Giving Thanks

I think this post will continue to be edited as I keep thinking of things to add because as I sit in reflection of what God did on our trip, there is no escaping the fact that there is much to be thankful for.  We made it home safely and saw God make a team out of a bunch of unique individuals with a variety of giftings.  We experienced God's healing with sickness making its way through some of our ranks.  We had wonderful opportunities to share a gospel presentation, in parks, town squares, on on the Plaza at Puerta del Sol, even under an overpass by the shore of a lake!  There were numerous opportunities to share one on one, and to pray with individuals and small groups, even in the day to day.  One of these included a stop on the way through a small park on the way to do some food shopping.  Andy, Luis, and Georgina shared Christ and prayed with a young man sitting on a bench as he prayed to receive Christ as his Savior.  When we were tired from long days and little rest, God allowed that some siesta time could be built into our schedule each day of the second week.  When keeping up with cooking, shopping, and outreach became too much, God provided a cook for our lunches (Pilar) taking a huge burden off our shoulders.  We were able to enjoy seeing some villages outside of Madrid as we went to swim in a couple of lakes, and traveled to do outreach in those communities.  We got many opportunities to learn and practice speaking Spanish, but God blessed us with hosts, many of whom had at least a little English language skills.  We all had opportunity to share our personal salvation testimonies in outreach.  We bonded really well with the church people in Spain, so well, in fact, that we didn't really want to leave.  Even now, a week later, my teammates and I keep commenting on how much we miss each other and miss our brothers and sisters from Las Aguilas.  I had the joy of doing music nearly every night, working with Pedro, and later others, learning to sing more and more songs in Spanish, and to share my testimony in Spanish a few times.  God allowed Georgina, Luis, and Mabel from NY, and Pedro from Spain to be there to help us all communicate with one another when limitations of Spanish-English and English-Spanish vocabularies of our native speakers on both sides were challenged.  We were blessed with a team leader, Andy, who was committed to seeking God for all decision-making with regard to the team, and managing things.  We had a blessed time with the folks at the On the Red Box ministry, and were encouraged to see that powerful evangelistic outreach going on each day in the city of Madrid.

Donde es el banyo (Where is the bathroom?)

I was wandering through the local mall by myself, doing some souvenir shopping, when nature called.  Uh oh...I look around for signs that will help me figure out on my own where the bathroom is.  Unsuccessful, I look for someone who appears to know the store.  She doesn't know.  Breathing a prayer for God to direct me to what I need, I wander up to the next level of the mall looking for a store employee.  I got a lengthy reply in Spanish to my question, most of which I didn't understand, but the hand gestures clue me in that what I am looking for is at the front of the store somewhere.  Once at the front of the store, unable to find what I need, but with that sense of urgency increasing I find another employee, who in response to my question uses a lot of Espanol I don't know, but also points out into the mall itself.  I wander out into the main mall, where a little more walking around reveals the sign for "Aseos" and a universal symbol for what I am looking for.  Encouraged that I was able to manage on my own without a translator nearby.  Thankful for the little Spanish I know, and for God's help in getting my need met.

Caffeine and Las Aguilas

It is after 3am and I am awake.  Jet lag?  Caffeine I drank with the late night meal I ate?  Just wound up because of the things that are going on here?  Maybe it Is a combination of all of the above. 

Anyway, since I am up, I figured I would take time to post about a place nearby where we have been going to share Christ.  It is at a park right off the Las Aguilas metro stop.  We went here the second night after our arrival in Madrid, and have subsequently gone there a total of four times. 

