February 2004
Hello to all!!!
I hope this newsletter finds you well. I have been in Madrid a little over a month now, so here is a quick recap of what's going on and what God has been doing in my life.
MOUNTAINVIEW INTERNATIONAL CHURCH
Praise God for the opportunity to do an internship with this church! The Mountainview team has welcomed me into their family and is really helping me to settle into Madrid. I'm really excited about the way we do church at Mountainview. The focus is on small groups, where people can experience authentic community and grow in Christ in a comfortable atmosphere. We have groups meeting every day of the week. I'm involved in 2 of these groups. Monday night consists mostly of students and is a great time of worship and spiritual refreshment for me. After only being here a month, I already feel like the Monday night group is a lifeline for me.
Tuesday night I'm involved in a completely different kind of group called the "Alpha Course." We eat a meal together, watch a video about a different aspect of Christianity (Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus have to die?, etc.), and then we discuss it. Troy, the group leader, is there to ask questions, not to tell people what to think. He and I are the only Christians in the group. It has been amazing every week to watch Matilda, Sonia, and Alex learn more about having a relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that they would move from knowing ABOUT Jesus to actually knowing HIM. I think God is going to do awesome things in this group.
I am also getting some good one on one time with different team members, learning about leadership development, cultural adjustment, small group leading, team leading, developing and defining values, and the list goes on.
LIFE IN MADRID
God's timing is perfect! I arrived in Madrid between semesters at the Universities, so several apartments opened up in neighborhoods near Complutense's campus. God provided an apartment for me that is in a neighborhood full of students, right next to campus, and big enough to have groups meet there. I am literally a 3 minute walk from the edge of campus.
Cultural adjustment is definitely a challenge. I am having to relearn how to do everything (laundry, grocery shopping, greeting people, etc.) within a new cultural context. It has been a very humbling month to have to ask for help over and over again. Maybe that's what Jesus meant when He said for us to come to Him like little children: acknowledging that we don't know how to do everything and that we have to ask for help in everything. His strength is made perfect in my weakness!
A SPANIARD'S VIEW
I am doing an intercambio (language exchange) with a Spanish girl here named America. She and I meet for coffee and spend time talking in Spanish and English. On our first meeting, we were walking down a street and I commented on a beautiful cathedral. This was her perspective (paraphrased, of course):
No one in Spain ever notices a church. There is a church on every street, but no one actually goes. There is just so much of it that no one sees. We really just don't care about it.
America is not a Christian (her father is Mormon and her mother is Catholic--she say's she's never had any "religious education"), but she came right to the heart of the spiritual situation of Spain. There is a rich tradition here of the Catholic church, but my generation just sees it as a part of the scenery in Spain. What Spain needs is Jesus Christ, not more church buildings.
SOME THINGS YOU CAN PRAY ABOUT
Here are some things you can pray with me about:
1) Pray that my focus and passion would always be for Jesus Christ
2) Pray that Matilda, Sonia, and Alex would come to know Jesus, not just about Him.
3) Pray that Mountainview International Church would be completely led by the Holy Spirit in its ministry.
4) Pray that God would bring along relationships with students that will open the doors for campus ministry.
5) Pray for God's peace for me as I am adjusting to life in Madrid and for His leading in ministry to university students.
6) Ask God to raise up more staff to come work in Madrid.
7) Ask for God's continued provision of finances.
If you would like to get in touch with me, you can definitely use email (kkrenee@yahoo.com), and here also are my new address and phone number:
Kelly R. Wills
Donoso Cortes 80c, 2 ' 9
28015 Madrid, Spain
phone: 34 91 543 62 81
Thank you so much for your prayers...they work!!! We serve an amazing God who is delighted to to amazing things when we ask for them!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" (Eph. 3:20-21)
Praising HIM,
Kelly Wills
I hope this newsletter finds you well. I have been in Madrid a little over a month now, so here is a quick recap of what's going on and what God has been doing in my life.
MOUNTAINVIEW INTERNATIONAL CHURCH
Praise God for the opportunity to do an internship with this church! The Mountainview team has welcomed me into their family and is really helping me to settle into Madrid. I'm really excited about the way we do church at Mountainview. The focus is on small groups, where people can experience authentic community and grow in Christ in a comfortable atmosphere. We have groups meeting every day of the week. I'm involved in 2 of these groups. Monday night consists mostly of students and is a great time of worship and spiritual refreshment for me. After only being here a month, I already feel like the Monday night group is a lifeline for me.
Tuesday night I'm involved in a completely different kind of group called the "Alpha Course." We eat a meal together, watch a video about a different aspect of Christianity (Who is Jesus? Why did Jesus have to die?, etc.), and then we discuss it. Troy, the group leader, is there to ask questions, not to tell people what to think. He and I are the only Christians in the group. It has been amazing every week to watch Matilda, Sonia, and Alex learn more about having a relationship with Jesus. My prayer is that they would move from knowing ABOUT Jesus to actually knowing HIM. I think God is going to do awesome things in this group.
I am also getting some good one on one time with different team members, learning about leadership development, cultural adjustment, small group leading, team leading, developing and defining values, and the list goes on.
LIFE IN MADRID
God's timing is perfect! I arrived in Madrid between semesters at the Universities, so several apartments opened up in neighborhoods near Complutense's campus. God provided an apartment for me that is in a neighborhood full of students, right next to campus, and big enough to have groups meet there. I am literally a 3 minute walk from the edge of campus.
Cultural adjustment is definitely a challenge. I am having to relearn how to do everything (laundry, grocery shopping, greeting people, etc.) within a new cultural context. It has been a very humbling month to have to ask for help over and over again. Maybe that's what Jesus meant when He said for us to come to Him like little children: acknowledging that we don't know how to do everything and that we have to ask for help in everything. His strength is made perfect in my weakness!
A SPANIARD'S VIEW
I am doing an intercambio (language exchange) with a Spanish girl here named America. She and I meet for coffee and spend time talking in Spanish and English. On our first meeting, we were walking down a street and I commented on a beautiful cathedral. This was her perspective (paraphrased, of course):
No one in Spain ever notices a church. There is a church on every street, but no one actually goes. There is just so much of it that no one sees. We really just don't care about it.
America is not a Christian (her father is Mormon and her mother is Catholic--she say's she's never had any "religious education"), but she came right to the heart of the spiritual situation of Spain. There is a rich tradition here of the Catholic church, but my generation just sees it as a part of the scenery in Spain. What Spain needs is Jesus Christ, not more church buildings.
SOME THINGS YOU CAN PRAY ABOUT
Here are some things you can pray with me about:
1) Pray that my focus and passion would always be for Jesus Christ
2) Pray that Matilda, Sonia, and Alex would come to know Jesus, not just about Him.
3) Pray that Mountainview International Church would be completely led by the Holy Spirit in its ministry.
4) Pray that God would bring along relationships with students that will open the doors for campus ministry.
5) Pray for God's peace for me as I am adjusting to life in Madrid and for His leading in ministry to university students.
6) Ask God to raise up more staff to come work in Madrid.
7) Ask for God's continued provision of finances.
If you would like to get in touch with me, you can definitely use email (kkrenee@yahoo.com), and here also are my new address and phone number:
Kelly R. Wills
Donoso Cortes 80c, 2 ' 9
28015 Madrid, Spain
phone: 34 91 543 62 81
Thank you so much for your prayers...they work!!! We serve an amazing God who is delighted to to amazing things when we ask for them!
"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!" (Eph. 3:20-21)
Praising HIM,
Kelly Wills
posted by kelly_w at 10:11 AM
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