win in Spain

In case you haven't heard the cacophony of car horns, firecrackers and wild screaming from across the Atlantic, know now this historic news: Spain won the European Cup. For the first time in 44 years, in fact. The Associated Press has a great early-release article detailing Germany's crumbling lineup and Fernando Torres' goal. ¡Viva España!

Last Sunday some of the our team went to the Plaza de Colón (Columbus' Square) in Madrid to watch Spain beat Italy in a penalty-kicks shootout. The Plaza is where more than 30,000 Spaniards can cram together and watch the live-feed games on large screens.

But to continue with the sports theme, I was blessed to see how SEND missionaries work as a team during their annual conference this past week. I came to the camp, Pinos Reales (Royal Pines), expecting four days chock-full of business meetings and training. Instead, I watched as each missionary had the opportunity to share their successes and struggles with the group and also have time to recharge. It was so great to see how honest the missionaries could be with each other -- even when sharing about family struggles and frustrations with ministry. A team from a church in Chicago flew in to provide children's activities and lead corporate worship. The afternoons were free to allow families to play in the pool together, or perhaps take a walk to spend time alone with God and enjoying the pines that smelled almost like a tart eucalyptus. We ended the conference on Thursday by the lake reservoir, praying for each other and taking communion together.

On Saturday we painted and cleaned a missionary family's home. The Hendricks recently returned from service in the United States and will move into their chalet (a type of rowhouse) on Thursday.

This week we will work on an evangelical campaign (campaña) in the city of Guadalajara. We will hand out tracts and talk to people. Wednesday we'll have a craft outreach for children and Thursday is the main youth event. We'll have icebreaking games, food, devotional segments and a skit for the jovenes (young people). We met this evening with members of the Guadalajara team in their house church to brainstorm, pray and attend their evening service. How amazing that God can use a group of five people meeting in a home to bring about change in this city! Please pray that all participating in the campaign will have a ready answer for the questions people will ask them and that the Holy Spirit will soften people's hearts in order to hear and respond to the Gospel.

Prayer Update

As the second week in Spain draws to a close, I'd like to share some praise and prayer requests.

Praise:

-The huge turnout for Friday's outreach. Twenty three children stayed for the Gospel presentation. Eva, a church member, told the story using colors -- black to represent sin, red for Christ's blood, white for our forgiveness, etc.

-Children's enthusiasm for the event. They want to keep coming every week and are telling their friends.

-The safe arrival of our two other short-termers, Rebekah and Ryan.

-Assimilation of Kendra, Whitney and I to the culture. We're able to get around quite well. My favorite way to help is to run errands -- such as getting the daily bread at the pasteleria (bakery) and groceries at the alimentacion (mom 'n pop grocery store) -- for Karin.

-Safe arrival of the Hendricks, a long-termer family, this week. They were on home service and returned to help with the MK school.

Prayer:

-That the SEND Spain annual conference, which runs Monday through Thursday, will be a fruitful time to grow and encourage each other, as well as complete items of business for the mission.

-That hearts would be open to the Gospel through this children's outreach effort each Friday, and even now God would prepare children for the Christian camp in Murcia in July.

-Our newly-arrived team members would assimilate quickly and gel with the team already in place.

-Difficulties with a nuance-laden culture. Even long-termers get discouraged sometimes.

Thank you for your continued prayer for the mission. I'm so excited that even in a short-term situation, we've seen growth.

We will leave early Monday for the conference. It's about an hour and a half away from Acala, at one of SEND's camps.

Fe en la clase (Faith in class)

"Station 3KM 98.1, where you find a smile every day"

For the past two weeks my teammates and I have attended Escuela Internacional, a small language school in Alcalá. It is not a Christian school by any means. Nevertheless, in interacting with other foreign students and the patient professors, we've also been able to talk about our faith.
Yesterday our teacher Valeria introduced the discussion topic "prioridades" (priorities). She had each of us detail our priorities in life. Some students talked of having friends, a good job, the typical concerns of day-to-day life. Kendra and I exchanged a glance and piped up about there having to be "un algo más" (something more) in life -- namely, a relationship with God. Valeria was surprised and asked us to explain in more detail. So we got to tag-team sharing our thoughts about faith and our relationship with Christ. Valeria then quizzically cocked her head to the side and asked, "You are evangelicals?" and when we said yes, she got all excited and said she had an evangelical friend, so the friend would know what we were talking about. When I spoke with Becky, one of the long-termers, she said it's not that people do not want to hear about Christ, it's that a testimony must be repeated many times before it sinks in. The analogy of the hard, dry soil comes to mind again.

