A Espana Vamos!

Well, we are off on Friday to head to Sevilla for English Camp II. Stephanie Johnston and I will be returning to Sevilla after a great trip last year, and we have 4 new, fabulous people going with us. We are very excited to see what God has planned and how he is going to work. We know he has a great plan. There are about 20 non-Christians from the community who have signed up for the camp!!! Please pray that we, as well as the church members can plant a seed with these people and they come to understand God's love, grace, and peace.

We would like to thank y'all for your support and prayers while we have been preparing for the trip. God has once again been so faithful and we have raised more than enough money for this trip. What a great God we serve!

We will be updating the blog while we are over there, so please check it out and see what great things God is doing for the lovely country of Espana!!!

We love you all!
Stephanie, Kim, Arinn, Shaun, Lisa, Julie

Noticias desde Sevilla

Saludos a todos desde Sevilla,

Primero, queremos dar gracias a todos por lo que hacéis por España y para que las iglesias en Vilanova y en Sevilla puedan ser atractivas y relevantes para las personas a las que no les interesa la iglesia, tal como la han conocido hasta aquí.

En segundo lugar, queremos pedir vuestras oraciones porque en estos momentos un equipo de global x está saliendo de Atlanta para Sevilla para realizar nuestro II Campus de inglés. Este es uno de nuestros eventos pensados para crear nuevas relaciones con las personas que viven en el barrio donde está la iglesia. Muchos nos visitan para informarse y están interesados.

Por favor, pedimos oración:

1. Para un vuelo seguro del equipo.

2. Por un tiempo muy especial de comunión y de risas entre el equipo y la iglesia.

3. Por la ayuda del Señor para que se creen nuevas relaciones.

4. Que podamos conectar con la gente del barrio y se den los primeros pasos en el camino hacia una relación con Jesús.

Estaremos actualizando las noticias de todo lo que Dios esté haciendo en esta semana.

Gracias por formar parte de Parque Este.

Saludos a todos,

Pepe

Thank you!!

Hey everyone!
I haven't had the chance to post or even to read this blog since the team left almost two weeks ago (wow, time goes fast!), but better late than never!!
I just wanted to say thank you again to Carolyn, Mozelle, Brandi, Steve, Gail, Renee, Jamey, Bobby and Alan for the wonderful time you spent with us. I really appreciate all the materials and training you left with us (especially the spiritual gifts booklets), and I think that the week you were here was a very significant one for us as a church. It was great to get to know you all and to spend time with you in fellowship. I hope I get to see you guys again soon - either here or in Atlanta!!
Much love,
Sarah

Pix from our trip

Here are "highlights" from our trip (hope this works)!

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=607864015/a=4776916_4776916/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Carolyn

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

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

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.