Let me tell you a little about the park.  It is surrounded by apt. buildings and seems to be a social hub in this neighborhood., In the cool of the evening, people gather at the tiny park nightly.  At 8pm or so, when we have arrived each time, we find older people sitting on park benches, enjoying the breeze, chatting with another person, or just sitting quietly alone.  We see younger people sitting and chatting with their friends or waiting for people to meet.  In the fenced in concrete area that in the US might surround either a handball, tennis, or basketball court, one finds a mini soccer “field” with plenty of older boys playing.  We also see parents pushing their toddlers on swings, or letting them scoot around on the paving stones on their toy scooters.  Though most of the activity and many of the faces have remained the same each time we have gone, each visit we have made has been completely different.  Our first time our gospel presentation was done, with only guitar and flute on music, a couple of testimonies, a street drama, and a gospel message by the Pastor.  Conversations were had with people around and many kept a distance and did not seem receptive.  As we have come back each time, adding something new (puppets, little gifts for the kids, a worship dance, wordless books, different testimonies, etc. we have found more receptivity. 

It must have been the 3^rd night when the puppets were introduced that it seemed like people who had before really kept their distance were moving in, especially during the puppet presentation.  They seemed drawn to the paved area where we were presenting, and welcomed our showing kindness and Christ’s love to the kids.  So many good conversations were had, people were prayed for and prayed with, and some came to pray a prayer for salvation.  Good things were happening as it seemed people were accepting our outreach as part of what was going on in the park each night. 

I really appreciated that approach – going back to the same place for evangelism four times in a week.  It allowed those who came to hear the gospel message multiple times and allowed us to build relationship with some of those who were there, including a homeless man.  It allowed us to see some fruit, and to see the hearts of people change as we became part of that little social space for a while. 

Tonight we were in a new community – Navas del Rey.  While enroute, we spent a few hours siesta-ing by the shore of a lake.   While there, a few of our team began conversation with people who were swimming and sunbathing nearby.  Our drama team presented the drama they had prepared, right there under a highway bridge, just a few feet from the water.  I really marveled at the sensitivity of our team to be willing to take any opportunity to share Christ with others – even to spontaneously do a drama by the side of a graffiti covered underpass while swimmers sat on concrete blocks and a float watching the whole thing.  Some of us prayed while others shared Christ with those who watched the drama and were receptive to listen.  From there we went to the town “square” (really a fountain that was nearly dry) of this very charming little village and presented the gospel through song, puppets, dance, testimony, and preaching as well as in personal conversations.  We had a visit from the police checking to make sure we wouldn't be causing trouble, or violating the law, but the gospel was shared, and seeds were planted. 

http://youtu.be/XkRw2ZdU7zI

Sin Palabras (without words)

Keeping up on blog posts is a challenge when one has a shortage of time to write.  Since Day 1 it has been "Go! Go! Go!" for us here, but God has blessed us with a day of rest on this our seventh day.  


Processing the whole experience personally, I have to say, it has been neat to see our development as a team and our growing cohesiveness as we go along.  Watching team members minister to each other in time of need -- like when fatigue and frustration with things outside of our control puts one of us to tears or close to blowing up, or when one of us is dealing with insomnia, migraines, stomach issues, or news of sudden emergencies on the home front -- has been such an awe inspiring thing.


There are so many experiences I would want to write about, (and I will get to them later)  but will stick with one for now.  One day I sensed God moving particularly strongly in the area of my ministry (I have been doing more music on the streets)  I remember the 3rd night, when we were going to Las Aguilas park for the second time, and I was going to be sharing the invitation in Spanish (with it all written out on paper to read from)  and to play flute and sing worship with Pedro, a guitarist and one of the teens from the church here.  I had one of my bad migraines coming on, and that usually means that I need to lay down immediately and sleep for the night with a heat wrap on my head but I was not going to get that.  I had visions of getting to the park and puking on the side of the newsstand, or not being able to go at all.  My teammates prayed for me, and gradually the headache began to subside.  The time in the park was blessed, but a neat thing happened at the end.  We went and did our group gospel presentation with testimonies, music, and As the others were walking around stopping to share Jesus with others, Pedro felt impressed of the Holy Spirit to walk around with the guitar and just play a repeated chord progression and asked if I wanted to join him on flute improv.  It was a no brainer for me, as the prompting of the Holy Spirit was strong.  The anointing seemed so strong to me, as we walked around just declaring praise and doing what I can only call instrumental intercession to the Lord in that place through our instrumental.  I was playing and a new tune came on my heart which I played to fit the chord progression, a tune of intercession.  As I was playing the words that came to me matching the tune going through my head were "Rain (Reign) down". Maybe it sounds odd, but I had a sense of interceding in instrumental praise that night as with my flute I was impressed to ask God to come with intensity and move upon the hearts of those present.  It flowed so smoothly with everything else that was going on.   I have found that there is something so powerful about declaring praise through instruments.  Not sure if I can articulate it well, but I am reminded so often of  Psalm 150:4 "...praise him with the strings and flute", and I  had such a sense of how powerful praising Him with instruments is.  Even without words, God, in His word, has ordained that we can praise Him through instruments, and I feel so convicted that God uses the instrumental praise to work in hearts in ways that words cannot.  He called us to do it in Psalm 150 and has ordained that it might lead hearts to be open to Him, that "everything that has breath praise the LORD." (v.6)  Leading worship with a heart to draw all who have breath to praise of the LORD is indubitably evangelism at the core.  So amazed at God's ways.

