Dazed and Confused

Last night, Ben and I met with Héctor, director of the school of music and dance in Madrid that we once considered Aslan Center for the Performing Arts. As it turns out, the website is out of date, and the ministry once called Aslan does not actually exist. What it has been for the past year is a school of music and dance, owned and directed by Héctor and his wife, Lilli. Most of the faculty are non-believers. The ministry strategy is completely based on relationship building, or friendship evangelism. Nothing about the school is overtly Christian by any means.

Anyways, we met with Héctor last night (Lilli was teaching a class). We'd been anticipating this meeting for over a year. I, in particular, felt that I had a lot riding on this meeting. Seeing the website and their ministry (obviously at the time we didn't know that it was out of date) was really the first time that I said, "Yes, Lord, I will go." It seemed to be the perfect fit, even in light of the new information about their ministry focus (the school is what always interested me more than the performance troupe the old website spoke of).

However, Héctor told me last night that I need a degree in dance, preferably a major, perhaps a minor, to teach there. This is a legal requirement of Spain, he said. I told him that I didn't have a degree in dance. He said that I could be an assistant teacher and still help in other ways, but Ben and I still feel very... well... dazed and confused. Is this a door closing? I had asked that day for a big sign, telling God that I wanted to be on his path, not just a "good" path. Is this that sign? We do not know.

What I do know is that I feel at peace. Or perhaps shocked? I don't know what the future holds. God is in control. Please pray for wisdom and discernment. Please pray for me that I wouldn't believe things that the enemy would want me to believe, like that I've been fooling myself all this time, thinking I was good enough to teach dance. Or that I don't have a place in Spain at all, only Ben does. I'm struggling with questions like that right now. Are my degrees worthless?

Lord, I cling to your word. Isaiah 30:19-21
19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious he will be when you cry for help! As soon as he hears, he will answer you. 20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them. 21 Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it."

Good food, blessed couple

Do we look happy? Well, yesterday was a pleasant day. This is us in front of the national library after enjoying a free museum, some window shopping, and a pleasant stroll. Just an hour later, we would be enjoying our first meal in a restaurant we would recommend to others - delicious, great atmosphere, and reasonable prices. And, I guessed the right bathroom ("C" is for "Caballeros").

Spaniards have been happy lately, too. Spain is on to the final of the Euro Cup against Germany after giving Russia a drubbing for the second time in the tournament. This shot is from the Plaza de Colón (Colón = Columbus), where lots of folks gather to watch the games. I decided to stay away from the Plaza and the pubs, which I'm sure were crazy again last night. Alas, we will miss the final...

...because it's Sunday night, and we'll be up at Aguas Vivas (Living Waters) by then. Aguas Vivas is a retreat center where one of the churches we're connected with is having its children's camp next week (they call the week Pequeños Gigantes = Little Giants). We will go there tomorrow and get back to Madrid next Sunday. While there, we'll be corralling the kids, teaching dance (Meggan) and rhythm (Ben as the assistant) workshops, doing a dance for the kids during the counselor talent show, teaching two Bible lessons (Meggan), and doing whatever else our wonderful leader Enrique tells us to do.

Please pray for us throughout the week; it will probably be our most intensive immersion experience, which is a great learning opportunity and probably a high-stress environment. In addition, we might not have much time alone together to encourage one another, so we will need to press into the Lord (and be creative in carving out some time together). Also, of course, pray for the camp kids. The church's hope is that we will have a mix of Christian kids and their non-Christian friends. Pray that God would be at work in children's hearts and minds (and in their parents' lives as well).

We probably will not have net access all week, so we expect this will be our last post for awhile. When we return to Madrid, we will jump into ministry with ARS School of Music and the Arts. ARS has day camps throughout July. Tonight we are meeting with the directors, Héctor and Lilli Ramírez, to discuss our roles with them. We have been anticipating this conversation for a long time! Meggan could potentially see herself serving with ARS when we come here in the future. We'll have more to share about all that a couple weeks down the road.

