There are no Strangers in Heaven

There are no strangers in heaven.

Has anyone ever asked you to describe what you think heaven may look like? What is that image of heaven in your mind’s eye? Is it green and lush full of nature’s best offers? Or is it simply something else something abstract? Is it surely a place where the family is gathered for a reunion? Is it possible to imagine with our limited specifications what God has in store for our arrival? To be assured of your place in heaven is certainly serene but really what are your expectations beyond knowing you have booked your reservation? Do you think you will be seated in the main dining room? Maybe your thinking more like the table next to the kitchen or perhaps a crowded first come first serve booth at the end of the bar? If you have a name like Smith or Jones you may be compelled to call ahead a few extra times just to make sure your table is not given to someone else.

I have made the shameful comment “there are plenty of Christians that I would prefer not meet in heaven much less spend eternity along side." Although funny this type of logic is not really logic at all. It is merely an admission of the obvious void of a personal relationship with Christ. One of my closest friends indirectly introduced me to the concept of living with the end in mind. Beginning everyday with the intention that this life on earth is quickly coming to an end. It has given me a bit more motivation to draw near to him. As Paul says in 2nd Corinthians 4:17-18 “so we fix our eyes on not what is seen but what is unseen. What is seen is temporary and what is unseen is eternal. Does the ambiguity of the “unseen” frighten you? A mere week and a half ago I would have answered in the affirmative to the same. What has changed?

My encounter in Spain was vibrant to say the least. This discovery unfortunately I cannot take credit for. I didn’t pack it in my suitcase or tuck it neatly away in my carry on. It had been there all the while simply waiting on my arrival. All I had to do was humbly show up and claim it.
Before committing to join the team I understood that it was not possible for me to attend. There were just too many obstacles to overcome. If you are a fan of the Cohen brothers you may remember a line in the movie “O brother where art thou” it goes something like this: the prophet tells the three main characters that they will encounter many ob’stacles and that the treasure they seek will not be the one they find. Well I had many obstacles to overcome. I don’t have the time. I don’t have the money. I am not ready spiritually. I have nothing to offer. I don’t want to leave my comfort zone…that is code for my couch and quality time with my dog Beckham. Oh and do I want to burn my vacation time? After all vacation time is precious. Through the gently prodding and encouragement of my dear friend Steve Williams I decided to go against my natural inclination, which is trying to control everything and everyone. Simply I decided to leave all the obstacles up to God. And as for the treasure was concerned I thought I might be able to make a small deposit once over there. As I decided to step out in faith and let go of my control issues a funny thing happened; all the doors began to open and I was soon on my way to Spain. I told Carolyn our leader upon her asking me why I wanted to go that I really didn’t have an answer for her. I said I tried hard not to go and that I didn’t choose this trip but that it had chosen me. Or maybe God had?

When we showed up in Spain the Holy Spirit met us and it was palpable. The love displayed by our new friends in Sitges transcended language, age, race, wealth, cultural differences and so on. I am not sufficiently equipped to describe with words the Agape moments that were shared between us but I will tell you that there is no other reason but for Christ and a personal relationship with him that we were able to build the bonds and experience the communion of faith with those that were strangers living a third of the way around the world just one week earlier. My experience in Spain has led me to believe that beyond any doubt there are no strangers in heaven and it really doesn’t matter who greets you at the door when you get there and where you will be seated. In the communion of faith we all are invited in. All we have to do is show up and claim it. We went to Spain to serve and we did. I am certain that the treasure we received is in excess of anything left behind. I think that is the lesson for what God will have in store for us when we arrive in heaven. Isn’t that what he really wants from us? To show up humbly and willing to serve through our faith in him and to let him remove the obstacles in life?

Many thanks for all of your prayers and blessings. And to my team and my new found friends in Spain especially little Isaac…. Booyah-Kasha!!!

All my love


Michael Smith

Word up in the U.S.

Ya´ll!!!

I can´t believe how amazing this trip has been. Even though there is an obvious language barrier, we have connected with some truly amazing people here. Of course, this has only been possible thanks to my amazing sense of humor that transcends such barriers. j/k

Honestly, I wasn´t really sure what our purpose would be here in Spain. But now that we have been here several days, and spent a good deal of time working together with the amazing people who are responsible for starting V.C.C., I know that the whole point was to feed each other spiritually and in doing so bring glory to the great God that we all serve.

