Madrid in the morning!

Okay so this is my last time writing before I leave for Madrid in the morning :-)

Today I got a really nice e-mail from my host family in Madrid. My host family has 2 sons, ages 5 and 7. Mick, the father, is from Australia and Susanna, the mother, is Spanish. I am really excited to meet them tomorrow at the English camp. From the e-mails that Tim, the camp director, has sent it sounds like I will be busy in the morning teaching English and playing with the kids, then at night hanging out with my host family. I am very excited about teaching and playing with the kids!

Since I last wrote things have been looking up. This past week I started my language route and the first day was really rough. I tried talking to some people but quickly I got tired of asking the same questions (e.g . where is the market?). Though on Tuesday I decided to do my language route with Jess, my teammate, and we had a blast! We were able to have a lot of good conversations with different people and from then on I continued to visit the same people, by myself, at the stores and benches every day. I was able to meet a lot of really nice and interesting people! The good conversations I had with the people on my language route were an answer to prayer! I prayed every day for God to guide me to where He wanted me to go and the bless the conversations I would try to have with people, wow did He ever! One little old man, named Pepe, that I met when I first saw him was sitting on the bench wearing his sun glasses behind a magazine stand and I thought, "Oh there is no way he is going to want to talk to me". I ended walking over to him and talking with him for over 40 minutes just talking about music and life in Spain, it was great! The more I continue to open myself up to God the more the Holy Spirit continues to work through me.

Please continue to pray for the team in this coming week in Murcia as we start teaching and meet our host families tomorrow night.

Adios Granada...

This will be my last time writing before I leave for Madrid on Saturday. My time in Granada has been short but it has been fun and yet another growing experience. I have been continuing language classes and going to the free culture class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I have also met a lot of interesting people from all around the world. God has been stretching me in many ways since I have come back to Granada and my relationship with Him continues to grow stronger. I have really enjoyed my bus rides this past week because it has given me some good quiet time to just sit and just dig into the Word. Currently, I have been reading through Romans, which has been great!

On the other hand, some hard times have come to the team. Recently, the team has been having some conflict within ourselves and with the missionaries we are serving, but we have been trying to work things out and speak to one another in love. Also recently, I have been personally getting annoyed by little things through out the day but I have done a good job at having patience (I think this is because I have not had a lot of quiet time expect for on the bus.) Most of the team, including myself, is going on the lack of sleep and has been around one another 24/7 so I think that has a lot to do with tension and emotions arising.

Please pray for the team and for myself. Pray that we would all continue to love one another and recognize each person's personal needs. Pray for peace to be over the team and the missionaries (The Irwin family). Please pray personally that I would get some good rest (I have been having a real hard time going to sleep). Also please pray for healing for me (I had an allergic reaction to some food and I have been having some minor pain in my right foot).

Thank you all for your continued prayers, I will again as soon as I can! :-)

Learning the Language

This week I started my Spanish class and so far it has been going very well. Getting to the school each morning is quite a journey. I wake up at around 7:15am, grab the 8:05 bus for a half hour drive, and then I walk for 40 minutes to the school, which is on the side of a mountain so the roads are very steep and narrow.  Although the journey is long the walk is beautiful!

My Spanish is improving so I am now able to make conversation and understand a bit of what the other person is saying. Some of the Spaniards speak slow so that helps a lot. The school offers a culture class on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays so I have been going to those which has been very interesting. I have learned a lot about the Muslim population in Granada and the history of Christianity in Spain. Through this class I have also been able to meet some nice people from all around Europe (e.g. Norway, Germany, The UK, Switzerland). It has been fun to interact with a lot of different people. It amazes me how many people from different cultures all come together in this country. 

Please pray that my Spanish classes would continue to go well. Pray that the relationships I have started with the people I have met will continue to grow. Also please pray that I would be able to get rest. I have been having many restless nights. Thank you!

The Amazing Race

Today we went into town and did a game kind of like the amazing race. We were given a map and a list of places we had to find and take a picture with. This game required that we talked to people in Spanish because almost all of us had no idea where these places on our papers where so we had to ask people. We split into teams and spent all morning going around the town and searching for the places on our sheet of paper. My team was able to find all of the places and it was a lot of fun to be able to go around and look at all of these historical sites. Mixed in with the places we had to find we had some challenges that were extra credit, which were just for fun like finding the longest mullet. A lot of the people I talked to where very nice and made me laugh. A few people laughed at me but it was funny because I knew I was a sight to see running around and then asking for help and then whipping out my map. At least I know my directions in Spanish so for the most part I could understand people.

Besides the Amazing Race today I haven't really done anything except help around the house and reflect on my time in Murcia with the team. I loved the people in Murcia and God has shown me so much through my time there. Not once while I was in Murcia was I ever comfortable but I was happy. I was stretched a lot with the language, laid back lifestyle, and people. We often did not know what we were going to be doing until the last minute which was really hard. Eric would come downstairs and say something about street evangelism and the team doing a skit, then an hour till we left to go evangelize, which we would not know was that night, he would say "Is the skit ready?" We were always on our toes but we wouldn't have had it any other way because we were stretched in many ways. I am learning to let go to structure and just go with the flow.

I also honestly did not expect to miss home or struggle with the language as much as I do. I loved it when I was able to have a full conversation with people but there were many days when I was like " I am not even going to do this today because I am not going to know what they are saying anyways". I knew that I could speak the Spanish that I knew but following the people's responses was a lot harder. I am learning to be vulnerable and put myself out there. My last week in Murcia I tried to talk to people and since then I have tried a lot more with has been great!