First Few Days of Ministry in Spain

We arrived safely on  the morning of the 17th.  It has been a full and blessed few days!  Read on for a few highlights...

Andy using the ride into JFK as an opportunity to share Christ with our van driver to the airport, two of our ladies, Amy and Rachel, praying for an airport employee with a personal need....a few team members Mabel and Luis conversing with and sharing Christ at JFK with people waiting at the gate with us and ...outreach to the Metro Station in Aluche Spain...Cleaning in the church...Art and Kathy collecting food with Pastor Amigo for food distribution (Food "Pantry")...preparing meals...praying for each other's personal needs -- migraines, insomnia, pain, fatigue...seeing migraines disappear in a short time...being blessed by the fellowship of our co-laborers here in Madrid.  We have bonded in a true spirit of Christian unity in a very short time...managing to survive the extreme heat (daily temps over 95 degrees F since we arrived, and ten day forecast indicates more of the same...music ministry...street evangelism in KilometroCero area of Puerta del Sol and training with the Red Box ministry...Sharing testimonies of how Christ has saved us and changed our lives in the Puerta del Sol, a local park, and the Metro Station and talking to people about salvation...a few hours of sight seeing...devotional and meeting times with our team...trying to sleep at least a little...painting at the church and ministry again in the park we visited on Monday.  Several prayed to receive Christ and a good number heard the gospel message clearly again -- they since we were at the same park at the same time on Tuesday...tonight's ministry with music -- Tricia on voice and flute, Pedro on guitar, Amy and Mabel sharing testimonies, Pastor Antonio giving the gospel message, Luis (from the church here) leading, Rachel doing dance ministry, and all praying and sharing the gospel was so anointed and powerful.  God is alive and drawing people to himself here in the country of Spain, and we count ourselves incredibly blessed to be a part of it.

Roller Coaster Ride

It is such a roller coaster ride, this missions preparation stuff.   Honestly, I am just feeling tired.  Spent all weekend racing around taking care of details for the Ice Cream Fundraiser.  Spent the day doing that on Sunday, a lot of hard work, with an earnings of several hundred dollars, leaving me both discouraged that I might not have enough support, and wondering if I would even get to Spain, since the deadline for the balance was Monday (yesterday) at noon.  About mid afternoon yesterday, I got official word, that there is enough support in for all of us to go.  Got up early yesterday, to meet Kathy to go up to SGT to count out our ice cream earnings with Anna in the church office, take care of outstanding account balances, and cash in the recycling (our team got the bottles and cans from the church picnic to cash in as an additional donation for the trip).  Had team meeting last night to get some more practice in, but I think everyone is tired from the busy day we had on Sunday, and we mostly gabbed, and did very little practice.

