The Happenings in Madrid

November 2007 Update

2007-11-19T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hi from Kentucky! I hope you're busy saving up some stomach room for Thanksgiving--I'm thinking of eating cereal all week util Thursday. Here's a quick update on the life and times of Kelly Wills.

In This Issue
Where in the world is Kelly Wills?
Support raising update
Now you can donate online! Here's how...

Where in the world is Kelly Wills?
Kelly and sistersYep, still in Kentucky (in case you didn't infer that from the "Hello from Kentucky!") I still have quite a bit of support to raise, and I want to do a good job of it rather than go back to Spain underfunded and end up in the same situation next year. So I've decided that I'm going to stay here and raise support through the holidays. If the funds are there, I'll return to Spain at the beginning of the new year.

While I miss Spain, my friends, my work, and my own bed like crazy, I think this is the right decision. Also, I'm happy to be able to spend Christmas with my family. I've been hanging out with my sisters a ton, and three sisters this good looking should be together as much as possible :).

Thanks to all of you who have been praying for my health--I'm feeling good and am hopfully done with being sick!

Support raising update
Thanks to all of you who have donated towards what God is doing in Madrid. I've made a little headway against the $7500 in one time donations that I needed to raise, but the amount needed is still around $6,000. In monthly support, I'm still a few hundred a month short of being at 100%.

This is definitely an exercise in learning to trust God--some days I'm better at it than others! But I'm convinced that God will provide for what He has called me to. Please continue to pray with me that God will provide.

If you have any questions about donating, about what's going on in Madrid, or about specific needs, please email me, or you can call me.
A new, easier way to donate--IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

Great news--now you can donate online!

Christian Associates now has a new option for donating--a secure web page where you can donate online! You can click here to go to the page, create an account, and donate directly to my support account (there will be a section that asks whether you want to donate to missionaries or projects. Select missionaries, and then scroll down to my name--Wills, Kelly--almost at the bottom.) How cool is that?

If you're already donating by check but would like to save on stamps (not to mention use less paper), you can switch to donating online through this page. Or, if you've never donated but would like to begin, this is the easiest and quickest way!

*If the link above didn't work for some reason, copy and paste this link into your browser: https://dlq4.donatelinq.net/donatelinq4/default.aspx?MerchantID=ChrisAssoInter&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
**If you experience technical problems with the donate online page, email any questions to tech-help@caimail.net.

October 2007 Update

2007-10-15T12:37:00.000-07:00

Special Furlough Update
Dear Oasis Madrid Team,

Hi from Kentucky! Autumn in the Appalachian Mountains is one of the most beautiful things in the world. I had forgotten how much I loved the fall colors and am glad I get to be here to see them! It has been wonderful to spend so much time with family and friends, and to reconnect with my supporting churches and individuals. I have felt loved while I'm here! It has also been great to be able to share the vision for Madrid--I've had so many great conversations with people here about what God is doing.

Almost daily I'm asked when I'll be heading back to Spain. My current answer is "Mid-October, hopefully." There are still a few things up in the air. Here's why....

I should be hearing back about my residency papers any day now--hopefully I'll be able to go to Chicago quickly before I leave for Spain to pick up what I need and have it all done (at least the Stateside part)!

On the financial side of things, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that I have been able to raise some new support while I'm here, and while I'm still a few hundred a month short of my monthly goal, I feel like I'm on the last stretch of a marathon. I'm trusting God that when I go back to Spain, I will be at 100% support.

The bad news is that I do still have a defecit in my account from one-time expenses that needs to be built up. I had hoped to build that up while I'm in the States, but for some reason less than normal the amount of support has come in for the past two months. This is definitely a lesson in trusting God!

Thanks to all of you who have been supporting me and to those of you who have committed to start supporting me. I would like to ask you to pray for me as well--that God would provide the necessary monthly and one-time finances for me to return to Spain on time, and that I would trust Him completely in this.

In next month's newsletter, I'll update you more on all that's going on in Madrid, Serve the City, etc, so stay tuned!

Thanks so much for your support and prayers. I'm confident that God wants me in Madrid, and that He will provide for me to be there. You're an important part of God's work around the world!

September 2007 Update

2007-09-01T12:33:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Kentucky! It's hot here--way too hot for September. I'm daily reminded of what a bad job I did of packing to come back to the U.S. Not enough summer clothes!

By the way, like the snazzy new email format?