I am learning that despite my weaknesses God still uses me to reach out and His Holy Spirit has been my guide. The night that Michal and I prayed with Elizabeth, my host mom, was completely from the Holy Spirit. She walked into our room and asked what time we had to be at the church and then told us she would not be there in the morning because she had to go to the hospital in the morning for tests. Before she left I asked to pray with her. Michal and I prayed in English and she prayed in Spanish. In the middle of her prayer she just started weeping and I know that all though I couldn't understand her God could. That was a hard night for me because God knows that I wish I could of understood her prayer more than anything, but I know it was God that knew that Elizabeth needed to pray and He heard her prayer so that is all that matters.

That is just a short reflection my time in Murcia and on what I have learned, and on what I am continuing to learn.

Hello Granada and Green Grass

Yesterday was great! I couldn't have asked for a better day. In the morning the team, the pastor's family, and our host families along with a few people from church went into the city and had a great time sightseeing and just spending time together. Even though many of them have spent a significant amount of time in Murcia many of them are not able to go into the city because of the cost of transportation and time. We all had a lot of fun and I was very grateful to be able to spend my last day with my host family.

That evening it was very hard for me as I said, "Adios" to some good friends. At the church we had a big dinner with our host family, the pastor's family, and some of the church members. It was a lot of fun! We laughed together and shared some time together before the team headed off for Granada. The host families expressed their love and appreciation for us, and the pastor's family also gave us a nice goodbye. I barely made it through the first speech before I started to cry. The people in the church have been so wonderful and my host family has been great! I didn't know what to expect coming on this internship but I know that any expectations I would have had would have been blown away by these people and the Alcantarilla community. I have loved my time here and even though it has not been easy it has been a blessing. I am blessed for having known these people for the short time that I have and I am blessed to be able to be apart of their lives. They have touched my heart deeply. Saying goodbye is never easy but I know that the friends I said goodbye to in Murcia is not forever for I am sure in my heart that I will see them in heaven one day. Their passion for the church and for Christ is outstanding, it was beautiful to be able to see such loving and selfless people working hard and with all their heart for God's Kingdom!

Today I am safely in Granada. Hearing Chris Irwin, the Team Expansion missionary, speaking English to me after a long bus ride was a nice relief. Though I did cry a little because I know that life in Granada is going to be very different than in Murcia. Here in Granada I am going to be working with more language learning and starting this week we will begin language classes and next week we will begin language routes. Language routes will consist of me going into town with the team and then splitting up to find people to talk to in Spanish. Despite my difficulties and frustration in learning the language I am very determined to make the most out of this experience, and I am very excited to go out and meet new people! Well, it is almost time for dinner, yay! Nicia, Chris's wife, is an awesome cook!

Please pray for team unity because as of now, in Granada, we are going to be in some stressful situations with learning the language and in a smaller space. Pray that we would live in peace and also please pray for Chris and Nicia as they take on the task of having us in their home for the next 2 weeks. Also please pray for our language routes, pray that we would have open hearts, develop relationships with new people in Granada, and be stretched.

Getting Ready to Move Out..

In only a few days I will be living Murcia. I have grown to appreciate this laid back lifestyle. I have loved my time here in Murcia and though my time here has been short I have grown to love the people and the church here. I am sad that I am going to be leaving my host family and my new friends but I know that God will continue to be with them. I have learned so much from these people and from God by just being here. I know that I am going back to Granada changed for the better and with my eyes now wide open. I wish I could explain more but my time on the computer today is short. I hope all of you at home are celebrating and having a good Father´s day! (The Paster Eric has been going around singing Happy Birthday Father (in spanish) since we told him about this holiday, it is really funny, he is so much fun)

Please pray for team unity (which by the way has been great!). Also please pray for Jess, Tiffany, and myself as we still struggle a lot with the langauge, pray for a safe trip back to Granada, and please pray for our leader Stephanie for clarity in life and in where to direct the team. Also please pray for our youth and church events tonight that everything would go well and that God would be glorified.

The Seasons Change...

Life in Spain is not easy and there is a lot to get use to here, but I honestly love learning new things each and every day. I have struggled a lot with the langauge but slowly I am getting better. I am putting myself out there to try and talk to people, which has helped a lot. I am denying myself and putting God first. I am trying my hardest to glorify Him in everything I do. I have missed home a lot this past week, but I am getting through. I really do miss home but I do love it here!

These past few days I have been able to sleep in a little and get some much needed rest which has been great! Saturday youth group did not go as planned, but it was fun! There was 3 kids there for the first 45 minutes but then a few more came and we sang songs and played games. We sang worship songs together in English and Spanish which was really cool. Saturday night I went to the home Bible study and since our leader was gone for a few days we did not have a translator, but the pastor, Eric, tried very hard to translate for us with the English he knew. I ended up loving the home Bible study because I got to see more of the pastor´s heart for God and His passion for the word. He also does a wonderful job at making sure that all of the team members are involved in every discussion.

The Sunday youth night went well we were able to play games, sing songs, teach a lesson on Following God, and hang out with the kids. Jared, one of my team members, preached in the main church service and Steph, the team leader, made it back in time to translate. Jess also finally joined us on Sunday and has been a great addition to the team. Jess´s heart for people and life is contagious, I love it!

Well my time is almost up, please keep praying for team unity and for peace. Pray that we, as a team, continue to be stretched and broken in order for God to be glorifed completely in our lives.