The really good thing about Sunday was that we had an opportunity to work together as a team and it gave us an opportunity to serve the Body of Christ.  We had some incredibly generous people give large donations, but we had many more who helped themselves without a donation, or with a very small donation that didn't cover our costs.  Even still, God provided for our team.  I so often find that to be God's math -- it doesn't always look like the money will be there, but when the dust settles,  if it is something He has called you to do, it always ends up being there.  And, you can't look to people to meet your needs.  If you do, you get disappointed.

Another part of the roller coaster ride is that one of our team members, Luanne, who has been with us since the beginning of our Mission Bridge training, has had to withdraw at the last minute because of a serious family illness.  We are days away from leaving, but there is still hope that God will work a miracle and she will be able to make it.  (update:  7/12/12 -- all worked out so she can go with us)

Add to that, on Sunday, because of a family medical emergency, our team leader, Andy, had to leave the fundraiser early to run to the ER.  We prayed together, and some hours later heard that this family member's condition, though extremely painful, was not going to require surgery, and that rest and pain medicine was being prescribed.

Then, this morning, off again I go to White Plains for the first of 3 visits to that town for my specialized Chiropractic treatment for the neck problems that have gotten so much worse in recent months.  The treatment is helping, but making those trips to Westchester is tiring.

Busy, busy busy.  I feel like Lazarus' sister Martha from the NT, and need to take some time to be like her sister Mary.  Time for a break to slow the roller coaster down a bit and recharge the internal batteries.

7/12/12 -- Made Wednesday a genuine day of rest, and must admit that I feel a whole lot better.   Was busy today, another trip to White Plains, rushing back to take care of errands, including picking up some Spanish tracts for our outreach, and communicating with the team through out the day through facebook, email, text, and voicemail.  So much to do before we go, but amazed at how some things are falling into place easily (like getting tracts last minute) and those are encouraging things.  God is faithful.

I Scream, You Scream...

...We all scream for ice cream -- and face painting!  Planning is coming along really well for our ice cream fundraiser on the 8th.  Kathy and I took care to make sure the ice cream was ordered -- including the traditional Good Humor type stuff and Italian ices, Flavor ices, and some Latino gourmet frozen desserts in tropical flavors.  Pastor Dave put in a call for us to borrow two tents, one for the ice cream and the other for the face painting.  Pastor Rich is getting us a long extension cord for the ice cream freezer, and Luis and Alba have been working on signs in Spanish and English, (see Luis' creativity on the left) and Theresa from One Accord volunteered to help us by offering to do face painting at the picnic.  We will have a tent set up for Theresa near our ice cream tent, and if there are any volunteers who would like to work the face painting with her, let us know.

It is a blessing to see the enthusiastic support and effort from so many to make this a success, with the ultimate goal of bringing the gospel to the people of Spain.  I marvel at God's goodness and His provision -- bringing the right people alongside, and seeing the way the Body of Christ functions as each one joyously does their part in the process.  I scream, you scream, not only for ice cream, but in shouts of joy to our Heavenly Father for the amazing way He chooses to work through us to bless others.

Ice Cream and Unanswered Questions

"Can people donate for your trip to Spain?" or "Do you still need support?".  I didn't spell that outright in my letter or blog, but lately I have had some people asking, so here are the answers to the unanswered questions...

Yes to both.  Each of our team members were asked to raise $1,650.  I am still pretty far short of the goal, and a few of my team members are also in need.  It is easier for me to give to others or to ask on behalf of others, and I have always been reticent to ask, even when I served two years in Africa.  I have been blessed many times over in the past to see God provide in miraculous ways when I made my need known to Him only.   But three things have been quickened to me lately, that have given the impetus for this post:  the questions from some asking about how to give, a recent conversation with Pastor Rich, where he chided me "You have not because you ask not." and something Wade from AIM told me when he was in charge of short termers when I was going off to Kenya for two years.  He said, "Don't make it too hard for people to give."