I've been back 2 1/2 weeks, and already I've visited four churches, filed visa papers in Chicago, gone fishing, dislocated my toe (don't ask), and gone through two boxes of Multi Grain Cheerios. It's great to spend time with family and friends who I dearly miss, but at the same time I'm starting to itch to get back to Madrid already. Pray for me to be content where I am and get the most out of this time.

So far I've had some great meetings with potential supporters, but I still have a lot to raise. I'm convinced that God wants me in Madrid and that He will provide for me to live there. Pray that the support comes in and that I will rest in the assurance that God is my provider. And while we're talking about support, email me if you'd like more info about becoming a member of my monthly support team!

Ok, with that shameless plug out of the way, here is some news about what's been going on in Spain in August and what's coming up in Madrid while I'm away.

Thanks for reading!

Connect 2007

I joined fellow CAI missionaries, board members and guests in Sopron, Hungary for our annual staff conference, which is now called Connect. As usual, we had a wonderful time. Our new venue was the beautiful Hotel Fagus. As usual, my favorite part of the conference was the community I experienced with other people who love Jesus and who live in Europe. It's one of my favorite weeks of the year.

We were privileged to be able to spend Monday, August 13 in Vienna serving in various projects. Many of CAI's churches around Europe have been doing these service projects, and we are actually having our own later this month. It was a joy to be able to serve the people of Vienna en mass.

We were encouraged by our speaker Gerard Kelly; he encouraged us that God is not done with the church in Europe yet. Also were encouraged by worship and prayer together. I led worship for one of the sessions, but otherwise I was able to relax and worship without worrying about leading--a much needed refreshment for me!

Shani Kilasi

Shani is one of my first friends from Madrid. She has been helping out a ton with the church and now it's official! I'm happy to announce that Shani is now on staff with Christian Associates and will be serving a one-year internship with us at Oasis Madrid to start with. We're thrilled to have her officially on board. She has been practically staff already!

Serve the City

Oasis Madrid are really excited to be part of Madrid's very own Serve the City, coming up from September 26th until the 29th. They'll be passing out drinks and snacks to immigrants standing in long immigration lines, doing some work at a center for troubled youth, passing out additional supplies (like socks, toiletries, sleeping bags) to our homeless friends, and doing clean-up in a couple areas in Madrid. I'm hopeful that they'll be able to have lots of conversations with people about why we are serving. For more information, check out Serve the City Madrid online.

I have been involved in the planning of this event and am VERY sad that I can't be there for the actual service. But I'm glad it's happening anyway!

Things to Pray About

Things to Pray About
1. Pray for new contacts and new financial supporters, and that I will be ready to head back to Spain, fully supported, in early October.
2. Pray that my visa/immigration papers go through smoothly and efficiently.
3. Pray for safety as I drive all over the place here! (keep in mind I haven't driven in a year!)
4. Pray for God to use Serve the City in Madrid in big ways
5. Pray for new people interested in the worship ministry that will plug into Oasis.
6. Praise God that Shani is sticking around and working with us!

With love and thanks for all you do for me,

Kelly

July 2007 Update

2007-07-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

For all you Americans, happy Independence Day! For once, I can't complain to all of you in the U.S. about how hot it is here--it's actually hotter there! I don't know why, but this has been the most pleasant (a.k.a. not miserably hot) summer yet in Madrid. On my birthday (June 20), we went to the park for a picnic and actually got cold! It's heating up now (in the 90's every day), but still not close to the normal Madrid summer. Then again, if you are reading this in the States, you have an air conditioner, so maybe I can still whine a little :).

Here are some of the big things that have happened in the past month or so:
THE BIG HIKE
My friend Leisl and I took a week at the end of May and did the last week of the Camino de Santiago (a beautiful hike in the north of Spain. Click HERE for pictures.) 166 km (103 miles), six days, lots of blisters, and a beautiful view. It was definitely one of the most challenging experiences ever but also one of the most rewarding. I have to admit I'm pretty proud of myself!

SAYING GOODBYE
June is always a bittersweet month for me, since many of the short termers here are leaving to go back to their home country. The good part of this June is that several of them are just leaving for the summer and then coming back in the Autumn!