A pretty tree in Retiro Park. Hasta luego.

Church, Chorizo, and a Good Cry

Church
Yesterday, our fourth Sunday in Spain, we attended La Elipa Church, named for the neighborhood in which it is located. What a wonderful experience. We arrived at 10:30am for Sunday School, basically a bible study in the main room. The topic was evangelism, particularly an examination of what is a personal testimony. Lots of interaction between the leader and the listeners, even a question from a young girl who was visiting with a friend. There is a lot to be said about the Spanish quality of speaking your mind. There is little walking on eggshells here.

The service began at 11:30am with a few songs. Unfortunately, they didn't have overheads for all of them, so Ben and I had to clap and look a bit stupid as everyone else sang. Then, there was a time to share a reading if the Spirit led, or to pray out loud. Several songs were requested during this time, which the band played. The sermon followed, on Matthew 14: Jesus walking on the water. I understood about 90% of the sermon. It was really wonderful. The speaker hypothesized that the reason Peter starts to sink in the water is not because he doubts that Jesus is God, all powerful, and certainly greater than the storm. Of course Peter knew that Jesus was greater. Rather, Peter doubted because he perhaps started to feel that he was unworthy to be walking out to Jesus on the water. He started realizing his own overwhelming sin, his insignificance compared to Jesus. In that moment, Peter's eyes left Jesus: that is why he started sinking.

That was quite profound for me. I've been recently thinking, God, why me? Don't you know that moving overseas will probably be harder for me than for a lot of people? Don't you know that I will really miss my family, that I want a "normal" life, etc. And of course, God knows all of that. None of those things are surprises to him. That is both comforting and freeing. I don't have to try to squelch those parts of me. God knows those parts of me; he made me to love my family and cherish home.

And yet he still chose me to do this. I don't know why, and I don't have to know why. Or perhaps it is more so that he has called all of us to go. Could it be that most of us wait for a call to go, don't hear it, and thus stay? But, the Great Commission is clear, calling us all. Could it be that we should be waiting for a call to stay? Should "Go!" be the default? For anyone considering mission, Western Europe is a dark place, needing the light of Christ. Come with us! (Enough preaching for now.)

Back to church. After the sermon, the floor was again opened for people to share thoughts, request songs, lead prayers, etc. We then took communion. It was perfectly silent and the bread and wine (interestingly white) were passed. Each ate or drank as the bread or cup came, and I missed the communal aspect at Bethany (our church in Littleton).

However, as a whole, I had never experienced such a community-oriented service ever before. I felt like I was seeing the body in worship together. It was a really special time.

Chorizo (by Ben)
Last night provided a neat moment around 11:20pm. I stepped onto our back patio to hear the whole country of Spain celebrating the victory over Italy in the Euro Cup. What a noise!

The experience was oddly sweetened by the fact that I was feeling okay. About nine hours earlier, I made the dubious decision to go for the chorizo sandwich at lunch. Mr. Sausage left me the direction he came around the 78th minute of the soccer match, and if you're like me, you can identify with the fact that I felt much better after vomiting. (In honor of all our art museum trips, we'll give this picture a name - "Sweet Recovery.") He still did a minor number on my sleeping - my normal resting postures brought on waves of mini-nausea, so I had to sleep on my back (fitfully) until around 5:45am, and my lower back is rather sore this morning.

And that, my dear friends, is a faithful rendering of all my dealings with Sr. Chorizo. For its veracity you can appeal to my lovely wife, who babied me tremendously well in my time of need.

A Good Cry (back to Meggan)
After church, we attended a meeting for La Elipa's camp to be held at a facility called Aguas Vivas (living waters). Unfortunately, the three hour meeting was far from pleasant for me, though of course the people are all lovely and the camp will be great for the 23 children currently registered. The group of people going up have been friends for some time and have worked many camps before. In addition, all had many ideas and thoughts to share. All that adds up to many jokes, fast talking, and many talking at once. Sadly, I only understood about 25% of the meeting, despite all my straining. It was very frustrating and discouraging, and I left with not a small headache. For the first time, I thought, "I can't do this."

