July 2006 Update
Hello All,
I hope you are having a wonderful summer! I can't believe it's already July. I apologize for not getting a newsletter out last month---I had a couple weeks of vacation in June, so I was travelling half the month!
Things are going well here. It's hot, but not as hot as summers past so far, so I'm thankful for that. This is the first summer in my new apartment, and I'm happy to say it stays relatively cool (or at least less hot). Things slow down quite a bit here in the summer. In the church, several of our members are gone for the summer and the short term students have moved away, so we have a much smaller crowd. In the city as well, everything seems to move a little slower. People aren't in as much of a hurry (it's too hot to hurry), all the women have their fans with them at all times (me included, when I remember it), and everyone's primary occupation seems to be finding shade. Friends with pools become extremely popular :).
The summer is also a great time to reflect back on the past 6 months or so. One ministry season has kind of wrapped up, so it's good to look back and see what God has done. Here are the things that I'm very thankful for from the past 6 months:
My Church
I LOVE my church! In a city that is spiritually and physically dry, it's great to have Oasis Madrid in the city center. I love watching people care for each other and bring new people in. I love being refreshed by their love and friendship.
Community Groups
Usually in the summer, all of the groups combine into one because so many people are gone. This year, not only do we have too many people to combine, my community group is getting so big that it may have to multiply soon! It's great to have people from all over the world and from all different places in their journey of faith. In the past 2 months we've had several new people come and jump right into being involved, which is exciting.
My Neighborhood
Any of you who have seen my neighborhood might be surprised to hear that I thank God that I live in this neighborhood, but I do. It's kind of an "alternative" area of the city--where every kind of weird look or lifestyle is the norm here. Everything from green mohawked girls to goths with dog collars to hare krishnas and so on. Parties on the street (botellones) can go all night. Everyone's a little bit weird. For one thing, these people have seen everything, so in a place where being a Christian is weird it seems to fit that I would live in the weird neighborhood. I'm more convinced than ever that God wants us here--it's a spiritually dark area, and I think God has placed us here to be a light. We had an Oasis Madrid service in our flat on Saturday afternoon, and it was so great to sing and praise God right at home, in the middle of this crazy neighborhood.
I've come to love my neighborhood--the shoe store across the street that sells maybe one pair a day, the crazy dog lady whose dog runs into our apartment if the door is open, the bread store, the old man at the perfumeria that always smiles and says hi, the funny Italian guys at the takeout place around the corner, the little old ladies with their dogs walking right next to the punks with dog collars and black fingernails. I thank God for making me feel at home here.
My Team in Madrid
I thank God for Troy and Heather Cady, my team leaders, who have been my Madrid family and such great leaders. It's great to work with leaders that show me grace and encourage me to try new things and grow and develop as a leader and just as a follower of Jesus. I feel like I have my own personal cheering section in them. They're in the states raising financial support this summer, so pray for them!
Amy Swacina is here for a year internship, but hopefully she will stay on for longer! In addition to being my teammate, she's also my roommate! It's been great to have another single girl my age here, and I'm so glad for her friendship. She's a dancer and it always makes my cry (in a good way) to see her worship God through dance. I'm so thankful for her energy and enthusiasm, and for her ability to think logically and organize--she picks up my slack on that front more than I would like to admit. Thank God for Amy!
Kelly and April Crull have been in Castellon ( a town about 4 or 5 hours away) this year, but we've been able to see each other at least once a month, and I'm so thankful for their friendship. I can't wait until they're only a walk away again, and there will be 3 of them by that time!
Leading Worship
I've had to work really hard on improving as a worship leader over the past several months--I'm fairly new at the guitar and even newer at leading worship with the guitar. But I have loved the challenge, and I've discovered that it really energizes me to lead worship. It's great to get to give God my music, which has always been a part of my life, and it's also been great to learn and experiment with other ways to worship--using scripture, paint, clay, etc. I feel like God has been leading me (and hopefully our church) on a journey of learning to worship Him with all of ourselves, not just music.
Ceramics Class
I started going to a ceramics studio in the winter on my day off, for a bit of stress relief and a creative outlet. This class has become a lifesaver to me! It has allowed me to learn new things and to create. Also, I've started to develop friendships with a couple of the women in the class, and another one of the girls wants to do a language exchange with me. It can be a challenge to find natural environments to make friends with people who you wouldn't normally find in a church, and this class has become a way to do that. On the downside, my apartment is starting to fill up with the stuff I'm making, so I may have to start giving things away!
This letter is longer that I intended, but once I started typing I realized how much I have to be thankful for! I could go on, but in the interest of you, my readers, I'll stop here. Thank you all for your encouragement, prayers, and support. God is doing some amazing stuff here, and you're a part of that!
