Here are "highlights" from our trip (hope this works)!
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Carolyn
Thursday, May 28, 2009
While recovering from the jet lag of the return trip from Spain, I have been reflecting on how marvelous God is in allowing me to be a part of a team He ordained to carry His work and word to other parts of the world. This trip was my second to Vilanova/Sitges to work with the wonderful members of ICG. They have been like sponges, soaking up methods to grow and improve, and I have seen tremendous progress just from October 2008 to now. The willingness to try new things, even though it may seem to be contrary to their culture has been nothing short of amazing -- true "coninciGods" have abounded. Each member of this team had specific gifts and/or talents that were used in so many amazing ways. Each of us was approached by members of ICG during the week and on the retreat for discussions and questions. Every event, excursion, meal, and meeting included some level of discussion and prayer with ICG members. They gladly shared their country, heritage, and culture with us. The biggest change I witnessed was the willingness to openly share troubles and concerns, requesting prayer for trials they are facing, and to receive God's plan for their lives.
There are truly too many highlights to list, for fear of forgetting one or putting one in front of the other. Each and every day presented opportunities to serve and help. I also learned something every day from the people there.
One personal highlight, non-ICG related: During the trip to Barcelona in October 2008 for the prayer walk led by Loles, I encountered an older gentleman in a square, painting delicate and detailed scenes. I often lamented the fact I had not purchased one of those paintings and expressed hope to Loles and Samuel during this trip that I might encounter him again and this time to bring home a painting or two. After going into the Barcelona Cathedral for prayer, we were on a small, narrow street and began walking to our next station when I looked up and saw the man walking toward us!! I stopped him and got Samuel to translate for me to tell this story. He led us back to his square where many of the team bought paintings from him and learned he is 86 years old, and has been painting in this same spot for over 25 years. I will frame and mount these paintings, along with a marvelous photograph of him, to help me remember one portion of our trip.
The willingness of Samuel and Carmelo to spend time with us after just experiencing personal losses in the deaths of a close friend and a mother, were acts of such selflessness almost beyond my comprehension. They allowed us to share with them and to share with us of themselves.
I pray God will allow me to go back at some point to share and learn more with these wonderful people of His.
In Christ,
Bobby
There are truly too many highlights to list, for fear of forgetting one or putting one in front of the other. Each and every day presented opportunities to serve and help. I also learned something every day from the people there.
One personal highlight, non-ICG related: During the trip to Barcelona in October 2008 for the prayer walk led by Loles, I encountered an older gentleman in a square, painting delicate and detailed scenes. I often lamented the fact I had not purchased one of those paintings and expressed hope to Loles and Samuel during this trip that I might encounter him again and this time to bring home a painting or two. After going into the Barcelona Cathedral for prayer, we were on a small, narrow street and began walking to our next station when I looked up and saw the man walking toward us!! I stopped him and got Samuel to translate for me to tell this story. He led us back to his square where many of the team bought paintings from him and learned he is 86 years old, and has been painting in this same spot for over 25 years. I will frame and mount these paintings, along with a marvelous photograph of him, to help me remember one portion of our trip.
The willingness of Samuel and Carmelo to spend time with us after just experiencing personal losses in the deaths of a close friend and a mother, were acts of such selflessness almost beyond my comprehension. They allowed us to share with them and to share with us of themselves.
I pray God will allow me to go back at some point to share and learn more with these wonderful people of His.
In Christ,
Bobby
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
We're Back!
Well, we're back and doing our best to recover from jet lag and colds! Since we didn't get as much time or internet access as we hoped while we were in Spain, the rest of our team will take time to update all of you in the next few days. Here are my personal favorite moments from our trip....
1. Mozelle's talk to the church the Sunday we got there (see picture above). Though uncomfortable in many ways (due to how open and honest she was about tough times in her life), God really used her to touch several people's lives in their church who also had been through hard things in their lives and never shared that with anyone.
2. The pregnancies and babies all around us! Brandi (on our team) is pregnant, and so is Eva (from their church in Spain), as you can tell by the picture above, but also there were some little ones who really touched all of us and made us smile and laugh all week (Julia, Carolina, Llibert, Noa, Oriol, Isaac, David and more!).
3. "Family Style Dinners" at their homes.... always brought great food and fun conversations, and it's a way of eating that we all should practice at home too!
4. Our debrief in Montserrat.... we were above the clouds, surrounded by God's beauty high in the mountains, as we had our final debrief as a team, with Samuel, Sandra and Julia with us most of the time (and Eugenio and Laura later in the day), and it was very special to hear the team's favorite moments, challenges, successes etc. from the week.