SLOWING DOWN AND GEARING UP
July is typically a slow month for us here, so I'm looking forward to having a looser schedule. This summer, though, it seems like the slow-down time is being used to gear up for what comes next! I'm making plans for my furlough to the U.S. this Autumn (you'll be getting another update just about that tomorrow), as well as meeting with a friend here to help her gear up for a community-wide service project called Serve the City--Oasis Madrid will be working with them especially on ministering to the homeless people that we've come to know in our area. Still, even with things to work on, things move slower here in the summer, and I'm thankful for that!

HOMELESS MINISTRY
The community living under the tunnel at Plaza España has grown very quickly in the past couple months. This means that it's now overcrowded, not as sanitary, and sometimes can get tense between people in a desperate situation and a cramped space. One of the guys there that we were getting to know died suddenly in late May, which threw the community, and us, for a loop. As we're getting to know some of the people who live under the tunnel, we're realizing that problems run deeper than hunger and solutions bigger than we can give are needed. A core group of us has been continuing to take lunch on Friday, but also meeting on Sunday to pray and ask for direction about what to do next. We'd appreciate your prayers as we spend this time figuring out just why God has put us in this place and just what we are supposed to do. Pray also for good connections with other social agencies and with other churches.

COMMUNITY GROUP
I just wanted to write here how thankful I am for my Monday night group. Last Monday, we spent lots of time praying for each other and worshipping together, and I was reminded how blessed I am to have a community here that I love so much. I love the caring community that this group is becoming.

That pretty much wraps up the last month in a nutshell (well, a big nutshell, but still...) Here are some things you can be praying about:
PRAYER REQUESTS:
*Pray for our staff to have a refreshing time of rest this summer after a very busy and sometimes very hard first year and a half as a new church!

*I need a car to drive while I'm on furlough (for 6-8 weeks). Pray that God provides (and if you have an extra car, ask God if He wants to use you to do the providing).

*I'm in the process of applying for a more long-term visa in Spain. Pray that it goes smoothly and quickly!

*Pray for financial provision in monthly support and one-time costs.

*Pray for the people who live in the tunnel at Plaza España, and for those of us who are getting to know them, that God will show us how to best show them His love and His grace.

*Ask God to help me live out my faith with grace, love, integrity, and boldness with my friends who aren't Christians

Thanks for your encouragement, prayers, and support. I thank God for you!

Peace,
Kelly

May 2007 Update

2007-07-02T08:56:00.001-07:00

For this month's update, rather than updating you on events, I want to share some of what God has been doing in my heart and what I believe He's doing in my neighborhood. The article below is also posted on my blog.

A couple of Tuesdays ago my friend Victoria and I went out in our neighborhood. We've been going to a specific corner a couple times a month and have just barely started to get to know the people who are there at night, but since it was a holiday weekend (yes, in Spain sometimes Tuesday is still part of the weekend!), we knew they would be busy--(the corner is part of an unofficial red light district). So instead of our normal trip to Pans for coffee and back to the corner, we decided to walk and pray in the neighborhood.

We didn't really have a plan for the evening, but we started out by confessing, to each other and to God, how we've screwed up lately. Then after a few minutes we turned into Plaza Luna. The working girls (most of them girls, anyway) were already lined up and it wasn't totally dark yet. We walked in silence and took in what we saw around us, not even knowing what to pray for this neighborhood or how to start. Finally, words came in broken phrases:

"God, help."

"God, this is too big. There are too many problems. We can't do anything."

"There is so much prostitution, and drugs, and poverty. All around us it's like everything and everyone is worshipping the gods of sex and money."

"This is too big. We can't do this."

And then we turned a corner, onto a street that I know I've been down before (after all, we were only about a 5 minute walk from my flat at this point). Right in front of us, with lights shining on it to be sure we noticed, was a sign I had never noticed. It read:

The Holy Ground

After a few seconds of stunned silence we realized that it was the name of an Irish pub, but we were still dumbstruck. We turned onto Gran Via and Victoria grabbed my arm. "Hey Kelly, I think I need to take off my shoes." And she did. We kept walking, onto calle Monteras, down to Sol, and back up into our neighborhood, Victoria in her lime green sock feet. Our prayers still came in broken phrases:

"God, you're already working here. You love Madrid more than we do."

"God, we don't deserve to hand out sandwiches or coffee. It's not charity or something we're entitled to. It's grace that you let us do this."

"Help us see Madrid the way you see it."

"Thank You that you're already working here, before us."