I hope you are having a wonderful summer! I can't believe it's already July. I apologize for not getting a newsletter out last month---I had a couple weeks of vacation in June, so I was travelling half the month!
Things are going well here. It's hot, but not as hot as summers past so far, so I'm thankful for that. This is the first summer in my new apartment, and I'm happy to say it stays relatively cool (or at least less hot). Things slow down quite a bit here in the summer. In the church, several of our members are gone for the summer and the short term students have moved away, so we have a much smaller crowd. In the city as well, everything seems to move a little slower. People aren't in as much of a hurry (it's too hot to hurry), all the women have their fans with them at all times (me included, when I remember it), and everyone's primary occupation seems to be finding shade. Friends with pools become extremely popular :).
The summer is also a great time to reflect back on the past 6 months or so. One ministry season has kind of wrapped up, so it's good to look back and see what God has done. Here are the things that I'm very thankful for from the past 6 months:
My Church
I LOVE my church! In a city that is spiritually and physically dry, it's great to have Oasis Madrid in the city center. I love watching people care for each other and bring new people in. I love being refreshed by their love and friendship.
Community Groups
Usually in the summer, all of the groups combine into one because so many people are gone. This year, not only do we have too many people to combine, my community group is getting so big that it may have to multiply soon! It's great to have people from all over the world and from all different places in their journey of faith. In the past 2 months we've had several new people come and jump right into being involved, which is exciting.
My Neighborhood
Any of you who have seen my neighborhood might be surprised to hear that I thank God that I live in this neighborhood, but I do. It's kind of an "alternative" area of the city--where every kind of weird look or lifestyle is the norm here. Everything from green mohawked girls to goths with dog collars to hare krishnas and so on. Parties on the street (botellones) can go all night. Everyone's a little bit weird. For one thing, these people have seen everything, so in a place where being a Christian is weird it seems to fit that I would live in the weird neighborhood. I'm more convinced than ever that God wants us here--it's a spiritually dark area, and I think God has placed us here to be a light. We had an Oasis Madrid service in our flat on Saturday afternoon, and it was so great to sing and praise God right at home, in the middle of this crazy neighborhood.
I've come to love my neighborhood--the shoe store across the street that sells maybe one pair a day, the crazy dog lady whose dog runs into our apartment if the door is open, the bread store, the old man at the perfumeria that always smiles and says hi, the funny Italian guys at the takeout place around the corner, the little old ladies with their dogs walking right next to the punks with dog collars and black fingernails. I thank God for making me feel at home here.
My Team in Madrid
I thank God for Troy and Heather Cady, my team leaders, who have been my Madrid family and such great leaders. It's great to work with leaders that show me grace and encourage me to try new things and grow and develop as a leader and just as a follower of Jesus. I feel like I have my own personal cheering section in them. They're in the states raising financial support this summer, so pray for them!
Amy Swacina is here for a year internship, but hopefully she will stay on for longer! In addition to being my teammate, she's also my roommate! It's been great to have another single girl my age here, and I'm so glad for her friendship. She's a dancer and it always makes my cry (in a good way) to see her worship God through dance. I'm so thankful for her energy and enthusiasm, and for her ability to think logically and organize--she picks up my slack on that front more than I would like to admit. Thank God for Amy!
Kelly and April Crull have been in Castellon ( a town about 4 or 5 hours away) this year, but we've been able to see each other at least once a month, and I'm so thankful for their friendship. I can't wait until they're only a walk away again, and there will be 3 of them by that time!
Leading Worship
I've had to work really hard on improving as a worship leader over the past several months--I'm fairly new at the guitar and even newer at leading worship with the guitar. But I have loved the challenge, and I've discovered that it really energizes me to lead worship. It's great to get to give God my music, which has always been a part of my life, and it's also been great to learn and experiment with other ways to worship--using scripture, paint, clay, etc. I feel like God has been leading me (and hopefully our church) on a journey of learning to worship Him with all of ourselves, not just music.
Ceramics Class
I started going to a ceramics studio in the winter on my day off, for a bit of stress relief and a creative outlet. This class has become a lifesaver to me! It has allowed me to learn new things and to create. Also, I've started to develop friendships with a couple of the women in the class, and another one of the girls wants to do a language exchange with me. It can be a challenge to find natural environments to make friends with people who you wouldn't normally find in a church, and this class has become a way to do that. On the downside, my apartment is starting to fill up with the stuff I'm making, so I may have to start giving things away!
This letter is longer that I intended, but once I started typing I realized how much I have to be thankful for! I could go on, but in the interest of you, my readers, I'll stop here. Thank you all for your encouragement, prayers, and support. God is doing some amazing stuff here, and you're a part of that!
posted by kelly_w at 2:31 PM
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