5. Starting Point and Small Group training (Tues. and Thurs. nights)...both went very well and we got good feedback from them as well. It seems that they learned a lot of new ideas that they didn't know before (esp. with SG that they never had before).
6. The retreat with their church (in Pineda del Mar).... our team was honored to get to accompany ICG on their first church retreat! The weekend centered around "praying" (specifically breaking up the "Lord's Prayer"), and our team was in charge of games/ activities, which included a fun "Amazing Race" game. My favorite moment was Saturday night, when we had "open mic" night. Several people from our team (me included) and a lot from their church in Spain, got up and really poured their hearts out on the microphone that night, and it was amazing! That was the night I cried a LOT bc/ of everything said. The weekend ended with Jamey (on our team) giving a great concluding talk on "The Lord's Prayer"!
7. Visiting Tarragona with Carmello, Loli and Merce.... I had never been before, and it was one of the prettiest cities I'd ever seen! Carmello grew up there, so he was very proud to show it off to us and give us a tour. My favorite site was the memorial/ amphitheatre area where many Christians were killed years ago, and now, that part is shaped like a cross (see picture above). We all stopped to reflect on what that must have been like for those who were killed for what they believed in. The day there ended with an amazing lunch at La Grotta (inside a stone cave).
8. Conversations that I had with people like Sara Ais, Tamar, David, Samuel/Sandra etc.... There were also new folks I had never met before, like Patricia, Lee and others, who I loved meeting this time too.
9. Our service project on Tuesday (in Sitges)...where we successfully collected tons of food and perishables for the Food Bank there that feeds 120 families! We were all amazed at how many people in the community participated, and we made it in the local paper too!
10. Overall, the week was amazing and just seeing how much their church (ICG) has grown in the past 3 years, is proof that God is using everyone there to be His hands and feet in Spain! It was so encouraging to hear how their small groups are growing and learning, and also to walk into their church that first Sunday morning that we were there, and see many new faces!
I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to serve these people in Sitges/Vilanova who have become like a 2nd family to me...for a 3rd time! I want to thank all of our friends/family for supporting us through prayer and finances; my incredible team for pulling together and working so hard all week to serve them too; and all of you at ICG for your hospitality, generosity, opening your homes to us, loving us and spending so much time with us! You have blessed us more than you can ever know!
Muchos Bessos!
Carolyn
Saturday, May 23, 2009
retreating
We arrived at the retreat location around 6 pm last night and set up for the reception. Church members arrived later in the evening and we were off to dinner. The focus of last night´s activities was just to get everyone loosened up and to learn a little about one another. Our retreat team had some fun activities prepared and we had great fun playing games and getting to know one another better! We are staying in a small boutique hotel and we pretty much have the place to ourselves. Good thing, because the games and fellowship went late and proved to be a hit! Who knew Scattagories in Spanish could get so competitive!?!
Currently, almost every church member is working thru a spiritual gifts test we brought and we´ll be discussing the results of those shortly before lunch and some free time. Then the remainder of our sessions together will be focusing on prayer. Can´t wait! Its amazing how short a time we´ve known these people and how easy they are to fall in love with. God has been quick to bind our hearts together. Thank you all for your prayers, comments and encouragement. Hope to get some photos up later today.
Currently, almost every church member is working thru a spiritual gifts test we brought and we´ll be discussing the results of those shortly before lunch and some free time. Then the remainder of our sessions together will be focusing on prayer. Can´t wait! Its amazing how short a time we´ve known these people and how easy they are to fall in love with. God has been quick to bind our hearts together. Thank you all for your prayers, comments and encouragement. Hope to get some photos up later today.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Recap from Thursday
Posted by Steve Roach:
We had a wonderful day spending more time with our friends here in Sitges and Vilanova. We spent a few hours bonding while painting the church´s childrens room and kitchen. Both were in need of a new look at fresh coat of paint. Our team really put hard work into the project and our friends from Spain were very appreciative and loved the refreshed look. We then joined them for some tasty local seafood paella at a local restaurant. We spent time picking their brains about how many of their current church programs are doing.
Later last night we met back at the church along with 15 members of the church for Starting Point training led by Renee, Mozelle and Jamey. Starting Point is a program that we use at Buckhead Church in Atlanta to provide a great beginning baseline for people interested in getting involved with church. It is normally a small group of about 10-15 people that meets weekly to discuss topics about religision and faith at a high level. Our teammates did an outstanding job during the training and the church members are very excited about implementing this program. We received great feedback and they let us know that this program has been something they have been wanting to implement. We also left them 50 starting point packets which include workbooks and CDs in Spanish to get them started which were provided thanks to your support.
It was another day filled with great activities and we are all loving the people, food and our felowship in Spain.
