Movie Night in Alcora

A few weeks ago our ministry team hosted a free movie night open to the town of Alcora.  We originally had intended to show The Nativity Story (being December and all), but since the movie distributor wanted 300€ ($400!) to do a public screening, we settled on a much more economical movie called The Climb that was put out by the Billy Graham Association some years back.  About 30 people showed up, between the support of our church in the neighboring town and people from our town, and the experience was quite informative for us.  Here are a few observations I have about the night:

• Relationships matter:  The people who came from Alcora were nearly all people we knew and had personally invited.  One random Alcorino saw one of the signs we had put out and came, and then when he asked who we were and why we were putting on a free movie night, thus finding out that we were an evangelical church group, he left and said he'd come back in a few minutes...we're still waiting for him to return.
• The "evangelical" stigma:  We just posted about this with one of our recent conversations, so I won't go into detail.  But people (especially people from a small, predominately Catholic community) still view the evangelical church as a cult...or at least as something very strange and foreign.  At times it even causes us to question how we should refer to ourselves, call our church group, and publicize events.
• People are busy with their own lives:  Thirty years ago, when Rachel's parents first arrived in Spain, doing big outdoor campaigns and showing the Jesus Film really worked because people weren't all that busy and a lot of them didn't have their own TV's.  But now everyone has their own LED TV sets to watch movies, and they're busier than ever, taxiing their kids to soccer, dance, piano and tae-kwon-do lessons after school.  Just finding an ideal day and time to put on a movie was challenging enough.
• We're still learning:  It could be easy to get discouraged with the fact that only 30 people showed up for a free movie, and, in fact, a few of our group did seem a bit down about it.  But a big part of what we're doing at this stage in ministry is testing the waters, experimenting with events and ministries, and seeing what kind of response we have.  This is an extremely important step in the process of evangelism and church planting, but it can be frustrating, as well, because having big numbers would be really nice...they make us feel good and look impressive in prayer letters.  So we could look at it from a very Eeyore-ish point of view and be disappointed about the numbers, or we can take it all in stride, learn from it, and actually have fun with the ministry and events that we do, even if no one outside of our small group shows up.
• God's at work:  Several of the non-Christians who did show up for the movie were quite moved by the plot and the themes presented, true love and sacrifice (especially God's love for us) being central.  Some even cried at the end.  Our neighbors who went continued to mention it (unsolicitedly) in conversations for days after, and we had the opportunity to share the Gospel with them at a deeper level than we ever have been as a result.  They remain interested and even accompanied us to our church's annual Christmas program.  They may not know it yet, but the Holy Spirit is softening their hearts, and the Lover of their souls is wooing them softly towards Himself.

Warrnambool Concert!

We just had our first public event as an evangelical presence here in Alcora, a rock concert with the Swiss band Warrnambool, and we were pretty pleased and excited by the outcome.  The purpose was not to do fast-track evangelism and try to convert people on the spot with an altar call, which doesn't work very well here in Spain, according to people who have lived and worked here a lot longer than we have.  Rather, the goal was to let the community of Alcora know that there is an evangelical presence here in their town, that we want to offer positive influence in the community, and, yes, to provide a testimony to Christ and the way He's changed our lives.  So here were some of the highlights:

• It was a cool, breezy Monday evening, and people came to the show.  We were a bit concerned beforehand because it was a Monday night and a lot of people knew that it was sponsored by the and evangelical group, which often doesn't get the most positive rap here.  But at one point we counted about 75 people, and a lot more neighbors and passers-by surely heard the music.  Several sister churches brought groups, which was greatly encouraging to us, and probably about 25 people who have no connection to any evangelical church came either to check out the band or because they know us and wanted to be supportive.
• The band rocked!  No, the lead singer didn't dive into the crowd, but there were several of us who made a mini-mosh pit during some of the heavier songs (yes, I'm speaking in the first-person).  A few of the comments we heard were, "How did you manage to get this great group to come to our little town?"  "I wish this would've been on a Friday so that more people could have come out to enjoy the show" (which we wish we could've done but the band's tour schedule wouldn't allow it).  One young lady enjoyed the band so much that she had them sign her pink leather jacket.  The band sold out of CDs, and people were impressed by the quality of the show they put on, even if they only understood the brief translations in between songs.
• People didn't leave during the brief testimony that was shared.  We were also nervous about this because people don't want to be preached at at a rock concert...and though the good news of Jesus was clearly presented, we don't think they felt preached at.  Juan, an elder in our mother church and who happens to be from Alcora, shared about 4 minutes worth of how his encounter with Christ has filled and transformed him, and people stayed and listened...in fact, no one left during that part of the show.  Pray thatseeds, small as they may have been, were planted and that the Lord will do His work in His time, bringing them to fruition.

Below are a few photos from the evening.  Praise God with us that He is at work here in Alcora!

The pink jacket that got signed.

Juan sharing how Jesus filled his life.

A good representation of folks from our mother church in Onda.

A Thanksgiving to Remember!

This year Thanksgiving was a special time for us as God provided for us to go home to the States for the first time since we moved to Spain in May 2009.  So we nervously boarded a plane in Madrid with our 5 month old Miriam, uncertain of how she would handle the flight and the 7 hour time difference, and two flights and 14 hours later, we landed in St. Louis.  A two and a half hour drive later (the following morning) we found ourselves at Grammie & Papa's house (B.J.'s parents, now known by their grandparent aliases), lost in the hills of Missouri.

It was a huge blessing to be together with my family for the first time in two years (about 20 people for Thanksgiving dinner in a house...not made for 20 people), and it marked the first time since our wedding over 8 years ago that my immediate family (parents, two sisters and myself) had all been together.  But, of course, the star of the show was not me, or Rachel, but little Miriam, who everyone had to touch and hold and goo and gaa over...and why not?  She is the newest addition to the family and the cutest little baby I've ever seen.  (We're learning that not being the center of attention isn't all that bad and actually gives us a chance to go take a nap.)