It's interesting to experience the dichotomy of opinion about evangelical Christianity -- Spaniards view it with suspicion, yet want to hear more when people talk about it.

The picture above is an activity our class completed yesterday. We created a radio station (emisora), 3KM -- to signify Kendra, Kari, Kim and Marianne, and recorded different segments to be played on the Internet.

Dry soil just outside of Azuqueca.

Vamos a trabajar (Let's work)

Friday night we short-termers helped the long-term missionaries and their national church with a community outreach. The main goal was to capture neighborhood children's attention by doing a craft and playing games, then convincing them to go into the church for a story and refreshments.

Sounds easy, right?

The missionaries told us that the kids would probably want to do the craft, but very few -- only a couple -- would come inside for the lesson. And then God surprised us. Not only did a couple of children stay for the lesson, but 17 children listened as one of the church ladies presented the Gospel in a story about an Indian girl named Shanti. Praise Jesus!

It was interesting to watch the kids' reactions when they came: they'd crane their necks to watch what was happening, then look around surreptitiously when they entered the church. In the past, the Spanish Catholic Church spread lies about the Evangelicals: they ate babies, they would tie children up so they couldn't leave, etc. Although some of these lies are quite old, the stigma remains. So the missionaries and the members of the national church were very encouraged by the turnout.

The Evangelical church of Azuqueca meets in a storefront. It's small, but it's amazing to see how God is working through this effort.

This afternoon the children's Sunday School and some adults went to a park near Azuqueca for a hike and picnic. After hiking with everyone along a trail that wound around some Roman ruins, I had the blessing of sitting and talking with Miriam, who attends the church with her husband, Carlos, and their daughter. Miriam's mother is Spanish and her father is German, and Carlos is Argentinian. She wanted to know all about the big Protestant churches. When I explained that although there are many big churches, most Americans claim to be Christians simply because of the culture, she got a very determined look and said, "Well, it's like Spain." I said that we would continue to work, because even in a hard soil as a Spain, and a hardening soil in America, God is still seeking people to follow Him.
So let us, as Spaniards, Americans, Graystone members, members of other churches, etc., keep working.

Tertulia

Yesterday my teammates and I discovered one of Karin's ways to talk about the Gospel, since the m word (missionary) is a risky term to bandy about. In Spain, people often meet in the coffeeshops for tertulias, or discussion groups. One person will throw out a term or issue, and everyone will take sides and debate it. So Karin started an English language tertulia, since a number of Spaniards want to learn or improve their English so they can get better jobs.

Only one person was able to attend the tertulia Monday night, but the four of us were able to have a great conversation with him anyway. Javier, or Javi for short, is a policeman and wants to eventually be an air traffic controller -- and to do this, he needs to learn English. Javi is not comfortable with the Gospel so far -- we tried to talk with him about how he would want to be remembered when he died and he became quite nervous. Please pray that the Holy Spirit would open his heart and through these conversations might learn about Christ and come to know Him.

I had been rereading Acts since I came to Spain, but today I opened to Psalm 119 and it just spoke to me. Sections Gimel and Daleth are my prayer for now, as I try to learn new things from Scripture and grow in my personal walk.

And for your delectation and delight, here are some photos to give you a sense of Acala:

Mail delivery motos. Que guay, no? (How cool)

One of the many Catholic churches in the town (sorry for cutting off the cross at the top) where storks nest. The noisy birds roost wherever they can -- whether it's at the top of the convent or the university buildings.

Kendra and Javi at the cafe. The three of us really enjoy the cafe con leche.

Extranjeros (Foreigners)

I flew into Terminal 4 when I arrived in Madrid Sunday morning, and the missionary who picked me up parked in the rebuilt parking garage that ETA bombed in 2006, killing two Peruvians sleeping in their car. The Spaniards rebuilt and moved on -- a common philosophy, I've found.

This morning (Monday) I started Spanish classes at the Escuela Internacional (International School) in Acala de Henares, a medium-sized town on the outskirts of Madrid. Already I'm learning a lot. I'm in a class with four Irish women, a woman from France and one from Korea, in addition to my fellow short-termer, Kendra. A Grove City College student, Kendra is a junior in elementary education and has a very enthusiastic and kind spirit.
Living in Spain is a little different than the United States. Most people live close together in apartment buildings called pisos, and much of the culture hinges on being close. There are no personal space bubbles when talking to someone, even though people do not touch often -- except when greeting one another.

