March 2007 Update
Happy (almost) spring!
It's amazing the places that you can make friends here, and the conversations that God can bring your way. This month, I'm going to highlight one of those conversations. For this story and lots more writing about whatever is in my head or whatever is going on here, you can always check out my website. Below the story, don't forget to look at a list of things you can pray for.
This was posted on my blog on 7 February:
This has been a "light" week. After three crazy weeks where I felt like I collapsed into bed every night for a short coma before starting over the next day, there's nothing really pressing. I can take my time on things and not feel rushed. The past three days have been a much needed medicine for body and soul.
As part of my "light" week, I've been going to the gym later than usual because I don't have a pressing reason to get out of bed early. So I've been meeting people there that I don't usually see.
On Monday I met a girl from another country in Europe, who speaks very little Spanish but pretty good English. We walk the same direction for about 5 minutes when we leave the gym. Here was our conversation today.
"So you work for a church?"
"I work with a church, yeah."
"Do you do it because you have to or because you want to."
It's a good thing she asked me this during a relaxing week! "I want to. I actually love my job," I answered
"So you're serious about..um...belief, then?"
"Yeah, I am."
"But all Americans are, aren't they? I mean they all believe? It's a very Christian state?"
How on Earth was I supposed to answer that one? "Um, no, I wouldn't say that. Lots of Americans really are Christians, and lots of Americans say they are Christians but it's more of a cultural thing. But it's a really big country with lots of different people, so I don't think I would say it's a Christian state, no."
"So they all say that you shouldn't have sex before you are married and you should save that for one person, right? That's what it is?"
Man, she gets right to the point, I thought. Ok, then so will I.
"Well, that's not really what it's all about. I mean, I do agree with that, but that's only about how we behave, and Christianity isn't really just about how we behave." I answered.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. It's about a person, Jesus."
We had reached the corner where we go separate directions.
"We should talk more. I have your number, so I'll call you this week."
"Ok, cool. Let's get together for coffee or something. See you soon!"
"Yeah, we can do that. See you!"
For all of that packed into a 5 minute conversation, I'm interested to see where the next five will go.
That was written a few weeks ago. As a quick update, her schedule has changed to an earlier day so now we're still at the gym at the same time even though I'm back on my normal schedule. She came to one of our church services this month and also went out ice skating with a group from the church, and even came over to the pastor's house for pizza afterward! She's only in Spain until the summer, so I"m excited to see what God will do in her life in these five months.
Here are some things you can pray about this month:
---Pray for María, the girl in this story, and that God will continue to use the time that she's here to show Himself to her. (Maria's not her real name since I don't have her permission to ask a bunch of people to pray for her, but God knows who you're talking about. :)
---Pray for Lydia and her father Peter. Lydia and Phill are a newly married couple in my small group--they're about my age. A tumor was discovered on Lydia's dad's brain less than a year ago, and it was malignant. Just a couple weeks ago the doctors said that the tumor is not shrinking, and that they can't do any more chemotherapy. Right now Lydia is back in The Netherlands with her family. Pray for Peter's healing and for their family during this time.
---Pray for Victoria. She has been an active member of Oasis Madrid since even before we launched as a church, and now she's in the process of applying to be involved in missions after she graduates.
---Praise God for more involvement in the homeless ministry within the church. Pray that God will continue to grow that ministry and develop an attitude of service in our church.
---Pray for wisdom and opportunity as a couple of us look for ways to start reaching out to some prostitutes in the area.
---Pray for my teammate (and roommate) Amy Swacina as she's in the U.S. for the next few months raising support and getting her resident visa to stay here long term.
---Praise God that more teammates, Kelly, April, and baby Alleke Crull have their support raised and are coming back to Spain in 2 weeks!
---Pray for Jonathan. He's a guy in our church that had an opportunity to share his story and what Jesus means to him in class. Now there may be an opportunity for him and Victoria to start a "God Night" Bible study with some students wanting to know more.
---Pray for Me. I'm still working on raising more financial support from Spain, which is a difficult thing to do. Pray for God to provide the one time gifts and monthly support needed for me to continue living here in Madrid.
---Pray for the relationships with Spanish friends that I've been able to start through the language exchange night I attend. Ask God to use those relationships to draw people to Him.
I hope this story and the prayer requests give you a bit of insight into parts of my life here. If you would like to know more personally about what's going on here in Madrid, feel free to email me and we'll get in touch!
Thanks for all of your support, encouragement, and prayers.