After getting home, I cried a little, but was encouraged by Héctor, the director of the arts camp, who assured me that Spaniards speak very quickly, even for him, a native South American Spanish-speaker. His words were kind, but I know that the week at Aguas Vivas will be very challenging for me.

Please continue to keep language acquisition in your prayers for both of us.

Superficial likes and dislikes about Spain

Likes...in no particular order
1. Peaches are in season here, and I really love peaches. The spanish word for peach (for all you language buffs) is "el melocotón."

2. Public transportation is amazing. The Metro (underground) and the Renfe Cercanías (above ground) are very efficient and inexpensive train systems.

3. The countryside is really lovely. We took the Renfe to El Escorial on Monday. The hour and a half ride was mostly in the rain, but the country was so green and beautiful. Once we reached El Escorial, we were taken by car to little cities nearby. Wildflowers and tall grasses covered the land.

4. Friends in Spain are friends for life. It takes a little longer to make friends here (so we've been told), but once made, they are fiercely loyal and honest. Spaniards will definitely tell you if they don't like your new haircut. Even if you don't ask.

5. IKEA.

6. You can order a cup of coffee and stay as long as you want in a restaurant.

7. The coffee (café con leche) is quite good.

8. Having a clothes-line in the back yard.

9. Lots of dogs everywhere.

10. Lots of Fanta or Trina flavors.

11. The juxtaposition of old and new architecture.

12. Quite a bit of green space in the cities since most people live in apartments, not houses.

13. Relatively inexpensive travel within Europe.

14. Lots of walking everywhere. Even at night, it is really safe to walk. Walking just for fun is called "pasear."

15. Learning to REALLY cook from scratch.

16. The possibility of raising kids who could be fluent in another language.

17. Trying new foods.

18. Big apartments aren't that uncommon. I always want to have a place for guests to stay with us comfortably.

19. Lots of common space where people just hang out.

20. Going out to eat with friends is to enjoy "sobremesa," which means the talking. Food is important, too, but that hanging out is more important.

21. Nutella.

Dislikes...in no particular order either.
1. Late nights. I have never been a night person, but I'm getting better. The sun sets here at about 10/10:30pm in the summer, so it is always later than you think it is, which helps. All the same, I prefer early mornings. But, breakfast at 7am is pretty tough because no one eats lunch before 2pm.

2. Children can begin school at age 2 or 3. It is not mandatory until age 5 or 6, but breaking the norm can bring criticism to your door. See number 4 above.

3. The summer is really hot in Madrid. But, come to think about it, it is hot everywhere in the summer. Even in the Shire...I mean, Wisconsin: the Shire of my heart.

4. The Spanish fry a lot of food; bad for my cholesterol. But, the churros aren't really my thing anyways. The cup of chocolate, on the other hand...or should I say warm chocolate pudding!

5. The "new tolerance" of Postmodernism is very strong here. Certainly it's in the US, too. But, there we continue to live with the false illusion that we're still a "Christian" culture. The same problems face youth today in Spain: pressure to smoke, drink, have sex etc. But, here it is a lot more visible everywhere.

6. Life is very expensive in Madrid.

7. Lots of poop on the sidewalks, but not as much as I thought. The price of lots of doggies around, I guess.

8. You can't walk on the grass in public places.

9. Family very far away.

10. I can't find Teriyaki sauce or hummus anywhere.

11. Milk isn't always refrigerated. I like really cold milk.

12. People have mentioned not having chocolate chips. I'd rather chop up some awesome chocolate to make cookies, personally. But, still - what is so special about chocolate chips that makes them so "rare" and expensive here? Let's work on this, import people.

13. Learning to REALLY cook from scratch.

14. Knowing that no matter how long I live here, in many ways I will always be an outsider.

15. The constant process of learning to understand EVERY word people say, not just getting the "jist" of what they're saying.

16. Dryers (for clothes) aren't that common here, but you can find them.

17. The possibility of our future kids never knowing normal life in the US; being far away from extended family; being "third- culture kids."

