Missing our new friends......

Like Betsy, I (Mel) am waking up this morning and processing all that I have experienced this past week. I am so grateful for my new friends in Spain. God has strategically planted hearts for Him in the beautiful area we visited. There is salt and light in Spain and I wanted to share the faces of some of these people.


Isma, Eva and Isaac are a precious family! Isma and Eva spent countless hours driving, translating, answering questions and loving us! They took days off work to be with us. They have hearts that are bent toward drawing others to Christ and we know God has big plans for them. Isma was our "class clown." As Cara says, "He cracks me up." He gets it honestly from is father, Josep. Isma and Ava engaged in some very intentional conversations with us. Their honesty and love are so refreshing. They desire to see the unchurched of their community feel loved and accepted in church and I know God will use them to bring about His purpose! They have hearts that are willing to do what it takes.


Alvaro, Raquel, Oriole and Noa are another family that stole our hearts! As we have mentioned, Alvaro translated the song "Indescribable" and it was so beautiful! He is a very gifted musician (singer, keyboard, guitar) with a wonderful heart for others. He and Raquel took time to be with us this week even though they had family coming in from out of town to celebrate Oriole's 4th B'day (which was Sunday). Alvaro took time off work during the week to drive us around and help at the church. This family loves God and they have such a desire to see their church impact the community of unchurched people. They are available to God and I know He will use them in a big way!


Dani and Tamar are another couple who took time during their week to be with us. Tamar made the Ikea run to Barcelona with Betsy and some of the team. They were looking for blinds and other items need for the work we did at church. What a trooper!! I think she even made runs to the paint store with Scott and Jen! Dani is as talented as his brother Alvaro. I never say him practice "Indescribable" until 30 minutes before the service on Sunday! He placed the drums and I was blown away by the sound! He also works the sound and video equiment (along with Isma). What a great couple. They are just fun to be with. They took us to an amazing restaurant one night. We sat outside and then enjoyed a beautfiul walk along the docks by the water! Again, hearts for God that He will use to bring light to Spain!


Jim, Cara, Jennifer and I had the wonderful honor of eating one night with Josep and Merce in their home. Josep and Merce are Isma and David's parents. As I said before, Jospeh has the same sense of humor as Isma and we definitely shared in the universal language of laughter. What a joy to be in their home. Merce is an amazing cook. Cara usually doesn't like shrimp but she loved Merce's (both with and without eyes). Jim did have to peel them for her, but she went back for more! Joseph has a huge heart and I was so touched by him. On Saturday when we had them write the names of the friends they were praying for on the wall at the church, he was so overcome with emotion. What a love for others! We would have loved to spend more time with their son David. However, he works in the entertainment industry and was gone most of the time on the Ricky Martin Spain tour. He ate one night with us at Isma and Eva's and we wished we could have spent more time with him. One thing he said that really touched us was regarding his visit to North Point. He and Alvaro came over in January to observe our production crew. He said that he had heard so much about North Point.....the big screens, the games in the youth rooms, the music, the moving lights.....However, what touched him the most was the community and love for each other. He said it was the first thing he noticed when he arrived. He felt welcome and could sense the love of the people for each other! Isn't that amazing! It's what we desire as a church!

Thanks for reading. I'll echo the sentiments of everyone else. It was an amazing trip. I couldn't have imagined a better team to go with or better friends to discover in Spain!

With a full and thankful heart,
Melanie

Take me back to Catalunya ASAP!

Where is the cafe and cocoa crispies???

Did anyone else wake up this morning at 4:40am wondering where the team was? I wanted to pop down the stairs and see Jim and Michael already enjoying the hotel breakfast and Bob quietly reading in his bible. Oh how I miss even my rock hard bed today!
I fear unpacking any of my thoughts too soon as I want to allow time, as Scott said, to really process just what happened 5000 miles away this week. Im sitting on my couch looking out the window onto the street and for a second I could think that nothing happened to me the last 10 days. Everything here is the same. I am still unemployed (which turned out to be a nice thing since the day was so long yesterday), there is still a wedding to plan in 3 months now, my grass still needs cut and it looks like an afternoon thunderstorm may appear - just as usual. But then I thought I would read over the blog this morning just to take an outside look at what actually happened. After reading over the posts from each of the character's on our team I am assured that something did happen. God showed up.
God showed up in ways I could never have put on paper or in a plan. God showed up in our unity as a team, in the patience of each of us after 10 long days. He showed up in the conversations with Alvaro on the way to the vineyard. He showed up in our group meetings. He showed up everynight at dinner when we would sit for hours and listen to our Spanish friends talk about their desire to see God's church in Spain. He showed up in Chave and in Tomas and Raquel and even in Juan Carlos, the hotel worker. God showed up BIG! And as an added benefit - he showed up in my heart. I am so grateful for the exact team that went to Spain. THe 12 of us in a weird way could be like the disciples...not necessarily the brightest most equipped but altogether - wanting to follow. I realized this week how Big of a God we serve. I am thankful, too, to have somethign else to consume my thoughts. I cant help but thinking incessantly about Alvaro and Dani and Isma and the men of the church. I want to badly for them to see God at work too and I know in a way, this week, they did. I am thankful that I have something to pray for and specific names to remember. I am grateful that we got to be a part of something Huge. I promise you - it may be 5 years and it may be 12 but sooner or later because of the presence of "salt" in this country - light will come. God is working now to prepare hearts and people to be advocates for His kingdom. I feel so priveleged that we may have been some of the first to see his finger print on this city.
Thank you for your constant prayers and support. We feel that you are just as much a part of this journey and we hope too that you are burdened to pray for this church and our new friends. But if you dare, pray Big, too, for Spain and for Europe and for God's kingdom to come to this earth all over the world. You will be blown away as you start to see Him move.

Missing Espana,
Betsy