It's amazing the places that you can make friends here, and the conversations that God can bring your way. This month, I'm going to highlight one of those conversations. For this story and lots more writing about whatever is in my head or whatever is going on here, you can always check out my website. Below the story, don't forget to look at a list of things you can pray for.
This was posted on my blog on 7 February:
This has been a "light" week. After three crazy weeks where I felt like I collapsed into bed every night for a short coma before starting over the next day, there's nothing really pressing. I can take my time on things and not feel rushed. The past three days have been a much needed medicine for body and soul.
As part of my "light" week, I've been going to the gym later than usual because I don't have a pressing reason to get out of bed early. So I've been meeting people there that I don't usually see.
On Monday I met a girl from another country in Europe, who speaks very little Spanish but pretty good English. We walk the same direction for about 5 minutes when we leave the gym. Here was our conversation today.
"So you work for a church?"
"I work with a church, yeah."
"Do you do it because you have to or because you want to."
It's a good thing she asked me this during a relaxing week! "I want to. I actually love my job," I answered
"So you're serious about..um...belief, then?"
"Yeah, I am."
"But all Americans are, aren't they? I mean they all believe? It's a very Christian state?"
How on Earth was I supposed to answer that one? "Um, no, I wouldn't say that. Lots of Americans really are Christians, and lots of Americans say they are Christians but it's more of a cultural thing. But it's a really big country with lots of different people, so I don't think I would say it's a Christian state, no."
"So they all say that you shouldn't have sex before you are married and you should save that for one person, right? That's what it is?"
Man, she gets right to the point, I thought. Ok, then so will I.
"Well, that's not really what it's all about. I mean, I do agree with that, but that's only about how we behave, and Christianity isn't really just about how we behave." I answered.
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. It's about a person, Jesus."
We had reached the corner where we go separate directions.
"We should talk more. I have your number, so I'll call you this week."
"Ok, cool. Let's get together for coffee or something. See you soon!"
"Yeah, we can do that. See you!"
For all of that packed into a 5 minute conversation, I'm interested to see where the next five will go.
That was written a few weeks ago. As a quick update, her schedule has changed to an earlier day so now we're still at the gym at the same time even though I'm back on my normal schedule. She came to one of our church services this month and also went out ice skating with a group from the church, and even came over to the pastor's house for pizza afterward! She's only in Spain until the summer, so I"m excited to see what God will do in her life in these five months.
Here are some things you can pray about this month:
---Pray for María, the girl in this story, and that God will continue to use the time that she's here to show Himself to her. (Maria's not her real name since I don't have her permission to ask a bunch of people to pray for her, but God knows who you're talking about. :)
---Pray for Lydia and her father Peter. Lydia and Phill are a newly married couple in my small group--they're about my age. A tumor was discovered on Lydia's dad's brain less than a year ago, and it was malignant. Just a couple weeks ago the doctors said that the tumor is not shrinking, and that they can't do any more chemotherapy. Right now Lydia is back in The Netherlands with her family. Pray for Peter's healing and for their family during this time.
---Pray for Victoria. She has been an active member of Oasis Madrid since even before we launched as a church, and now she's in the process of applying to be involved in missions after she graduates.
---Praise God for more involvement in the homeless ministry within the church. Pray that God will continue to grow that ministry and develop an attitude of service in our church.
---Pray for wisdom and opportunity as a couple of us look for ways to start reaching out to some prostitutes in the area.
---Pray for my teammate (and roommate) Amy Swacina as she's in the U.S. for the next few months raising support and getting her resident visa to stay here long term.
---Praise God that more teammates, Kelly, April, and baby Alleke Crull have their support raised and are coming back to Spain in 2 weeks!
---Pray for Jonathan. He's a guy in our church that had an opportunity to share his story and what Jesus means to him in class. Now there may be an opportunity for him and Victoria to start a "God Night" Bible study with some students wanting to know more.
---Pray for Me. I'm still working on raising more financial support from Spain, which is a difficult thing to do. Pray for God to provide the one time gifts and monthly support needed for me to continue living here in Madrid.
---Pray for the relationships with Spanish friends that I've been able to start through the language exchange night I attend. Ask God to use those relationships to draw people to Him.
I hope this story and the prayer requests give you a bit of insight into parts of my life here. If you would like to know more personally about what's going on here in Madrid, feel free to email me and we'll get in touch!
Thanks for all of your support, encouragement, and prayers.
posted by kelly_w at 8:41 AM
1 Comments:
Wow, how do you answer questions like that? I think you did a pretty good job! It's a good reminder that people have all different ideas about faith, the Bible, etc.
Hopefully more and more can actually get to the heart of the matter and meet Jesus! :)
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