Jesus has quite literally moved into our neighborhood

Well, Gsus has moved in. Gsus is a clothing store from The Netherlands. It opened up on the corner of our street over Christmas. You can't really tell from this picture, but just above the store sign is a street sign. It is my street, Calle Espirtu Santo, which means Holy Spirit Street. I don't know if you believe in the spirit world or not, but I do and I think that our street is more than just "heaven's playground." I believe that our street is more of a battle ground than a playground. Holy Spirit Street is probably less than a quarter of a mile (1/2 a kilometer) and on our street we have a shop called "The Morgue", a couple of shops that have pictures of demons, a shop that has the word devil in it (there are quite a few goths around here), the Madrid Hare Krishna center, now Gsus, and our flat that is often used for church purposes.

Despite that fact that I know that this new shop has nothing to do with really being followers of the one true Jesus, it makes me feel like maybe we aren't alone here and that maybe Satan is losing his stronghold on our street. Now when people walk down our street, the first thing they see is this shop and whether they believe or not, they will think about Jesus, how can you not when you see that sign?! Hopefully as they make their way down the street, they will then feel His presence emanating from our flat. Before this shop was here, Jesus was already in this neighborhood, but now there is a visible reminder. This battle is not over yet, and when it is, only Jesus and His followers will be left standing on this street. I pray that the longer I live here and the longer our flat is used to serve Madrid, the number of followers will grow. Jesus is here to stay!!!

One Year Anniversary

Yesterday, January 6, 2007, was my one year anniversary of living in Madrid. Where has the time gone? I intended to blog yesterday about this but ended up not getting home until late. I had a rip roaring party with Troy, Heather, and Kelly. We ordered in Chinese and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. It was really fun actually. I really can't believe it's already been a year. I remember the day I arrived in Madrid like it was yesterday.

Troy and Kelly met me at the airport last year. They were going to help with my luggage, had the airline not forgotten to send it with me. We ended up going straight from the airport to Troy and Heather's house for lunch. In what I now know to be typical Troy fashion, we had to run to catch one of the trains to get out to their house. I remember sitting at the table with Troy, Heather, Meg, Nic, Kelly, Jay and Carolyn eating soup and bread. I remember thinking, "Oh crap, what have I done?!" "I am in Spain, I'm stuck, there is no going back." The rest of the afternoon and early evening was spent at the Cady's trying to stay awake and act like I wasn't terrified about the decision I had made to be here.

My luggage finally arrived about 10 pm, just after I had climbed into my mattress on the floor. I looked around my empty room and the two suitcases I had brought with me for a year, and cried myself to sleep.

One year later, things are very different. I once again was at Troy and Heather's with their kids and Kelly, but this time, I wasn't terrified (well not for the same reasons at least) and I didn't feel stuck. I felt like this is where I am supposed to be. I felt like I was hanging out with family. Last night when I got home I looked around my room that is full of my stuff and fell asleep content knowing that God has protected, provided, and guided me to this point. I can't wait to see what He has in store for my next year.

Pink Hot Chocolate

To drink, or not to drink. That is the question! I chose to drink. That may have been the wrong choice. If ever given pink hot chocolate, think twice before consuming!

Christmas #2 of 3

Merry Christmas!!! So, I didn't expect that spending my first Christmas away from home would mean that I get 3 times as many Christmas'. It all started last Sunday when I celebrated with Kelly and Victoria. We had a spectacular day! It began with a trip to the Rastro then a visit to Victoria's new apartment. After that I took a much needed nap. This holiday stuff is exhausting! Next on the agenda was a trip to the Cine to watch "The Holiday." When we arrived home I baked some cookies and Victoria cooked a delicious dinner of chicken and spinach fettuccini. After dinner we exchanged gifts and opened our stockings. One of Victoria's gifts was "Pride and Prejudice" so of course we had to watch it. So that was Christmas #1.
Christmas #2 started yesterday with a Christmas Eve lunch with people from church. Then last night me and my friends Kristy and Ian who are visiting from the UK went to Troy and Heather's for a rousing game of Bingo and Polar Express. We spent the night and this morning we opened stockings and presents with the Cady's. This has been a wonderful Christmas. I get to spend it with new family here in Madrid and also old family. I've been friends with Kristy since I can remember and it is so great to have her here with me. It makes it a bit easier to be away from my family at home. I do look forward to Christmas #3 with my parents at the end of January when I go home. God has really blessed me this year. It amazes me how he looks out for us for even small things like making Christmas wonderful no matter where you are. It is all about Him anyway. So, where ever you are this holiday I pray that you remember the true meaning of this Holiday, Christ's coming, and can celebrate that with family and friends.
(More pictures from Christmas #2 to follow in a later post.)