So, if it is on your heart to give toward the Spain outreach, and sense God leading you to help with my support, or for another of my team members, here is the info:


Any checks should be made payable to Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle.  You can put Spain Outreach Summer 2012 in the memo line if you like, but enclose a note or attach a Post-It saying which individual you would like your gift to go toward so that your gift will be considered tax deductible.   You can mail it to SGT directly at: 


Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle
Spain 2012 Missions Outreach
1 Higbie Drive
Smithtown, NY  11787


or if you prefer to send it to me directly, message me, and I will send you my home address and I can bring it into the Church Office for you.  


You can also help us by taking part in our Ice Cream Fundraiser on July 8th at the SGT Picnic.  We will be serving all sorts of ice cream treats and ices to the picnic-goers and will have donation buckets on hand it if anyone would like to give toward the outreach.

Summer break?

It has only been a couple days since the official beginning of summer.  School really ended for us today with a lovely SCS graduation ceremony.  It was short and sweet -- start and finish time within the same hour, give or take a minute or two.  Ends of things always are bittersweet; the sadness of a goodbye intertwined with the anticipation of the next opportunities.

Summer break has come with a sigh of relief.  There is still much to do at school -- wrap up, some more cleaning and organizing in the classroom, prepping for whatever repair and renovation and cleaning work will be done in the room over the summer, but many of the big things are done and that means letting out a big, long breath.

It doesn't mean a total break though.  There is much to do in preparation for Spain.  Our team is working on dramas, music, puppet ministry, outreach, and evangelism.  Some, like me,  are working on learning some Spanish, too.  The email, phone, text, and FB chat lines are abuzz with communication between team members as we make plans and get ready for the trip, which is coming in just over three weeks.  Only three weeks?   Wow!

So much to do, so little time...

End of the school year is always a race to the finish, but this year was especially frenetic with Spain preparations added to the mix.  By day there was grading to do, parents to message, end of year forms to complete, classroom to clean and dismantle, a gift collection for a retiring colleague and a recently married one to coordinate and shop for, a new automation system to be trained in and to find out how to convert our old data to, awards ceremonies to present at and attend, class parties to shop for and hostess, volunteer help to supervise, overdue notices to get out, faculty meetings to attend, overhead projectors and used books to give away, and website and social media updates to try to keep up with.  By night, and by "night" I mean often well after midnight, more of the day job responsibilities to attend to, and Spain stuff to attend to.  Keeping contact with team members -- some who stop by my library on their way through the building, and others who call, text, FB message, or email -- ordering Spanish/English bilingual Bibles for teammates, practicing my Spanish songs and vocabulary pretty much any time I was in the car, including the twice weekly chiropractor trips to Westchester County which is over an hour drive from here, coordinating an ice cream fundraiser to raise money for the team...it gets pretty busy.  Now that school is pretty much over (I still have some day job responsibilities to wrap up, lessons to teach, and website work for SCS and SGT to do) it should be easier with fewer things to focus on.

I must say it is getting more exciting as the time draws nearer for our departure.  God has brought some neat miracles along so far, including the permission for the ice cream fundraiser, and the willingness of so many to help put this together (a gal from One Accord ministry is offering to help with fundraising, and Luis is already making a Spanish sign for us to display at the picnic).   It is such an encouragement too, to hear that the people in the churches in Spain are so looking forward to our coming.  God isn't showing exactly what He has planned, but He is leaking some information, just enough for us to know that He has good things in store, things that will make a difference in lives, and have an impact for eternity.  The frenzy of activity can be tiring, but God is faithful.  How can we not be excited!

Me No Gusta Grammar

I am a teacher, yes, even a long time elementary teacher, so is it ok for me to admit that I don't like grammar?  Let me be more specific:  I have never liked grammar.  Let me say that in my broken Spanish: me no gusta grammar!  I have learned many of the rules at various times in my academic life, only to promptly forget them.  As kids and teens, growing up in a house with no t.v., my sister and I read quite a bit, and a pretty good concept of what sounds right and what doesn't became pretty well ingrained, but for me, the prospect of analyzing and diagramming a sentence makes my eyes glaze over.