Today, we had the chance to join them in their worship service. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Once the praise leaders got started, I felt as if I was attending a Sunday service at Buckhead Church which blows me away since there were around 45 people in the congregation compared to how many we have the privilege to worship with any given Sunday. There was so much energy and obviouse love for God and each other.

I am so grateful I have had the chance to be here. Thank you so much to everyone who supported this trip.

Love,

Anne

Word up in the U.S.

Hey Everybody,

Can I just say that Sitges is absolutely gorgeous and we are having the best time here with the new friends that we have made. It is truly amazing that even with a language barrier, we have been able to communicate and become close friends.

If i was a hot dog, I would eat myself...

Do you know what guys? I'll miss you. You've all been a huge help to us while here. As you all know (but I want everybody else to know as well) you've been my partners in one of the most scary challenges I've ever faced. Thank you for being my team. I would have never scored that great touchdown without such a brilliant team behind me.

Heather, thanks for introducing us to the world of Harry Carey. I have a big answer for you. Yes, if I was a hot dog, I would eat myself.

I just want you to know that I love you very much.

See you sooner than expected in Atlanta, GA.

dM

Sevilla Team from Buckhead almost Ready

Hola mis amigos!!

My name is Liana and I'm part of the team that will be traveling to Sevilla in a week and a few days! We have been meeting together since December and have been praying for you all and our time together. We are so excited to meet you in person soon!

Daniel and I will be posting updates on what is going on with our team, especially when we are all together en Sevilla March 4-11. As we prepare to leave, we are blessed and encouraged to see updates from our friends en Vilanova - we are praying for you all!

Last weekend, we had an amazing opportunity to spend a few days together up in Rome, GA at a retreat. They even got all of us who are scared of heights to go up on the tight-ropes (up in the trees!) - it was so scary but such a great experience!! We learned so much!

Here is a picture of the group from last Saturday.
(left to right) Bonnie, Daniel, Tracy, Tony, Rohn, Julie, Kinsey, Karen, Dave, Scott, Mary, Liana, Heather. At a retreat in Rome, GA.



We look forward to sharing more about our dinner on Monday and posting more pictures soon!

Spiritual Warfare

(Anne Glenn) speaking. Yesterday was amazing and let me tell you why. The day started early on a train heading to Barcelona with Sarah Andrews. While on the train we met a traveler, who at first we thought he was a bum, going to the airport heading back to Ireland. Much to our surprise he was just like us. Ends up he got off the train without his small bag which held his ID, money and passport. As soon as we realized it we started calling numbers in the address book he left, and then eventually found a police station in Barcelona and filled out a report for him, only to find out that he had filled one out in the airport too, so they had his number, address etc. and were able to call him. God works in many ways and I am glad we were there to find it. We keep him in our prayers and hope he got his bag back and returned home safely. That was our first sign of the day.

After finishing with the police, we then walked around Barcelona. First, we ate a great breakfast in the old marketplace in Barcelona. Then, we went on our first "prayer journey" around the city, with the idea of praying for the people of B'lona etc. in their own element/surroundings. Sarah led us to many historical monuments learning a lot about the war, Franco, and many old and new customs. We walked through churches and down many narrow streets which once were palaces and now museums. It was so peaceful!

In the early afternoon, Sarah took us to eat at a cute restaurant, where Tamar and Dani met us too.

This is where I experienced Spiritual warfare. I am only telling you this because I want to tell you how God worked in my life and my teams' life. I had never experienced this and hope to never again. I had the worst feeling and felt no connection to God, my fellow spanish friends and my teammates. We immediatly walked across the street to the park and all sat down on the grass. They layed their hands on me and all prayed for me. It was moving to hear them all pray for me and the three (Tamar, Dani and Sarah) pray in spanish.

Michael rode the train back with me, and when I got back to our apt. in Sitges, I literally got on my hands and knees and asked God to fill me up and show me my purpose for the trip. ( I know I had jetlag, was exhausted and sleep deprived) but I felt so far from God and no connection. So I went to sleep empty and woke up the next morning feeling alive and filled with life! It felt so good to be back with the team.

Don´t have anymore time and will catch you up back in the states. Forever I am changed and will never be the same.

Anne Glenn

We´ve arrived!

We are here and this is the first time we´ve had access to a computer. My camera broke, so I have hardly taken any pictures, so you KNOW how hard that is for me (Carolyn). Luckily, the others do have cameras, so we´ll post pictures later tonight.