18. In our garden, there is an enormous, black, flying, buzzing bug.

19. Lots of nudity in advertisements.

20. Learning to drive here and passing the very difficult exam here will be a huge step of faith for me. Some drivers are crazy!

21. When you order shrimp in a restaurant, they come with their heads still on.

What is Coke Zero, anyway?

*WARNING* - RELATIVELY FRIVOLOUS POST. (Translation: If you don't care, you're in good company.)

When you eat out here in Spain, it's not very common to drink just water. You can order a glass from the tap, but even those who do that most often have something else to drink (soda, coffee, wine, or beer). Meggan and I usually drink water when we're out to eat in the U.S. - it's free, calorie-free, and more refreshing than other beverages. So, this has become a case of one of those minor adjustments one makes when crossing cultures.

I could turn this into a conversation about how great Spanish coffee is, or about my enjoyment of La Casera (a Spanish brand of sugar-free soda), but let's turn to something that translates back to all of you reading from the U.S.: Diet Coke (here it's "Coke Light") and Coke Zero. When we're hoping to hang on to the calorie-free beverage scheme, these are two viable options. This brings up a reasonable question - why two caffeinated, zero-calorie, aspartame-sweetened colas from the same company? Why, Atlanta?

(Clearly I have a theory, or I wouldn't have brought it up.) The answer must have something to do with marketing. Here's a thought - the next generation is starting to count its calories, so their consumption of regular Coke is dropping, but they won't drink Diet Coke because "it's for old people," or "it's what my parents drink" (that's for you, Dad). Enter the Coke Zero brand. Slick marketing campaign, clearly aimed at a younger generation. And for that reason, I thought, "Rubbish. I officially reject the junk as Diet Coke 2.0 and not worth my time."

Then I tasted the stuff, and the marketing is actually somewhat accurate - it tastes a lot more like regular Coke than Diet Coke/Coke Light ever has. It's definitely not the same as the sugary stuff, but it's a decent alternative. It seems they know the palate of their target market; we youngsters want to have our Coke and eat it, too (?). Of course, even if this is a better taste than Diet/Light, they know they can't touch that brand, because it has its own following. So, Atlanta wins again.

Other things that may interest no one but me...
--It's fun to be in Europe for the Euro Cup. What an ending to Croatia/Turkey last night! Go Spain. I hope to catch at least one game in a pub with crazy Spaniards. Pray for my survival.
--Meggan and I are movie people, and we've seen some good ones (and bad ones) at people's homes this summer. The best - "El Abuelo" ("The Grandfather"), a beautiful Spanish film about family, loyalty, and the changing of the guard in Spanish society; the worst - "Never Say Never Again," perhaps the worst James Bond movie ever made (what made Sean Connery think that was the script he should come back for in his return to the role?).

*COKE ZERO UPDATE*
August 10 - Meggan and I were watching the Olympics last night, and a Diet Coke ad came on featuring a very young and hip-looking cast. Meggan pointed out that this means they're marketing Diet Coke to our generation (or at least to people who want to feel young - but that's another story). Anyhow, this is certainly pertinent information which may require that I modify my theory...

Random pics and candid thoughts

Tonight we'd like to give you a window into what we're currently thinking and feeling about our future. We see this summer as a journey of discernment, so this stuff is obviously very important. For better or worse, we're putting pretty much everything out in the open in this post. To intersperse the serious with some lighter fare, a smattering of pictures are included, too. (Three cheers for visual aids!)

Kids: There are a lot of questions surrounding kids and living in a foreign culture. The first question for us is, when do we start trying for our first? There are a lot of factors at play in this decision, and we've gone back and forth from earlier to later a few times. Right now, we think we want to aim for our time in Wisconsin the year after we graduate from seminary. That comes with certain perks and other challenges, and our minds could change again, and the Lord could always surprise us... but that's where we sit right now. (Exciting! Scary! Life!)