Keep in mind that I've never formally studied another language with any kind of depth.  With the possible exception of some weeks of Kiswahili study at Trans Africa Language School back in 1991, I haven't given grammar much thought beyond the basic nouns, verbs, adjectives, articles, adverbs, and endings covered in A Beka's fifth grade language workbook, which I had to teach a few years ago.

So what is one to do with such terminology as irregular and regular verbs?  Definite and indefinite articles?  Infinitives?  Participles?  Preterites? I am just getting the hang of the idea that an indefinite article refers to a general object (like a car or un coche) while a definite article means refers to a specific object (like the car or el coche), but the rest of that goop?  Gadzooks!  


I suspect that the more I can connect the rules of Spanish grammar to what I consider"instinctive" about what works in English, the better this second language learning thing will pan out, but I must admit that the grammar stuff is beginning to make a little more sense.  Who knows? It might even help me better understand what makes English sentences sound right or wrong.   Not sure if I will stop glazing over with the use of grammar terminology, but I really hope I get enough absorbed to better put together all the Spanish in my head to make comprehensible sentences.

Eternity Matters

I remember a few years ago, someone I knew was really keen on social causes.  There are certain causes I am all for, and have supported in different ways.  It is good to help alleviate the suffering of people in any way possible, but that never seems to be enough to me, so the goal of social assistance can't be the end all.  It seems shortsighted for Christians to be merely socially and environmentally conscious.  We need to be spiritually conscious, too.

I was reminded of how fragile this earthly condition is by the sudden passing of a co-worker, and the point of all this to do what we can to see God made known among men.  This life is temporary -- ameliorating suffering in the human condition is imperative, but also fleeting.  Eventually, we all die, and will someday stand before the judgment seat.  God makes the offer of eternity with Him, if we only confess our sins and receive Christ as Savior.

What does this have to do with my blog for Spain?  This summer, we plan to go to help a few new churches with painting and outreach projects, but to what end?  To give people hope, help, and encouragement, but also to bring them God's offer of eternal life.  To offer an alternative to eternal suffering is the best type of assistance and relief we can offer.  Thanks be to God that through Christ, we get that kind of relief!

Missions Banquet

The annual Missions Banquet is a big to-do around our church, with dozens of missionaries expected to attend and share, and other folk who share a heart for missions coming out to experience a night of fabulous food, thanks to John Long, Dan Murphy, and a staff of probably a hundred or more helpers.

It means lots of things (including the likelihood that I will edit this later to include some facet or group that I have forgotten to mention).  SCS students sacrifice their food service and have to brown-bag it for the day before (today) since the kitchen is needed for two days almost continuously to make this happen.  Some SCS kids pitch in to earn some required community service hours or just to serve because they want to.  It means custodial staff working hard to set up tables and chairs, and cheerfully being available to help with numerous other things that come up in the course of the preparation.  It means volunteers who take care of ticket sales for a $20 gourmet dinner that rivals one at any classy restaurant with a much higher pricetag.  It means countless hours of preparation by Pastor Rich, missions committee and church office staff.   It means tech support to set up for sound and a projector with Tommy P. and Bob Z. climbing on some gizmo on wheels that seems to work by electric power and raises them up to the ceiling to access the ceiling projector and make sure the settings are right.  It means hours of cutting potatoes, washing dishes, polishing flatware, making sure table settings are just so (cup handles pointing to 5:00!)  It means elementary kids and twenty-or-thirty-somethings, teens and grandparents, singles and marrieds, kitchen staff, and missions committee members working side-by-side to prepare for an event that will allow all to connect and grow in their appreciation one for another, and in their vision for reaching the world for Christ.

Our Spain team members are part of the crew.  Some, like Alba, Art, Kathy, Luis, and I came today after 3pm to help wherever we could, and others are coming tomorrow to pitch in.  As summer missions team members it is part of our preparation requirements, but it is already been a good getting-to-know-you-team-building experience.   Who knew that polishing flatware and matching forks could be so much fun?

