June 12, 2007Hola!
For those who don't know this... another team from our church just went to Spain (got back last night), so they set the way for us, and we are very excited to hear more about their trip. I've been reading their blog, and they too had an amazing time, but I can tell we have our work cut out for us. Evidently the leaders that we'll be working with in Spain, feel very discouraged at the slow "pace" in which they've been able to attract newcomers to church. Team 1 had to remind them that it's all on God's timing, and not our's and to be patient, but I know it must be so hard for them! Everything I was reading today reminds me of my mission trip to Romania 2 years ago. Their country is also very far from God as a whole, and those that do claim to be Christians seem to be ostracized from their family and friends. The enemy definately seems to have a strong hold on these countries, and MANY other people in the world, so they have their work cut out for them. Please continue to pray for our leaders in Spain (names to come) and their church communities. (:
Our Team (let's call us "Team 2") in the meantime, continues to bond and get ready for our trip. This past weekend we had "game night 2" at Dave Walker's house, where we cooked out and played games (mostly "Balderdash" and "Catch Phrase", which we've come to LOVE). Not everyone could come, but we took more pictures to show you how much fun we're having getting to know each other. We've realized we're going to have to take these games to Spain with us and teach our Spanish friends how to play some of them too. We will NOT have Michael Frank teach them though, as he likes to cheat when he's giving clues, especially on Catch Phrase. We have to watch out for him. (:
Another way I (Carolyn) have personally been preparing is by making crosses for our team and the leaders we'll see in Spain, as well as funny "t'shirt puppets" (for our team) with Spanish phrases on the front. This is how I've decided that we're going to learn Spanish before we go, and at least we can have fun with it while we do. (: Luckily, we also have Julie on our trip, who is a Spanish teacher! Anyway, one of my spiritual gifts is "encouragement", and I feel that it's so important to "spur each other on..." as Jesus calls us to do, so that's what we're doing, and what we'll do for the leaders that we meet over there. So, Cara Hain and I have volunteered to be the "encouragement leaders" for the trip, and another project we recently did was to chose a "secret amigo" from our team and make that person a "bag", decorating it with things that he/ she likes or that tells us about that person. It's been so amazing to see what each person has done! The bags are all incredible... especially the one that our "team artist" (Jen tanksley) did! Each person really used their creativity in various ways though, so that's been such a blessing to see. Our plan is to use these in Spain and put letters/emails in them each day from some of their supporters back home (that's many of YOU reading this now) to keep them going throughout the week, and we'll do something similar for our Spanish leaders too.
That's it for now! Hasta Luego!
Carolyn (for Team 2)