I took the picture above from the small balcony of the Nordgrens' (Craig is SEND's Spain area director) piso. In the center of the building is a plaza, I believe.

We are in what some call a "closed" mission field -- the work is slow, people are slow to make relationships and the people are highly intellectual and adept at debating Christianity. In fact, according to SEND, Spaniards think of evangelical Christianity as a cult. Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses have made inroads in Spain, so being thought of with the same stigma hurts a bit.

Last night the team had dinner with a national Christian couple, Isabel and Luis. Isabel is German-born, but also speaks Spanish and English. Her husband, Luis, is a Spaniard. They are expecting their first child in December. I've been really blessed in the short time I've been here by kind people on both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks for all your support, whether you've given financially or through prayer. And please continue to pray.

Ishmael's Daughter

Today I'm rerouting my blog, in honor of my flight being rerouted. I sat in Detroit Airport yesterday for more than four hours, waiting for a plane to take me to Chicago so I could pick up a connecting flight to London and from there to Madrid. God had other plans. I missed all my connecting flights because of the delays and had to stay another night in Michigan, fly to Miami early this morning and at 6:15 p.m. I'll fly directly to Madrid and arrive a bit before church on Sunday morning.
I was tempted to complain, but I ended up talking to a Palestinian woman who was also waiting for the Chicago flight and all fussing ceased. Between my poor Arabic and her limited English, we cobbled together a discussion, substituting words and writing in my notebook when we couldn't understand. We talked the most about faith.
Inshirah lives in Ramallah, Palestine (West Bank), and had six sons and four daughters. One of her sons is currently in an Israeli prison. She is a devout Muslim, praying daily and reading the Koran. She also tries to read the Koran in English so she can learn more, as a couple of her children live in Chicago and Wisconsin. By the end of our time together, I had taken her picture (see above) and she stowed one of my graduation pictures in her bag. She called me habibti (my little love or darling) and I called her sadiqati (friend).
Inshirah -- meaning "my heart is glad" -- was especially interested in how I was "married to God" (she saw my purity ring on my left hand) when I was not married to a man. It was such a blessing to talk to her and hear her story. I was even able to tell her that I loved God. But my biggest regret is that my Arabic was not good enough to tell her about Jesus. I can only pray that someone will find her and explain to her in her language how Jesus is the True God, not Allah.
Please pray for her.

In a somewhat related matter, please pray for Caleb and Molly Harper, short-termers who are going to the new Republic of Kosovo. Caleb and Molly still need to raise just under $5000 before their departure. Kosovo is the only Muslim country that likes the United States, and there is a tremendous need for missionaries.

Taco is a bad word

This evening all the Spain team members training here in Farmington, Mich., at SEND's headquarters sat down at supper with Betsy, a former Spain long-term missionary. Up to this point we've received heavy-duty spiritual instruction and information about how to work together as a team and with the long-term missionaries and nationals. Betsy gave us the lowdown on cultural Spain -- how to dress, what to say and not say, how to evade political questions, etc.
Through this entire lesson I began to see more reasons why God called me to Spain. Spaniards are a highly critical, confrontational people who love debate. Does this sound like anyone you know? :-D
They even hold tertullias, which are groups that meet at the local cafe and debate whatever subject comes up. I was aware of this, but it didn't really sink in until Betsy talked about it.
And taco is a bad word because it's a crass term for "dirty." So don't say it in Spain!

As for the group here at training, I'm encouraged to see how all of us short-termers work together without regard to non-essential doctrine. Some people came from Moody Bible Institute, some from Lancaster Bible College, some from small Southern Baptist schools and other different ones. There is no pride in denominations. We agree that Christ is the only means for salvation. And we cannot downplay this truth because otherwise we condemn people to hell. Speaker Dave Tucker brought up the point that many people see this as God being unfair, but God's been more than fair and we're the ones not being fair because we're not following Christ's command to go out and tell people about Him.
I keep thinking about this a lot.