We walked past our usual corner, past the street where I live, weaving around towards the Plaza Dos de Mayo. We spent lots of time in silence. We sang a little. We were weird and didn't care. We arrived home, Victorias feet disgusting but surprisingly having avoided all the broken glass. We were excited and reassured that God has us in this neighborhood for a reason, that He is already working here. That this is Holy Ground because He is here.

Later that night, not long after I had gone to bed, things got a bit crazy in my neighborhood, on the same street where we had walked and prayed. Here's a news clip explaining what happened:

"Violent clashes occurred in Madrid's Malasaña neighborhood in the early morning hours of 2 May 2007. Hundreds of people erected barricades with burning debris, set trashcans on fire and knocked down telephone booths. The protesters also attacked police officers with rocks and other objects, while officers used rubber bullets and tear gas to control the crowd. At least 65 people -- including 21 police officers -- were injured in the clashes, while eight others were arrested. Similar violent clashes occurred on 1 May, when police officers attempted to prevent a group of youths from celebrating the anniversary of the 2 May 1808 rebellion against the invader French army. Celebrations typically occur on 1 and 2 May, which are designated public holidays in the city, and involve drinking parties, a situation that police officers attempted to prevent."

This is not exactly the kind of Holy Ground that I had in mind. Riots? Rubber bullets and tear gas? Prostitutes, drugs, all night drunken parties? As I read the news story the next morning, something in the back of my head was saying "Come on, God, you've got to be kidding! How on earth can you tell us you're working here? How on earth is this holy ground? Everything I see is the opposite of holy."

It's been a couple weeks and these two contrasting incidents keep clashing in my mind--I can't quit thinking about it. More than anything, it makes me realize how God's perspective is different than mine.

I love Madrid. More specifically, I love Malasaña, my neighborhood, more than any place since my home town. I see the dirt, the prostitution, the drugs, and, well, you name a vice, it's within reach. But I love the diversity in this neighborhood. I love how (for the most part) people of all different ages and ethnicities get along. I love that it's ok to be weird in this neighborhood. I love the fun atmosphere, the laid-back pace. I love these windy little streets. I want my neighborhood to be better, not because I don't like it now, but because I love it so much. I want to help my neighborhood's good qualities really shine because I love it and I want the best for it. It's illogical looking around, loving Malasaña this much doesn't make sense.

Then again, maybe it makes all the sense in the world. God sees how much I screw up, whether I admit it or not. He knows I'm a mess and He loves me enough that He wants to see me be better--not out of guilt or condemnation, not because He hates me, but because He loves me enough to see what I can be under all the garbage. He wants what's best for me because He loves me, even when there is no logical reason.

This is how He must feel about my neighborhood. It's the only way that I can reconcile what I feel God telling my heart--this is Holy Ground--to what I see with my eyes. Somehow He manages to see the sex workers, the drugs, the dirt, the street parties gone too far, and He still loves Madrid, enough to let us know that He's still working here. He can still call it holy ground because He is here. That blows my mind, that He can still love this neighborhood, this city. He wants Madrid to be better because He loves it.

I'm convinced that this is why God has me here. Not just me, but our church in Madrid. And I'm convinced that this is why He keeps seeming to move people into this neighborhood, Malasaña. As the body of Christ--His hands and feet and physical presence, we can love Madrid the way that God loves us, impractically, illogically. I'm convinced that we will see Madrid change--it may take a while, maybe even longer than I'm here. But we will see people freed from slavery to the sex industry, freed from addiction, following Jesus, loving their neighbors and taking care of those around them that don't have enough. Madrid will be a place of refuge, a place of peace.

I'm excited, grateful, and not a little scared to be part of what God's doing here.

Pray for God's Kingdom to come in Madrid, or better yet, pray for God's Kingdom to become visible in Madrid.

Thanks for your encouragement, prayers, and support.

Peace,
Kelly

April 2007 Update

2007-04-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Happy Spring!

Things are gearing up for Easter here. This Thursday (wow--tomorrow!), a bunch of us from Oasis Madrid are heading to the mountains for our second annual Easter Retreat. (That's fun to type--second annual Easter Retreat. Second annual anything for that matter) I love that we are able to spend the whole weekend really digging into the meaning of Easter. We've got lots of stuff planned for the retreat: a Maundy Thursday service, lots of worship time, time to really dig into the story of Christ's death and resurrection through scripture, fun kids' times, a passover supper, a prayer room, and of course, lots of time for hiking, games, and getting to know each other better. We'll cap of the weekend with a baptism service on Easter Sunday. Needless to say, the past couple weeks have been busy with preparations, but this year has been easier than last since we know what to expect a little more. Everyone who is coming to the retreat is super excited!