Mission agencies: We've met with many Spaniards and missionaries thus far, and we'll continue to meet with more, but we feel a particular connection with two agencies - WorldVenture and OMS. We feel relationally connected to both of these missions, we believe we are philosophically aligned with each, and we would be happy to be a part of either of their teams. There is one particular advantage to feeling a connection to people in two agencies - wherever we land, we believe we will have a connection with mentor-figures from outside our own organization in addition to those within it. The obvious difficulty associated with this dual connection is that we have to choose who we will go with, and we're not yet sure how.

With this matter on her heart, Meggan was distracted this morning during the time she had planned to be reading her Bible. As the distraction stirred, she was prompted by the Holy Spirit to turn her focus to the reading she had purposed to do. She turned to Isaiah 30:
Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. (Isaiah 30:18-21, ESV)
We believe the same God who spoke this word to his people some 2700 years ago desires to do an analogous work in our lives. So rather than worry about the choice before us, we will wait for him, and we believe he will answer us, and when we hear his voice, we will walk where he leads us.

On an unrelated note, they love Pope John Paul II here. This is a statue of him outside the Cathedral of Santa María Real de la Almudena. The same day Meggan and I were married in Madison - May 22, 2004 - Prince Felipe, heir apparent to the throne of Spain, married the woman now known as Princess Letizia at this cathedral. (How's all that for random?)



Ministry focus: At the moment, we think the following might accurately depict our ministry a few years from now. The big idea is relationships. We will be building relationships with the people in our community with the hope of earning their trust. From this platform of trust, we hope for opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ with our friends, because people will not receive the truth when they hear it from a source they don't trust (no matter how deeply and universally true it is). We see ourselves meeting people through a handful of venues - our fellow parents in the neighborhood, our fellow artists, Meggan with her dance students, and I with a focus on teenagers (community contacts and/or the non-Christian friends of Christian youth). That last bit - me in what's called "youth ministry" in the U.S. - is the newest piece, and the one still more up in the air than the other ones.

Madrid (and its surrounding areas): We like this area. In spite of being a large international city, it has retained significant natural character. As for the non-natural, the history continues to fascinate us. (After all, we are from Wisconsin and Colorado, two places where the oldest man-made structures still standing are under 200 years old.) Also, you can get anywhere on the various train systems; depending on where we landed, we might not need a car (though I'm guessing we will have one). We have encountered a number of neighborhoods we would enjoy. One of our great desires for a neighborhood would be a natural congregating place where the people get together in the evenings and get to know each other. In one neighborhood we've visited, this place was a park that the backyards of scores of row houses faced; elsewhere, it was a central courtyard in an apartment complex. One neighborhood where this kind of connection does not naturally occur is where we're currently staying. We definitely like staying here right now, but gates, walls, fences, vines, trees, and bushes set us off from our neighbors. The effect is aesthetically pleasing, but it makes relationships harder to foster.
Here's the courtyard of one apartment complex where the community really does come together.

This is the beautiful backyard garden at our current residence - a pleasure to enjoy, but one of a handful of barriers separating us from our neighbors.

You know a city is advanced when even its lawyers are worthy of their own statue...















...though the presence of a museum devoted to ham across the street brings that conclusion into question. (Actually, this is a chain of restaurants called "Museum of Ham." The U.S. thinks up Planet Hollywood, and Spain gives us this. As they say, "Spain is different!")












Toto, we're not in North America anymore.

Thank you for your continued prayers; you bless us.

Doing life in/from Coslada

On Monday we said goodbye to the Cox family and navigated the Metro (subway) to Coslada, a near eastern suburb. We will be staying here for almost three weeks total at the home of Peg and Jerry Schweitzer. Peg and Jerry are WorldVenture missionaries who teach at Evangelical Christian Academy (an English-language school primarily for MKs). We spent two evenings with them, but now they've returned to the U.S. for a wedding and other family time, so we have the place to ourselves. Thanks for your hospitality and the gift of your home, Peg & Jerry! Besides this space, Peg has also passed along another piece of herself to us - she taught Meggan how to make a pie shell from scratch. Yesterday Meggan turned that shell into a peach glacé pie (yummy!).