A Month Later...and a Decision

So here it is a month after my last post. I always have such good intentions to blog more often, but this month has been absolutely insane. I usually don't have enough to write, but this time, there was just too much to write about. I have been too overwhelmed. I know this seems like cheating, but I am posting my most recent update here so if you don't receive my updates but after reading this would like too, please let me know.Hey Everyone! Where on earth has November gone? I guess I know, first it was a trip to Germany, then a trip to Morocco, then my parents were here and it has just been wrapped up with a Thanksgiving Feast with our church. The first two picture are from my trip to Muenster, Germany where I visited another Christian Associates church. If you weren't aware, I started my search for missions organizations in Western Europe so that I could serve in Germany. I didn't find a place in Germany at the time so God opened the door for me to come to Madrid. Over the past 11 months Germany has still been in my mind and I have been wondering if God was using that burden for Germany just to get me to Europe so He could lead me to Spain, of if He still had plans for me in Germany. I felt it was important for me to visit a church plant there and pray about what God might have in store for me. It was a great week with Stefan and Andrea, the couple that started Epic Church in Muenster. I visited a couple of their community groups, got to meet a ton of people from their church, and even dance and share a little of my story at their church service. It was an exhausting week as everything was in German and it has been quite a while since I've practiced that language. The people there were very gracious though and helped me out a ton and translated for me or just helped me out.

Two days after I returned from Germany, I went with a group from my church, Oasis Madrid, to Morocco. Our church has a relationship with some missionaries there and have gone in the past to help out. We spent the week helping in an orphanage and attended a church service there. It was an incredible trip. I have never been to a Muslim country so that was an eye opening experience. My heart just broke for the women there who seem to be treated as second class citizens. The Muslim women must keep their heads covered anytime there is a man around and when out in public, they can't look a man in the eyes. It was interesting to realize that you automatically know who does not know Jesus just by looking at someone's clothing. It is so easy for people in a Western culture to hide what they believe and in Muslim cultures they literally "wear" their beliefs. I often think it is difficult bringing the message of Jesus to people in Spain, but it is so much easier for me than it is for those trying to bring the love of Christ to Morocco or any closed or Muslim country.
I returned from Morocco with three days to rest up and and prepare for my parents visit. My parents arrived on the 16th and left on the 25th. We had an incredible time. We spent a few days sight-seeing in Madrid, a few days exploring Barcelona together, and a day in Segovia. In some ways it felt strange to mix my two worlds together, but I enjoyed every minute they were here and loved being able to introduce them to my team and my friends. I enjoyed introducing my parents to so many new things. I'll never forget my mom's excitement at seeing her first castle or my parents seeing the Mediterranean for the first time, or even my dad getting so excited by seeing so many Harley Davidson motorcycles. For those of you who know him, I'm sure that comes as no surprise to you. It was also wonderful being able to spend Thanksgiving together.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, I never assumed that I would have two Thanksgiving celebrations during my first year here in Spain. First was the dinner with my parents, my team, and a couple of friends, and then on Sunday we had a Thanksgiving feast for our church. We had about 40 people show up and almost half of them don't usually go to church at all. It was a fun day of TONS of good food, meeting new people, playing games, and loving people the way God loves us, unconditionally. It was a blast.

Another factor that added to this already crazy month was the fact that I needed to decide what to do with my future. I signed on with Christian Associates for a one year internship which is over in a month so it was time for me to figure out what comes next. After much prayer and talking with my team, mentors, and my parents I feel that God is calling me to stay in Spain. I am really excited about this decision, but it certainly wasn't easy. This means continuing to live far away from my family, giving up the comfort of a country and culture that I have grown up in, and trusting God to provide for me financially through the generosity of others. I will be returning to the U.S. for about six months though to raise more support so I can continue working here and also to get the paperwork sorted out so I can get my visa. I will fly home at the end of January and then return to Spain at the end of July. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know. I am hoping that I can see as many people as possible during the six months that I am home. I will be spending time in both Maryland and Michigan and will be in touch about exact dates when I have that information. Until then, I have some prayer requests and answers to prayer that I would love to share with you.

