Missions Blog

Day 5 in Spain, after breakfast, we headed out to Cabanillas del Campo church for the Sunday sermon that Ken would be giving. We got there early and greeted all the members of the church including Rose and her kids, as well as the Alvarez’s!

We joined Federico and the church family in worship music, prayer, and encouragement. We took communion together, and then Ken gave his sermon on Psalms 42-43, talking about depression and finding joy in God. We ended the service with a brief hasta luego as we packed up some tables and headed to the nearby park for a picnic.

All the members of the church gathered at the park with food and spent time in community and discussion. The kids played together in the shade while the adults and our team members got to know each other. Before we left, we made sure to get one last photo with Fede and Lucia. We thanked them for their service in their ministry and prayed for them. May God be glorified. The Colussys gave them gifts that they brought for their whole family!

After packing up and heading back to the hotel, we got our tourist outfits on and headed over to the train station, where we would take a train to Madrid, and further to Sol, the central square of the city. We took photos of the wonderful architecture and scenery. We saw the Royal Palace of Madrid and the next door Cathedral, before heading to Plaza Mayor. This is where we got dinner - calamari sandwiches and empanadas!

As the sun began to set, we headed back to the metro to catch the next train to Sol, before sprinting to the shortly departing train back to Guadalajara!

Buenos días, señores y señoritas!

We began our day with our continental-style Spanish Breakfast Bar. Then we gathered on the patio for a team devotional and our planning meeting before heading out.

Cheryl, Dee, and Heather finished day three painting a bedroom wall in Rose and Chris’s home. We have removed wallpaper, spackled where needed, sanded, and painted. The guys joined in for the big reveal. What a transformation!

Then we headed off to a scrumptious lunch at 2 pm. This is the largest meal of the day in Spain, with appetizers, main courses, side dishes, and several desserts.

Siesta follows. Today, I think everyone took a nap. We have been working so hard all week, plus interacting with the teens, children, and adults.

Tonight was English Speaking Class with nine adults from the town of Cabanillas del Campos, Guadalajara, all the way to Madrid…. teachers, authors, architects, retirees, marathon runners, etc. What an enriching experience!!!

Hola! Today, we started off with the same amazing breakfast from our hotel. Clay led a Bible study about overcoming obstacles, and we talked about how sometimes you take a step when there is no ground underneath your foot, and the Lord places the ground beneath you before you fall. We prayed over our day ahead of us.

On our prayer walk, we prayed at the city hall of Cabanillas Del Campo and prayed over the city itself, the mayor, and the city officials to help the permit process of their new church. We walked through the town, stopping to pray for  Fede and Lucia, Chris and Rose, and their mission here. While at the cultural center, a woman named Marina stopped to talk, and we were able to share with her why we are here. She spoke English very well and mentioned she has little opportunity to practice, so we invited her to “Temas y Tapas,” the English conversation class we will host tomorrow evening!

After the prayer walk, the women went back to the home of Chris and Rose to spackle and paint, then we headed to lunch.

After lunch (which was the best chicken in the world!!!), we had some time to walk around Alcalá De Henares. We saw many historic buildings and learned so much history. We saw the building where Christopher Columbus asked the Queen if he could find a new route to India and started his journey to find the Americas. We learned a lot about the history of Catholicism in Spain and how, throughout the years, it has been ingrained into their culture, even though all of the churches here are poorly attended.

This evening, we went to the home of one of the families of the church for the last night of youth camp, and they had a swimming pool! Fede gave the closing message, and the kids played games and swam. We had a dinner of hot dogs and chips with s’mores for dessert. (A couple of these kids had never had a s’more) Heather gave her testimony, and it was even more amazing because she even did it en Español!!! Overall, we had an amazing day and are ready to see what tomorrow brings us.

On day 2 in Spain, we all agreed to meet at 8:30 am for breakfast, prayer, and devotional. So after a good night's sleep, or an uncomfortably warm one for the unfortunate few without A/C, we all got ready and met in the hotel lobby, where we started getting coffee, water, and a Spanish breakfast.               

Shortly after we ended our devotional, a man who was seated behind us showed interest in our conversation. He introduced himself as Christian, both by name and religion, and he shared that he is in the midst of discovering what church he wants to attend: Evangelical, Catholic, Baptist, etc. After talking for a few minutes, Ken was able to get his information so that he can give him Fede and Lucia’s church’s information in hopes he may attend.