Ready for Takeoff

I'm sitting in the Pittsburgh Airport, waiting for my flight to Chicago, and from then on to Detroit for short-term training at Send's U.S. headquarters in Farmington. God amazes me with his mercy and provision.
On Thursday, May 22 I found there had been a clerical error and I suddenly owed more than $700 in support -- much more than I could ever raise by myself in a week. I had a very bad attitude and threw a temper tantrum to God, asking why He was making it so difficult for me to go to Spain if He wanted me there in the first place. Dan advised me to pray, and we felt that I should call my Uncle David and ask for his advice, since he was a missionary for a long time in Taiwan. Uncle David told me to pray (much to my chagrin at the time) and to start calling people asking them to pray. By the end of the evening, people I hadn't contacted were calling me and asking if I still needed support. By Saturday my support was completely raised, and I even reconnected with family members I hadn't talked to in more than a decade. Praise the Lord for His kindness!
As I head to short-term training and eventually to language school in Spain, please pray for the individual members of the team. Pray that we would be a help and an encouragement to the permanent missionaries there, and that we would grow close as a group.
Please stow your belongings and put your trays in the upright and locked position. We're preparing for takeoff. :-)

Crossing Paths

I leave for Spain in less than 10 days. I'm so excited and nervous all at the same time. It seems that all support is raised (Praise God! and thanks to my supporters) and all I need to do is pack my bag and hop a big steel bird.
But God's really been working with me in the last couple of months -- notice the silence of more than two months in the blog due to finals, graduation, teaching and life in general.
And He especially brought me back into focus today when I met Jayakumar, a native missionary in India. I talked to him for a couple minutes and we talked a little about my trip to Spain. He mentioned that I would be walking in Paul's footsteps. And it hit me. I don't need to fear for any small logistical problem or other issues because so many others have gone before -- even one of the greatest evangelists in history. Paul and James -- great men of faith and martyrs to the Name -- both witnessed in Spain. And I, from Nowhere, Pa., am allowed to help continue this effort! Praise Jesus!
In his final letter before he died in February, Christian Rock pioneer Larry Norman wrote, "I feel like a prize in a box of Cracker Jacks with God's hand reaching down to pick me up." I feel the same way.

Lead On, O King Eternal

The London Philharmonic's "Hymns Triumphant" ranks as one of my favorite albums, if only for the hymn choices in it. The old words of praise hold such reverence and meaning. Recently I've been combating a lot of second-guessing and doubts in the back of my mind. The hymn "Lead On, O King Eternal" reminds me to consider second-guessing for what it is, and let the Lord, the everlasting King, lead my life instead. Written by Ernest W. Shurtleff in 1888 for his seminary graduation ceremony, the hymn holds truth not only for seminary graduations but the Christian life.
I've been encouraged and refreshed not only by these particular hymns, but by the blog of my campus minister, who will go to India in July for two years with his wife and two young children and serve at a seminary there, among other duties. You can read his blog here. It's good to know that other people who are getting involved in missionary work struggle with second-guessing too, and press on nevertheless.

"Lead on, O King eternal
the day of march has come;
henceforth in fields of conquest
Thy tents shall be our home.
Through days of preparation
Thy grace has made us strong;
and now, O King eternal,
we lift our battle song.

Lead on, O King eternal,
'til sin's fierce war shall cease,
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords loud clashing,
nor roll of stirring drums;
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.

Lead on, O King eternal
we follow, not with fears,
for gladness breaks like morning
where'er Thy face appears.
Thy cross is lifted o'er us,
we journey in its light;
the crown awaits the conquest;
lead on, O God of might."

Voy a la tierra del sol!

I found out yesterday that Send International formally accepted me as a short-term missionary to Spain for the summer. I will therefore be blogging my experiences so that supporters and brothers and sisters in Christ can be updated and pray for the work there. I'm hoping that my entries may eventually be written bilingually, however, at this stage I can't promise anything.
I'm nervous. The Lord has carried me through to this point, but I am acutely aware of my anxiety about logistics - raising my support, making sure I keep up my fluency rate, moving out of my apartment a couple of weeks before I leave, etc. I know these are minute things in God's great plan, so I'm trying to submit myself to God's will and be faithful that He will provide.
So where exactly will I be serving? I'll be traveling to Spain June 6 and working northeast of Madrid, possibly helping with youth camps, coffeehouses, evangelical campaigns and the annual Send Spain conference. The last five days (early August) I'll have free time. Some of the places I'll be working include Azuqueca and the Guadalajara region.
A small bit of background about the blog's name: Spain is often called the land of the sun (la tierra del sol), and the web address has the Spanish words for faith and sun in it. My hope is that the people in the land of the sol will be able to hear Jesus' call to their souls.