We´ve had an amazing time already! Yesterday we went to see the Sitges church and spent most of the day with Sarah Andrews, Raquel and Eugenio. Later we met Isma and Merce for dinner. We talked a lot about our schedule for the week and what we´d be doing. Today we started with a team meeting and then Eugenio, Dani, Tamar and Raquel took us to the new church in Vilanova and we learned more about their vision for the church, that there are 56,000 unchurched people around the new church in Vilanova, and a little more about the history of the area. Then, we prayed for the church and went to lunch with them. This afternoon was amazing! We went to the church in Sitges and they did a prayer journey for us...the first for all of us! They had stations around the church, where we could go on our own at our own pace and pray for certain things (for example, one station was of the families of the church and had their pictures and prayer requests, so we could pray for each of them and put a face with a name; another was a station where we could write OUR prayer requests and pray for each other; and there were 7 more). They put so much work into it, and it was so powerful and pretty emotional for each of us! These people are so amazing and have such a heart for the Lord and the vision of this church!

Now, we are sitting at David´s house and just had a meeting with the ¨Executive Team¨ (Alvaro, dani, tamar, david and merce) and dinner together. We had a great talk about the vision of their church, how they do small groups etc. and gave suggestions and just had great, open communication. Now I´m writing fast bc- we´re tired and ready for bed. Tomorrow we are going to Barcelona for the day with Sarah Andrews (DAvid, Dani, Tamar are meeting us there too) and will walk around, learn about the history and visit some of the local churches. There is much more to come, so we´ll update you again in a couple of days, but please know that all is well, and we´re already seeing the Lord at work here!

Thank you all for your prayers and support!

love,
Carolyn, Heather, Steve, Michael, ANne, Anne and CHristy

¡UN GRAN MOMENTO!

Desde nuestras últimas noticias, hemos avanzado mucho para que el lugar donde nos reunimos sea un entorno  atractivo y relevante donde las personas puedan conocer y crecer en su relación con Jesucristo.  Era un gran momento, y muy emocionante, cuando colocábamos las sillas nuevas, algunos con lágrimas en los ojos. Hasta aquí cada persona trajo  sillas de camping de sus casas.  Eran recuerdos de nuestros comienzos en el parque.  Ahora estamos pensando en el ¨primero¨.  Oramos por el primero que vendrá de esta zona  y por los muchos que le seguirán a sentarse en una de estas sillas para encontrarse con Jesús, con enseñanza relevante y con gente especial.

Gracias  por hacerlo posible.

Pepe

A new BABY for God's Kingdom!

Team 2 (who went to Spain together last July) wants to congratulate Jen and Scott Tanksley on the birth of little Aron Asher Tanksley this past Friday, February 15th! Despite our team's attempts to call him "Rufus" for the past 9 months, his parents decided on ARON, so Aron it is! We are so excited that he is healthy and whole, and we can't wait to meet him! Praise God for this little miracle among our "family". And with more babies coming from 2 of the Vilanova families (Sarah and Miguel; and Patricia and Pau..both having girls this summer), it looks like more miracles are on the way!

Here is the email that "Aron" (aka his Dad, Scott) sent out to us this weekend

Hey World,
My name is Aron Asher Tanksley and I arrived at 3:28 pm on Friday, Feb. 15. They tell me I’m 7lbs 6oz and am 20 inches long. (I don’t really know what that means, but everybody asks, and it makes them happy when I say those numbers.) I have a head full of light brown hair and, so far, my favorite activity is sleeping. Okay, I’ll keep this email short, my fingers are really tiny and this keyboard is huge. Sorry for the delay too. The Internet was working weird at the hospital. Oh, here’s my picture. See you soon,
Aron

This is great news to take over to Spain. Our team leaves in 2 days and we can't wait! We had our last meeting tonight, so the next time we see each other it will be at the airport!

Can't wait to see all of you in Sitges/Vilanova very soon!

Much love,

Carolina

Hola!!!!

Hi Amigos-
Buenos Dias!!!! I am so excited to be coming over to see you guys next week!! I just know that the Lord has great things planned for us and for you too and your church! God is such an awesome God that he continues to pursue us even when we grow tired. He is faithful and I can't wait to see what awesome things HE does!!! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day here and its a holiday for couples to be romantic and say "I Love You"! Well have a great week and we will see you soon! I will be in prayer for you and us as we come together...my prayer is that we are ALL open to allow God to work through us and into your community. Remember HE has a plan!!!! He is our awesome creator and HE loves us so much...whenever I am going through a "hard" time I remember what HIS word says in Psalm 139...