On a personal note, this trip was valuable for us on various levels.  Of course it was so special to really be together with family again (Skype can only do so much), though the good-byes were more emotionally taxing on me than I expected.  And it was good to eat Pop-tarts and Frosted Mini-Wheats and drink Dr. Pepper again (all things we can't find here).  But even so, God revealed to us something of deep value:  our life is not in the U.S. anymore.  It is here in Spain where we belong, and this is God's will for us.  What a refreshing confirmation and reaffirmation to have a year and a half after the big move.

P.S.  Miriam did incredibly well with the flights, sleeping most of the time.  Adjusting to the time difference after returning home was a different story, though...but we're all recovered and back to normal now!

First Spanish Youth Retreat

Honestly, I was a bit reluctant to accept the invitation.  Mostly out of my own insecurity about my ability to speak and communicate well in Spanish...make that entirely out of my own sense of insecurity about it.  I've only lived here in Spain for a year and a half and have been speaking (or stumbling through) Spanish for the same, so how could I possibly communicate Scriptural, spiritual truth relevantly to Spanish teenagers?  Sure, I was a youth pastor for five years in the States, but I still haven't had much opportunity to get into the world of adolescents in here.  Even so, at the urging of a fellow missionary, as well as my wife, in mid-September I accepted the invitation to give a couple of messages at a youth retreat the first weekend in November.

So how did it go?  I learned once again that God shows up in our weaknesses and uses us when we simply say "YES" to simple invitations to be His messengers.  That's not to say it wasn't a lot of work on my part in preparation and having poor Rachel correct my still-shaky Spanish.  But God used me to connect His truth with teenagers, even in spite of my lack of vocabulary and questionable grammar.  More than one leader told me, "You have a real way of connecting with youth," and even several teens told me, "I really connected with your talks."  It turns out that Spanish teenagers (at least this group) aren't all that different from their American counterparts:  they're open to God, and they need to hear the truth presented directly and vulnerably, even if that means sharing our own questions and failures with them.  So God is good, He is faithful, and He uses weak, imperfect, cracked jars of clay.  Lesson learned, once again...

MTI, part 2

About a week ago we completed our training at MTI, and it proved to be an invaluable experience for us. Since our last update, we covered more significant areas of life and ministry in a cross cultural situation, including sabbath keeping, rest, understanding and dealing with different cultural worldviews, and how to say, "Goodbye," well (a surprisingly important aspect of missionary life). Our time at MTI closed with times of reflection, sharing about our respective future ministries, and prayer for each family present at the trainings. We formed what we believe will be some lifelong friendships (as you can see in the group photo above), and it's hard to believe that the training is over and it's the day after Christmas already! Here are some more photos of our time there:

Us with Hans & Jen Anderson during our time to share about Spain and to be prayed for.

Rachel role-playing in a skit about missionaries in a cross-cultural ethical dilemma.

B.J. with his growth group that met several times a week for Bible study, discussion, prayer, encouragement, and a lot of laughter.

We took a weekend excursion to Albuquerque, where we were able to visit the Myers family, who served as church planting missionaries in Spain with Rachel's family in the 80's and 90's.

MTI, part 1

We've hit the mid-point of our missions training at MTI (Mission Training International) here in Colorado. So what is a part of our training here at MTI? Here are a few things we've covered:

• Who We Are Under Stress (complete with an overseas hostage simulation)
• Conflict Resolution Styles
• Personal and Cultural Values
• Cultural Differences
• The Greatest Discipleship & Evangelism Tool: our love for one another as Christians (in families and other relationships)
• Self-Awareness (know who we are and where we're from as we enter our new culture)

God has been showing us tons about ourselves and who He is during our training. Below are a few photos from our time here at MTI:

Us with fellow ECMI missionary candidates to Spain, Hans & Jennifer Anderson (no relation)--it's been good getting to know each other better through this training.

Pikes Peak from a distance...

Pikes Peak at the summit, where the air is quite frigid and thin!

A beautiful view of the sunset that Rachel caught just outside of MTI.

PACE Workcamp!

Sorry we haven't written in a while for those of you who regularly check out the blog--it's been a busy month! We've been to Canada and back, celebrated our 6th anniversary, celebrated Rachel's birthday, and I just returned from a week at Pennsylvania Christian Endeavor's youth workcamp in Findlay, OH.

It was a great week. I believe we had about 160 people total there, mostly teenagers (pictured above), to continue the recovery efforts for those in Findlay effected by the floods of last August and this February. A lot of work was accomplished through the youth and their adult leaders! The homeowners were quite appreciative, and even the mayor came to our evening worship service on Thursday to extend the city council's appreciation for PACE and the youth. So why was the Beej there? I had the great privilege of sharing the messages at each of our evening worship services as we focused on the Beattitudes of Matt. 5:3-12 and how those reveal how we can be salt and light to our dark and tasteless world. God met us during the worship times, but He also accomplished a lot through His servants, the workcampers. Below is a picture of the staff for the week: Chrissy, the summer intern; me; Mark, the Work Coordinator; Dave, the director of PACE; and Ben, Dave's son. What a blessing to serve Christ and others with such amazing people!

Graduation!

Last Saturday closed a four year chapter in our life: I graduated from seminary! It was a great time of celebration for us, especially as my parents came up from Missouri and my sister and nephew came from Kentucky. We are grateful for the work that God has done in us and through us here, but we are also eager to move on to the ministry He's prepared us for. Above is a picture presentation of a few photos from graduation.