After we were done eating and getting ready, we headed out to our respective locations: the men were headed to the new church location to help with demolition, and the women went to Rose and Chris’s home to help remove wallpaper and prepare the wall to be repaired and repainted tomorrow. The men’s group helped remove the old ceiling tiles, vents, speakers, lights, and an accessory wall. After a few hours of hard work, sweat, and dust, we all congregated at Rose and Chris’s house and saw the work they had done.

We then headed back to the hotel for a brief shower before heading back out for lunch with Fede and Lucia shortly after 2 pm. Fede, Lucia, Ken, and Carolyn introduced us to all the local delicacies, which we all enjoyed along the side of wonderful conversation. After taking a group photo, we headed back to the hotel for siesta, a brief midday rest period.

The next thing on the agenda is going to the church during the youth events, where we began to introduce them to American flag football. We had the footballs and the jerseys, but we didn’t have the flags for football, as they were in the lost luggage from the airport. After tossing around a football outside for some time, we all went back inside for an icebreaker game followed by worship. Halfway through the activities at the church, we finally received the phone call saying the luggage was delivered to the hotel, so we immediately sent Ken, Tim, and Tyler back to the hotel to retrieve the much-needed flags! Back at the church, a lesson and discussion were then led by Sarah, the wife of the gentleman who taught yesterday, about Genesis 44. After some group discussions for the students, we packed up some drinks, snacks, and sports equipment and headed to the field to play football!

We knew heading into this that teaching American football wouldn’t be easy due to its many minute details and rules, so we started with playing catch and attempting to run routes. After each student got a few tries, we broke into 4 teams and started 2 separate games. Ken helped translate for the blue and green team, and Chris, helped translate for the red and yellow team. After some much-deserved confusion as to why we play football the way we do, they started to understand it, and the games started! We had some fumbles, a broken earring, some turnovers, interceptions, but even in that, the kids were smiling, laughing, congratulating each other, and keeping it competitive. They played until the field lights went out, still asking for one more play!

After all was said and done, the students got some water, ate some snacks, and put on matching shirts we brought for a group photo. Fede then introduced Steve Magnotti, who shared his testimony of how God used one of the hardest moments of His life to bring him to Christ. He shared how life still has struggles, but he knows that he is no longer fighting that fight alone! Fede spoke to close out the night, and we started to pack up and say hasta mañana!

Back at the hotel, we debriefed and collected ourselves before heading to bed to get rest for another amazing day!

Spain team departure adventures and day 1 in Spain!

The plan was for the team to meet at the Pittsburgh airport at 1:45 pm in order to fly to Philadelphia to meet Ken and Carolyn Muckle, then fly to Madrid!

Time to pivot!

Our flights were cancelled! Tim and Cheryl called on our team to regroup and think quickly.

We met, prayed together, and mutually made a decision to get on the road and drive to Philadelphia in hopes of making our next flight!

Road trip!

We confirmed we could all be booked again on the later flight to Madrid and started our trek across the turnpike. Time would be tight, but we kept praying and hoping that we would make it to the Philadelphia airport in time.

On our way, we got alerts that the flight was delayed 40 minutes which helped our cause! We also were getting alerts of bad weather, possible tornadoes, and flooding and traffic!

Time was tight, and we got an another alert our flight was delayed again!  More time! It amazed me how God was providing in these ways! Our team was full of trust and patience. (And encouraging each other to keep hope)

We joined together with Ken and Carolyn Muckle in Philadelphia, and our team was fully together!

Now wait.

More delays and after waiting, departed for Madrid at 1:30 am!! Wow- we had quite a delay (5 hours)

Wednesday:

Landed in Madrid 8 am US time/2 pm Madrid time.

By 4 pm, we had picked up our luggage - well, all but one left behind! (More prayers, we will get it soon!) We drove to Guadalajara and checked into our hotel. After check-in, it was time to grab a snack and then drive to join the Alvarezes at their church for youth camp.

We participated in a find the owner of the shoe game and then sang in worship before the message on Joseph was shared. Keychain craft, then sand volleyball at the local park with snacks too! Tim shared his testimony with the youth while Ken translated . Praise God for the opportunity for Tim to share about God's work in his early life so he can live to honor God.