Studying Spanish Brings Opportunities to Share

I have so much Spanish rattling around in my head these days.  Can't spit out too many coherent sentences right off the cuff, but usually find myself tongue-tied in the moment of idiomatic need, and left to ruminate about what I should have said, only to come up with an appropriate Spanish response sometime after the event or conversation was long over.  Somehow need to come to that place where this stuff just rolls off my tongue without so much mental formulation.  That I suspect, means finding sentences I will use, memorizing them, and putting them in conversation.

Part of that is coming with my new project:  memorization of worship songs in Spanish.  YouTube is a great source of videos of Spanish versions of worship songs I am already familiar with, and it has been fairly easy to find videos with lyrics right on screen.  I have pretty much memorized "Grande Para Salvar" (Hillsong's Mighty to Save), and the children's chorus "Si, Cristo Me Ama" (Yes, Jesus Loves Me) and am part way through "Hosanna en las Alturas" (Hosanna in the Highest - Hillsong United).

As I sit soaking in the podiatrist whirlpool bath (have been getting treatment for some tendon problems in my feet), or on the exercise bike at the gym  feverishly studying my flashcards, song sheets, and notes, conversation in English has sparked with others about why I am studying Spanish.   This has led to some neat opportunities.  I think of the nice lady in the doctor's office who shared about her adult son who is a Christian, and her misgivings of how he gave up his childhood faith for this, but  shared how she has been to his church on a number of occasions, and has some understanding of why I am doing this missions thing.  I remember the kindly woman from the gym, who I would guess has a few years on my parents, but who works out faithfully and keeps herself in good condition; who also sees me studying regularly and wonders if I am a student at the community college where we both use the gym.  She shares how she has major surgery coming up and that she is very apprehensive about it.  She fears that if this surgery doesn't go well, she may lose her sight and her independence, and is definitely appreciative of my offer to pray for her.

I marvel at how much of a blessing it is to prepare to serve overseas, and how faithful God is to use even the time of preparation as opportunity to share Him with others.

Missions in 1992 vs. Missions in 2012

In 1990 I was privileged to teach MKs at RVA in Kenya. At the risk of sounding old, in the two years I spent at Kijabe, our tech consisted of a computer with word processing program, a typewriter, photocopy machine and for the really tech savvy, a fax machine (which we had to travel to get to). As I get ready for this upcoming two week trip I marvel at the changes in how missionaries can communicate with their fellow missionaries, missions sending organizations, family, friends, prayer partners and supporters since I last spent more than a week overseas...

 Tech Tools for Missions in 1992 vs. Tech Tools for Missions in 2012

In 1992...

• a prayer letter was always a hard copy and preparing one meant folding paper, licking stamps, and handwriting and sealing envelopes.  Sometimes it was handwritten and photocopied, sometimes sent to a printer to print,  and sometimes it was typed on the typewriter or computer and printed with a dot matrix printer.  Regardless, it meant a trip to the post office.
• keeping in touch with prayer partners and financial supporters involved phone calls (and not too many of those from an African phone that didn't have direct dial), lots of aerogrammes, note cards, and stationery
• my tech savvy family in NY bought a fax machine so they could exchange faxed letters with me.  It meant faxing from NY to AIMServ in Nairobi, or vice versa then on the Nairobi end relying on some kind missionary courier to bring the letter from Wilson Airport to Kijabe when they stopped there on business.  It saved days or potentially weeks (the Gulf War was going on -- I didn't even know it was called Desert Storm until after I returned to the US -- and letters from NY to Kenya could get stalled for weeks) of postal travel time
• Photo taking was done with 35 mm camera using film and images printed as either slides or prints.  If you were really cool, you were taking video, too, and saving it to VHS tapes.  

In 2012...

