Quirky Things

One of the hardest adjustments of living in Spain is some of the quirky things. I am hesitant to say they are annoyances, because some are just oddities. I have salt crystals growing under my bed. They grow in the humidity and come up through the grout in the ceramic tiled floors. The salt in the foundation (from 'dirty' sand) also makes the paint peel in certain places. The humidity also causes black mold to grow so using bleach is a MUST! I also have these little 'armadillo' bugs (that's what they look like to me) that roll up in a ball when you kick them out the back door. Speaking of bugs, there are the little flies that like the shade, so they come into the house and just fly around in circles in the middle of the living room. And at night, the bugs like to swarm around your ear so that you cannot sleep. One thing I am thankful for....this coming summer I will not be staying in the same apartment with all of the cicadas (they swarm southern France in the summer) just outside my window! Hopefully I will get more sleep :-)

Elisabet

This is Gracia and her daughter Elisabet. I rent from them and they live above me. I also help out with their ministry, the 'Lighthouse', one day per week.

Elisabet has been in the hospital for a month now. She has been released at times but has had to go back because of different seizures. They have now started her on some medication which should help but they are still monitoring her. Please pray that she would be completely healed and would be able to come home soon.

Prayer Vigil

On Sunday night at 9PM, there were many area churches that came together for a time of prayer and silence in front of the City Hall in Algeciras. The prayer was on behalf of the country, the churches, and the families of the 3 men martyred in Turkey in April. It was great to see the areas churches coming together not only in Algeciras but all across regions in Spain for our brothers and sisters in Turkey.

Some information on this can be found at CompassDirect.org http://www.compassdirect.org/en/display.php?page=news&lang=en&length=short&idelement=4836&backpage=summaries
Pray for the believers there. Pray as well for leaders in all these lands so that the Word of God can go forth unhindered.

Los Pastores

Los Pastores is a neighborhood in Algeciras that my 'home church' goes to visit every week. We have been trying to build relationships with the people there in hopes of planting a new church. During Semana Santa when the kids had off from school, we went to play a game of 'Rondus' (like baseball). Since I am not very sporty...I ended up playing with the smaller kids. We had great fun trying to play kickball and drawing with chalk on the sidewalk. Two of the girls giggled and giggled everytime I would speak....for my Spanish is funny to their ears! Even though my Rosetta Stone Spanish CD teaches me verbs like 'catch' and 'throw'...I had not used them until that day!

The people in Los Pastores don't have alot of hope. It is known as one of the worst neighborhoods in Algeciras because of the drugs, alcohol and fightings that go on there. As we talk to people, they share their hurts and problems. I feel helpless at times when I hear their emotional needs but I know a God who is far greater and who says that we can cast all of our cares on Him! Please join with me in praying that the people in Los Pastores will find hope in Jesus Christ!

Barbary Apes of Gibraltar

My blog would not be complete without mentioning the Barbary Apes of Gibraltar. The apes are a tail-less breed of monkey whose natural habitat is in the mountains of Morocco and Algeria. They were most probably first brought here by the British in the early eighteenth century. They live at the top of the 'Rock'. If you ever visit Gibraltar, watch out because they do like Oreo cookies!!!

Staff Retreat

The day after Easter, we boarded a plane for Basil, Switzerland. We landed in Switzerland and crossed into France (while still in the airport) to pick up a rental car. We found out we were in the wrong country to pick up the rental car! So we had to walk back into Switzerland. We then drove back over the border into France on our way to the staff retreat with the Life Agape office in Paris. For me this was a really fun retreat to get to meet the other 40+ staff in the Paris office that work for the NAMESTAN region (North Africa, Middle East and 'Stan' countries) that our Algeciras team is a part of.

During the week in the afternoons, we had some break time and we toured some local towns. There were painted Easter eggs hanging from windows and bunnies all around. It made me wonder where did this tradition originate? So I did some research....I couldn't find exactly where the idea originated but I did find out why:

A strong wave of piety ran through chicken farms from the 4th century onwards, leading to the custom of giving eggs on the first Sunday after the full moon following the spring equinox - a rather less spiritual way to celebrate Christ's resurrection throughout Christendom. Why? you may ask. Simply because the church forbade the consumption of eggs during the forty days of fasting that preceded Easter - but since chickens don't observe Lent, they continued to lay! Thus by Easter morning, people found themselves with a large quantity of eggs. It was necessary to share the surplus by giving them away. A basket full of fresh eggs is a nice gift - but when colored and painted with figures and designs, they became true presents: beautifully arrayed and designed to give pleasure.

How did I get off track talking about Easter Eggs? This post was supposed to be about the staff retreat. Ok...back to the retreat. Bailey Marks, retired International Director for CCC, spoke. Al used to tell me the story of when Bill Bright said to Bailey, 'How long does it take you to hear from God?' It was nice to hear the story from it's true source and to see this man's dedication to serve the Lord over so many years.

Little Monster

When I was at Missions Training Institute in January, we spent a morning listing out things we would leave behind when going overseas. One thing that I had to leave behind is my cat, Little Monster. Before I returned to Spain in February I got to see her and hold her. Of course, she didn't really want me to hold her! I am so thankful that she is happy and well taken care of. Thank you JoLynda!