We had a wonderful day spending more time with our friends here in Sitges and Vilanova. We spent a few hours bonding while painting the church´s childrens room and kitchen. Both were in need of a new look at fresh coat of paint. Our team really put hard work into the project and our friends from Spain were very appreciative and loved the refreshed look. We then joined them for some tasty local seafood paella at a local restaurant. We spent time picking their brains about how many of their current church programs are doing.
Later last night we met back at the church along with 15 members of the church for Starting Point training led by Renee, Mozelle and Jamey. Starting Point is a program that we use at Buckhead Church in Atlanta to provide a great beginning baseline for people interested in getting involved with church. It is normally a small group of about 10-15 people that meets weekly to discuss topics about religision and faith at a high level. Our teammates did an outstanding job during the training and the church members are very excited about implementing this program. We received great feedback and they let us know that this program has been something they have been wanting to implement. We also left them 50 starting point packets which include workbooks and CDs in Spanish to get them started which were provided thanks to your support.
It was another day filled with great activities and we are all loving the people, food and our felowship in Spain.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
post by Brandi Booker:
Hola Friends and family!
Today we accomplished great things. We worked with Group 514 (the community service group for the church) to collect food for the Caritas Food Bank in Sitges. We were amazed at how generous the community is here!!! Many people chose to donate items from the list we passed out and we were able to deliver over seven grocery carts full of non-perishables to the food bank. This food bank serves over 120 families a week in the local area.
Tonight we had dinner and small group training at the church. Nine people came from ICG and it lasted for threeeeeee hours due to great discussion (and lengthy translations :)) They are doing a great job in their current small groups and are very excited about growing this environment. While several members of our team led the training, the others were painting and making preparations for our retreat this weekend!
Can't wait till tomorrow!
Hola Friends and family!
Today we accomplished great things. We worked with Group 514 (the community service group for the church) to collect food for the Caritas Food Bank in Sitges. We were amazed at how generous the community is here!!! Many people chose to donate items from the list we passed out and we were able to deliver over seven grocery carts full of non-perishables to the food bank. This food bank serves over 120 families a week in the local area.
Tonight we had dinner and small group training at the church. Nine people came from ICG and it lasted for threeeeeee hours due to great discussion (and lengthy translations :)) They are doing a great job in their current small groups and are very excited about growing this environment. While several members of our team led the training, the others were painting and making preparations for our retreat this weekend!
Can't wait till tomorrow!
Recap from Sunday
Post by Mozelle Pittman:
I was asked to speak to the church this past Sunday. They had a video from Rob Bell called "Rain". Go to YouTube to listen to it. It is an amazing video. It talks of how it always rains in our lives. It is not a possibility but a fact... it will rain. I got to speak after that video for the service and share how God has been with me through my life. It was an wonderful experience that allowed me to be open my heart and let the world see how much God has touch and changed my life. To be asked to do that was such an honor and I could not think of a better way to start my trip off. I have to admit... I almost passed out from my nerves before I went up... then slipped on the floor walking to the front. I guess that was God's way of putting a smile on my face instead of the tears I had in my eyes : )
Now it is Monday night and we are meeting with the executive team to discuss different visions for the church. We can't believe we are here and able to be part of building God's kingdom. We want to thank each and every one of you for assisting us in being here and also praying for our team while we are here.
We do not have a lot of access to the internet but will update as much as possible.
P.S. Thank you for the emails and letters that you sent before we left. We receive a few each day! I was so shocked and surprised that I could not stop smiling / crying as I read them. I will get more daily and can't wait to hear more of your thoughts !!!!!!!! I love all of you from the bottom of my heart! MOZELLE : )
I was asked to speak to the church this past Sunday. They had a video from Rob Bell called "Rain". Go to YouTube to listen to it. It is an amazing video. It talks of how it always rains in our lives. It is not a possibility but a fact... it will rain. I got to speak after that video for the service and share how God has been with me through my life. It was an wonderful experience that allowed me to be open my heart and let the world see how much God has touch and changed my life. To be asked to do that was such an honor and I could not think of a better way to start my trip off. I have to admit... I almost passed out from my nerves before I went up... then slipped on the floor walking to the front. I guess that was God's way of putting a smile on my face instead of the tears I had in my eyes : )
Now it is Monday night and we are meeting with the executive team to discuss different visions for the church. We can't believe we are here and able to be part of building God's kingdom. We want to thank each and every one of you for assisting us in being here and also praying for our team while we are here.
We do not have a lot of access to the internet but will update as much as possible.
P.S. Thank you for the emails and letters that you sent before we left. We receive a few each day! I was so shocked and surprised that I could not stop smiling / crying as I read them. I will get more daily and can't wait to hear more of your thoughts !!!!!!!! I love all of you from the bottom of my heart! MOZELLE : )
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