The peach pie brings us to another interesting note - grocery shopping. Tuesday we introduced ourselves to the three stores in the neighborhood, then returned to the first (AhorraMás, which means “SaveMore”) to do our shopping. Meggan successfully navigated the meat counter for two LARGE chicken breasts, while I miserably attempted to ask for help finding something they didn’t carry. But, hey - we’re here to learn, and you can’t learn if you don’t try! We went back to the store yesterday for milk and fresh fruit, but we had to go to all three stores to find what we wanted, because there’s a truckers’ strike going on in Spain right now. The Portuguese strike has recently been resolved; pray for a quick resolution here as well.

Yesterday was also our day to discover the Cercanías (regional train network - a little faster and more expensive than the Metro, with a broader reach). We walked about 20 minutes to the station, then rode about 25 minutes to Atocha, the main train station in Madrid (the station that was bombed by terrorists in 2004). From there we walked around a lot of central Madrid - through Retiro Park, into El Corte Inglés (“The English Court,” kind of like Macy’s), past the Royal Palace and Royal Theatre, and through the Plaza Mayor. We had lunch in a small place off a side street - our second meal out, and our first on our own.

So, how are we doing? We’re okay; it’s an adjustment to be on our own. Some of that is nice, of course, and some of it is naturally intimidating but necessary. The piece that’s a bit surprising is that we were less prepared to feel the absence of having hosts focusing on our goals and needs. Our first three families gave a lot of energy toward helping us along our journey of discerning what God has for us in the future, which was very beautiful and served us deeply. Without their presence, we feel more out of place than we did earlier. If you ask Meggan and me, we’re so thankful things were arranged in the order they were; we needed the extra support at the beginning! So, praise God for that, and pray for God’s presence in our ongoing adjustment to life on our own.

Hopefully our activity in the next few days will help with that adjustment. This afternoon we are meeting with a Spanish pastor named Andrés, tomorrow we are having lunch with a team of missionaries from the agency WEC, and Saturday night we are going to a secular event against human trafficking hosted by Aslan (the performing arts ministry we will be working with in July).

Teología en Piedra, Madera, y Tapices: Theology in Stone, Wood, and Tapestries

On Saturday, our gracious host Paul and his son Ben (aka: Be-Bo) took Ben and I to Valle de los Caídos: Valley of the Fallen. The official name of the monument is actually The Holy Cross of the Valley of the Fallen. It is monument, cathedral, and crypt in one. The monument was conceived by Francisco Franco, following the Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939, to honor those who had served and died in the war. Construction began in 1941 and ended in 1959, and the monument is absolutely breath-taking as well as haunting.

While I could go into great detail describing the enormous cross outside (150 meters, or just under 500 feet high), the ominous archangels which call all who enter to solemnity, and the two crypts which house those who died in the war, as well as the tomb of Franco himself, I will focus on that which most caught my attention: a series of 8 tapestries hung in the torch-lit hall which served as entry-way into the cathedral itself. From the entry-way to the back of the nave, the entire length is 260 meters (over 800 feet). The vaulted ceiling contrasts polished marble with raw rock-face.

The deliciously intricate tapestries depict the events of the book of Revelation. As I just concluded a course on this book, I darted from tapestry to tapestry, making particular note of the beasts of Revelation 12-13 (The Red Dragon - though it wasn't red in the tapestries - the Beast from the Sea, and the Beast from the Earth). The tapestries which hang there today are actually copies made from 1966-1975. The originals, created in the 16th century by Guillermo Pannemaker, could not withstand the humidity of the dark crypt. When purchased by Felipe II in 1553, 6 were lost in a shipwreck. Thus, the King ordered for the re-making of 6. The collection of 8 was complete in 1562.

Each tapestry is 5.5 meters tall and 8.7 meters wide. Obviously, pictures were forbidden inside the crypt, so the following will have to suffice. Each is jam-packed full of Revelation's narrative and symbolism.