• a prayer letter can be hard copy with folding, stamps, and actual handwriting, but could also be blogged, written as a post or note on a social media site.  It could even be a video creation!
• keeping in touch can be as traditional as mailing a letter via snail mail, or as instant as sending an email, video chatting on OoVoo or Skype, or texting on a cell phone.  Post office optional.
• Photo taking can still mean using film and printing out hard copies of photos, but rarely means creating slides.  Usually it is done with a cell phone or a nice digital SLR, and can easily be sent to the folks back home via a picture message, email attachment, on Facebook, twitter, or Google+ or as an album to be shared from Flickr or Picasa, or another photo sharing site.  They even make cameras now that allow you to upload directly to the cloud from the camera itself via WiFi.  Cellphone cameras can take video, or a small pocket sized bloggie or Flip type camcorder and laptop can allow for easily uploading video to a social media site, or creating your own movie with video editing software that comes with your laptop.
• I don't even know what else, but I am fascinated by the possibilities!

My 1st Prayer Letter for Spain

Dear Friends and Family,

 You know how you can hear something, and not really tune in, but know it is rattling around in your subconscious somewhere? I am a Brentwood kid who grew up in a community where Spanish is spoken at least as freely as English, but I never formally studied the language, or felt confident enough to try to speak more than a few words of it though I heard lots of it. Five years ago I taught a bilingual kindergarten class, and spent countless hours working with interpreters and translators to communicate effectively with parents who spoke little or no English, which led to more understanding, but also cultivated a desire to really learn conversational Spanish. I bought some Spanish immersion CDs and later a bilingual Bible, but four-plus years of grad school put a cramp in my language learning efforts. At the beginning of 2012, I felt God moving on my heart to sort of figuratively do what Peter did: ‘step out of the boat’ and try ‘walking on the water’, but wasn’t sure what that meant literally.

 About that time, I found a renewed desire to work on learning Spanish. In February, I signed up for what I thought was a low-key conversational Spanish adult education class at a local high school, only to find myself in a quasi-immersion course. More recently I learned of the opportunity to travel to Spain on a two week missions trip with a group from my church and sensed a real excitement about stepping out ‘on the water’ to trust God to bless my growing espanol and old talents in a new way to reach Spanish people for Christ. Might I enlist you to pray? Here’s the 4-1-1...

 ...the plan. We were told we will be helping Pastor Antonio Amigo and the Buenas Noticias Church in their new church plants by doing some painting and evangelistic work in two municipalities in the community of Madrid - San Martin de Valdeiglesias http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Mart%C3%ADn_de_Valdeiglesiasand Navas del Rey http://translate.google.com/translate?&u=http%3A%2F%2Fes.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FNavas+del+Rey&sl=es&tl=en The trip dates are July 16th-31th. ...the preparation. All those who desire to participate in the summer teams my church sends out (at least six teams this year!) are asked to attend 8 weeks of Mission Bridge preparation Sunday School class, with some homework and projects attached. I have been blessed to serve on a number of short trips here and abroad, and even spent two years as a missionary teacher in Kenya, but mostly used English. I am tapping every resource God has provided in friends and colleagues who have willingly helped me practice my developing language skills, by listening to my Spanish Immersion CDs, double checking things on Google Translate, attending Thursday night Adult Ed classes and feverishly working on pronunciation, vocabulary, Scripture, and music that will be helpful in sharing Christ in Spanish.

 ...the participants. We are a group of about 10 people from Smithtown Gospel Tabernacle, with our group leader who is a veteran missionary who lived in Spain with his family for four years.

 ...the prayer requests. Please pray for God’s provision for all of us, help with my Spanish language learning, for His Protection, for unity amongst our team, for good health, direction as details are worked out for our accommodations and travel arrangements, for effective outreach and boldness as we share, and that we would especially be an encouragement and blessing to Spanish Pastor Antonio Amigo and the brothers and sisters of the fellowships in San Martin de Valdeiglesias and Navas del Rey.

 Thanks so much in advance for your prayers.

 Blessings! Tricia

  Por tanto, vayan y hagan discipulos de todas las naciones..Mateo 28:19a

ps. Watch our team facebook, page www.facebook.com/SgtSpainOutreachSummer2012 and this blog for more updates! Will send out another letter when I return. :o)