Psalm 139

16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,O God. They cannot be numbered!

18 I can’t even count them;they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

I mean is that AWESOME or what? That our Awesome Lord thinks about US more than we think about ourselves. He is in constant thought about us, because HE loves us that much. He is mighty and worthy of our Praise to HIM!!!

I hope you all have a great week and see you soon! Audios!

Heather

Excited to meet all of you in Spain this time next week! It is truly an honor to be asked to sing for your church, and I am incredibly thankful to be a part of this amazing team.

See ya'll soon!

~Christy

Our Team is ready to come to Vilanova!

Friends,
I can't believe that in ONE WEEK we will be arriving in Spain! We are all so excited! This past weekend we went to the mountains for our team retreat. It was an amazing weekend where we bonded as a team, played some fun games, planned for our trip and spent some quality time with the Lord (in prayer and in the Bible) on Saturday. The two guys on our team (Steve and Michael) were such gentlemen too! They cooked and cleaned for us all weekend! One thing we did to get to know each other better was to take a "spiritual gifts" test to discover the "gifts" that God has given us, as well as our unique "personalities". And it became very clear that this team was put together for a reason!

SO, let me introduce you to my wonderful team! There are 7 of us (5 girls and 2 guys), all ready and eager to meet you and serve alongside with you all in Vilanova/Sitges. Here's a little about each of us:

Heather Maxey: She came with "Team 1" last June to Sevilla/Vilanova, and is so excited to see all of you again! Heather is our "spiritual mentor" on the team! She can spit out most any verse in the Bible, which might be why "Evangelism", "Pastor/Sheperding" and "teaching" are her top three spiritual gifts! (:

Anne Glenn: She has quite a story, so get her to tell you that when she's over there! Anne is our solid rock on the team. She is so easy to get along with and is the mom to a beautiful dog named "Georgia"! She has run 3 triatholons and marathons too! Anne's spiritual gifts are "Evangelism" too, as well as "Discernment" and "Wisdom".

Anne Yoder: Anne is also in my small group bible study, and I knew as soon as I decided to lead this trip that she was meant to go with us! Anne has a huge heart for the Lord and a great sense of humor as well. Get her to tell you some of her funny stories while she's there! Her top gifts are "Showing Mercy", "Encouragement" and "Hospitality".

Christy Agronow: She is the newest one to our team AND the youngest! Christy just graduated from college last year, and recently, she tried out for "American Idol" and made it through 3 rounds! But obviously the Lord was calling her to Spain instead, so she's thrilled to be coming on this trip and can't wait to sing with Alvaro at YOUR church when we're there. Her spiritual gifts are "Faith", "Administration/Ruling", and "Discernment".

Michael Smith: Michael is one amazing man (and the proud dad of a dog named "Beckham")! He has been through a lot in life and has quite a testimony! But he has grown closer to the Lord through these peaks and valleys, and when I say he's a GIVER, it's an understatement. He would give you the shirt off his back, which explains why his top gifts are "Serving/Ministry", "Showing Mercy" and "Discernment".

Steve Williams: Steve is equally as amazing! Like Michael, he has had some rough times in life, but you would never know because he's one of the most positive people you'll ever meet! He "smiles with his eyes" and makes you feel warm and welcome right away. He and Michael are in a men's small group together, so they came into the group as good friends. Steve's gifts, by the way, are also "Serving/Ministry", "Encouraging" and "Showing Mercy". Not surprising!

Carolyn Norton (ME): As most of you know, I came on the 2nd team to Vilanova/Sitges last July, so when the Lord called me to come back and LEAD this trip, I felt so blessed! All of you touched my life in so many ways, and I can't wait to see you again next week! Oh, and my gifts are "Evangelism", "Encouragement" and "Administration/Ruling". (:

So that's a little about us. We're going to have so much fun, and we are ready to come and serve YOU. (: Know that we are praying for each of you and have been since we started preparing for this trip! AndDani, Alvaro tells us your surgery went well! Praise God!

Love to all....see you in a week!

Carolyn (Carolina)

To translate this in Spanish, click here (Para traducir esto en español, pulse aquí): http://www.elmundo.es/traductor/index.html?a=a987b95065b848fb15f6326e27985a1a&t=1202786481