16 days and counting!

AMIGOS!

Our team of 9 leaves for Vilanova/ Sitges in 16 days (May 15), and we couldn't be more excited! We just had our team retreat at Lake Lanier two weeks ago, and had an amazing weekend of fellowship, prayer and planning for our trip. We also celebrated Brandi and Mozelle's birthdays that weekend! Here are more pictures from that:
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(and above is a picture of everyone except me, Carolyn, but you know what I look like).

Now, let me briefly introduce you to this incredible team:

Brandi and Steve are married and just found out that they are having a baby BOY in October! They feel very blessed and ask for prayers for a healthy pregnancy. Brandi is on the "Encouragement Team" for our trip, and Steve is our faithful "FINANCE" manager for our trip, which we all know is a HARD job. He's so good at it though! This will be their first mission trip to Spain (though Steve has been to Spain before and knows a little Spanish himself).

Renee Crosby is the "Queen" of Starting Point and Small groups, as she has led several of them through Buckhead Church. She's a great leader, talented in most anything she puts her mind to, and she's creative on top of that! Wait until you see the amazing "rice jars" that she's made to encourage people to pray for Spain (that's all I will tell you for now). This will be her first mission trip to Spain!

Bobby Garrett is our "apprentice" on the trip (meaning he wants to learn more about leading a trip to Spain in case he can do that in the future). He's the oldest on our team, but we would probably all say he's the "wisest", as he has an amazing story, which includes a "secret service" background! This is his 2nd mission trip to Spain (he came with David Walker's team last October).

Jamey Gibson is in his 30's and part of our "Ministry Team". God has really gifted him with the skills of Biblical Wisdom and "sheperding", and he and Alan have been leading our devotions and "worship time" during our retreat and each meeting. I (Carolyn) had the pleasure of going on my first overseas mission trip to Romania with Jamey about four years ago, but this is his FIRST mission trip to Spain!

Gail Turk is our very own Spanish "guru". She lived in Spain for several years and knows the language fluently, so we have been relying on her to teach US some words and phrases in Spanish! Don't expect too much of us, but we do know a little more now, thanks to her. She's also a flight attendant for Delta, so while this will be her first mission trip to Vilanova, she has been there once before on a layover and met some of you briefly. She also has been on one mission trip to Sevilla last year!

Alan Boyd is also on our "ministry team" (with Jamey) and has been helping to prepare us for this trip through his gifted devotions and prayers. He works for a roofing company in Atlanta and has a construction background, so if you need a "handy man" while we're there, HE is your guy! I have the pleasure serving with Alan on the "host team" at church on Sundays as well. He's our "Captain"! This will be his first mission trip to Spain.

Mozelle Pittman is going to be our "communicator" at your church on Sunday, May 17! She has an amazing story of how God has brought her through some hard times and back, and I felt like she was the one God would want to talk to you that Sunday. So voila! I also have the pleasure of being in a new small group bible study (called "BLC") with Mozelle every Tuesday night! This is her first mission trip to Spain.

Finally, there's Carolyn (me), and God has chosen me to be the "leader" on this trip again, which I feel blessed and humbled to do. This is my 2nd time leading a trip to your beautiful town, but the 3rd time coming on a trip there, and I wish I could explain how excited I am! There are no words though. All of you are like family to me! I know God has gone before us and prepared our way, and HE is the ultimate leader for this trip, so I am not worried in any way, but just very ready to be there!

So there you have it! We all are so encouraged by what God is doing in your country, and we can't wait to be a part of it in a few weeks. We will be doing a little bit of everything with you, from Starting Point and Small Group training, to a church retreat with all of you, to lots of prayer and hopefully some encouragement too!

By the way, congratulations to Eva and Isma (our friends in Vilanova) who are pregnant and due in September! They find out on May 20 (while we're there) if they're having a boy or girl! Please pray for their pregnancy as well. AND congrats to Alvaro and Raquel, who are celebrating their 10 year wedding anniversary! WOW!

Muchos Bessos y abrazos!
"Carolina" and team