The experience was rather ironic. The crypt focused on an elevated and illuminated, crucified Christ. The ambiance was solemn, and it was an eerie place, emphasized by 8 statues of mourners which led to the cross and 4 mourning angels which surround it, cautioning those who approach. Yet, the hall leading to the cross contained these tapestries, depicting the Parousia - the glorious and triumphant return of Christ at the end of the age! It would seem that the theology of wood and stone has trumped that depicted in tapestry in this dark place.

I was so taken by these tapestries that I sought out the gift shop afterwards and ambitiously bought the guide book for the monument in Spanish. Alas, I may have been too ambitious as the book is filled with terminology with which I am unfamiliar.

Today (Sunday), we attended our second church service in Spain and were again blessed by the warmth of the people, our brothers and sisters in Christ. We also visited The Prado this afternoon, perhaps the topic of another post: Theology in Painting and Sculpture?

Movin' right along

Quick update before I go to sleep here...

Our two days with the Moroccan couple were lovely. They minister to North Africans through (a) radio programming in Arabic broadcast to reach Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and much of Europe; (b) correspondence courses for those who hear the programs and want to learn about the Bible; and (c) a community center predominantly serving Moroccan immigrants in Málaga. Two favorite moments - walking along the beach with Habiba, and having Ab drive us to the airport in the aggressive Spanish style.

So, here we are in Madrid, where we will spend the next seven weeks. We are staying with the Cox family (Paul, Dawn, Samuel, and Benjamin) for three nights. They're Texans serving as missionaries with OMS. Again, the third family to open not only their guest rooms but also their hearts to us.

A fun tidbit of trivia that is very appropriate for myself and my new friend Benjamin Cox - here in Spain, the youngest child in the family is known as the Benjamin, apparently after the youngest of Jacob's sons in Genesis.

3 places, 2 nieces, and 1 prayer request

Things continue to go very well for us. We are loving our time with the Andersons; they've been very hospitable (and fun!). They bring a wealth of experiences and perspectives to the table from which we are having the privilege of learning; Eva is a native Spaniard, while Dan is an American MK who grew up in Papua New Guinea. We've talked a lot about different ministry approaches in Spain, cultural stuff, hobbies, movies, current events - you name it. Tomorrow we will move to another home here in Málaga, and if all our hosts are this great to us, we will have a phenomenal summer, and we will meet our objective of discerning where God is calling us.

Okay - on to today's theme: three places...
1. Málaga - what variety! The docks, beaches, hills; the cathedral, the old city, newer neighborhoods, touristy areas, beautiful plant life; Spaniards, Moroccans, Romanians.

2. Almogía - an enchanting small town in the hills a half hour north of Málaga.
3. El Torcal - limestone rock formations at the top of a mountain with a beautiful view.

Two nieces...
Emily has a little sister! Addison Meril Knox was born at 10:15am today in Indy by C-section. Kim and Addy are both doing great. Praise God! We can't wait to meet our new niece come August.
One prayer request...
Pray for Andrés, a friend of Davíd, the younger of the Andersons' boys. Andrés' single dad is an alcoholic who provides a less-than-ideal home environment. As you might expect, Andrés is not exactly the easiest kid to have as your son's friend, but he needs a lot of love, and he finds that when he's here at the Anderson home (even if he doesn't know how to receive it). At the same time, the Andersons will move to Madrid in a few weeks, so it's not as if this will be around for him for long. I don't know anything else about Andrés - does he have other positive influences in his life? what exactly is his home like? - but I know your prayers for him would fall on the ears of a Father who cares deeply for him.

¡Hemos llegado!

We made it! Our flights were smooth and pleasant, jet lag is mostly behind us, and the Andersons (Dan, Eva, Manuel, y Davíd) are lovely hosts. Dan took us to el rastrillo (market) today. The market moves around the city, but on Sundays, it is at its largest (and busiest), right across the street from La Rosaleda, el estadio de fútbol (soccer stadium).

El rastrillo, with La Rosaleda in the background.

The view from our bedroom window.