Prayer Requests:
- Please pray for my finances as I am coming to the end of the year and my account is getting low. I will have some extra expenses with having to travel home and obtain my visa. If you already support me financially, please pray about continuing that support and if you don't please pray about the possibility of supporting me financially in the future.
- Please pray for me as I spend my first Christmas away from home and family.
- Please pray for some friends that are starting to get involved in Oasis Madrid but aren't yet followers of Christ. Maybe this Christmas will be the time they realize the true meaning of Christmas.
- Please pray for our church as we are searching for a ministry center and are trying some new programs.
- Please pray for my roommate/teammate who has just lost some support and has to find a way to get that back. Also pray for her safety as she travels home for Christmas.

Praises:
- God has provided miraculously for my team leaders family! They were in a severe financial crisis that seemed impossible to remedy, but within a week and a half, they received all the money they needed and more.
- We have a lot of new people becoming interested in Oasis Madrid who are not Christians and who have never really been fond of the church.
- Praise God for speaking clearly to me about where He wants me after this year.
- Thank God for my wonderful team and friends here in Spain. Troy, Heather, Meaghan, Nic, Kelly, Kelly, April, Alleke and many more.

Thanks so much for all of your prayers and support. I can't express enough how thankful I am for all of you. May God bless you richly!

A Day Between...

November is crazy! I just returned from a week in Germany yesterday and tomorrow morning I am leaving for Morocco for five days. I was in Germany to visit another Christian Associates church in Münster. I had an incredible time but am thoroughly exhausted already. It was tiring trying to understand so much German. The church I visited is in German. There was always someone to help translate and everyone was so gracious in trying to speak English with me as well. I just felt so blessed the whole time. The purpose of this trip was to check out what is happening in Germany with Christian Associates. My internship with CA in Madrid is technically over in January, just two months from now and I am trying to figure out where God may be leading me after that. Is it Madrid, is it Germany, is it the US, is it somewhere else that hasn't been revealed to me yet? I DON'T KNOW YET. Sometimes it seems when all I want are answers, all I get are more questions. I'll have plenty to think about tomorrow on the 8 hour bus ride to the southern tip of Spain.

For the next five days in Morocco a group of seven of us from Oasis Madrid are heading to an orphanage to help out in anyway we can. I am really excited as this is unlike anything I have ever done before. I am also a bit nervous as I've never experienced an African and Muslim culture. I am just praying that God will use us as we love these children and offer our help. I think that's about it for now. I really need to be off to bed as we are meeting at the bus stop in just over seven hours. I'll write again after I return and before my parents arrive. I'll have three days between then... I tried to put some pictures on here, but it's not working out right now so I'll try again next week. Sorry.

Post

Last Thursday I went to Troy and Heather's to just hang out on our day off. Heather helped (aka, did everything) change the colors on my blog and we watched a couple of movies. Troy posted a couple of new blog entries and told me that I needed to post again. I have been meaning to and even have a few things written down to blog about but here I am over a week later and finally getting around to it. Better late than never right?!

Something that I really appreciate about God is that He doesn't need any of us. He will reveal Himself however He wants. He doesn't need us Christians to show Him to others. I really appreciate that He uses us but I also appreciate that you can see God in many things, even if they aren't "Christian." For example, I recently read "Pigs in Heaven" by Barbara Kingsolver and saw God in this "secular" book. At one point one of the characters is in a casino in Vegas and this is what she says, "In truth, Alice thinks Las Vegas was far more interesting the list time. She remembers people crowded around a green felt table, each one bringing a different story and a different need to that smoky room, joined together in a moment of risk and hope. In a way it was like church, with more interesting clothes." I think that this is a pretty accurate description of what the church should be; a place that people come together with different stories and needs taking a risk and acting in hope.

Another place in the book Kingsolver gives us a glimpse of what love should look like by using the example of a mother protecting her children. This is what it says, "For the reason mothers throw themselves in front of traffic or gunfire to save their offspring. 'I don't have children,' she says finally, 'I suppose I don't know that kind of love.' 'I suppose I don't either. To put yourself second, every time, no questions asked? Sounds like holy communion.'" What a beautiful picture of love. Always putting the other person first.

Thanks God for revealing yourself everywhere, thanks for not having to depend on humans. He really is amazing!!!