Here are some specific things you can pray about for the retreat:
1--Pray for safety in getting there.

2--Pray that God will be preparing people's hearts--that people will really dig into the meaning of each of the different elements of the weekend.

3--Pray for heath--it's spring and all the colds and stuff are going around, and we'll all be close together and possibly cold and wet. Pray that we stay healthy!

4--Speaking of cold and wet, pray for decent weather! We've had lots of rain this spring, and I can't complain because we really needed it. But I am praying that it will let up for this weekend so we can enjoy the mountains!

5--Pray for good times of community building--that people would develop new friendships within the church. Some people who are new to the church are coming along, so pray that they are able to join in quickly and not feel left out!

6--Praise God for Shani's baptism on Sunday! We have to do this outdoors, so again, pray that it's not too cold!

7--Pray for two of our members--Phill and Lydia. They were planning to come to the retreat, but Lydia's father passed away and they're back in The Netherlands this week with family.

Here are a few other things (not related to the retreat) that you can pray about as well:
1--Tonight (Wednesday), Victoria and Jonathan--2 members of our church--are hosting a "God night" at their university. They got permission to use a classroom and are offering pizza (the international language of university students). They're hoping to develop a regular meeting out of this night--discussing questions people have about God and faith, and building friendships with the students. Pray that the people who have committed will come tonight, and that they'll be able to discuss and think openly about Jesus.

2--Kelly and April Crull, some friends who lived in Madrid when I first moved here, are back in Madrid--they found an apartment right across the street from me! Kelly is on staff with our team, and April will be doing volunteer work in Madrid. Pray that they are able to adjust to being back in Madrid (and being new parents to boot!) quickly.

3--I'm preparing to come back to the U.S. for financial support raising in August, but I'm trying to get a head start from here now since my support level has fallen in the past year. Pray for God's provision for immediate needs (like taxes!), and for new contacts with churches and individuals that would be interested in financially partnering with me. As you pray, if any names of contacts come to mind, let me know!

4--Lunch on Friday isn't a big deal to us, but I have a feeling it's a bigger deal to the people that we take sandwiches to on Friday. Since we'll be out of town this weekend, pray that God provides a good meal on Friday to the people on our "sandwich route."

5--Pray for my roommate / teammate Amy Swacina. She's in the U.S. working on getting her resident visa and support raising. Pray that she'll have a great time in the States and be able to come back energized and with her visa. (And those of you who know my lack of organizational skills, pray that our apartment doesn't fall apart while she's gone!)

I hope that you have a great Easter weekend and are able to celebrate Christ's death and resurrection to the fullest. Thanks for all your love, encouragement, and support. I thank God for you.

March 2007 Update

2007-03-06T08:41:00.000-08:00

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.

February 2007 Update

2007-02-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

I hope you’re not freezing wherever you are. It’s just cold enough here to make me want snow, but not cold enough to actually do it. Winter is an annoying season that way! Anyway, here are a few things happening and things to pray about.

Sunday Dinner with our Friday Sandwich Friends

Each Friday a group of us has been taking lunch out to between 20 and 30 homeless people in the city center. We’ve been able to develop relationships with some of the regulars, and through these relationships we want to be able not only to feed them, but to share the gospel with them in words and actions.
Last Sunday, our church rented out a space in the city center, cooked up a hot dinner, and invited our friends to come eat with us. We invited 25 and only a few came, but the ones that did had a wonderful time. One of the guys, René, enjoyed chatting with new people and telling stories from his stranger than fiction life that keeps being proven to be true, no matter how crazy his stories are. Marcos came, left, and came back with his girlfriend. We were able to give both of them warm coats and lots of clothes. Pedro came and stayed for a little while, making sure we remembered to take food later to his wife and daughter. It was fun to get to sit down and eat a meal with these people rather than just meeting them on the street. It was encouraging watching our church jump in and get excited about service. I was tired at the end of the day to say the least, but I’m really glad we did it.

Still in Negotiations on a Permanent Space

We’re outgrowing the university snack bar where we hold our services, so we’re looking for a more permanent space. We’ve been in negotiations with an owner about a local (storefront) for the past couple months, and eventually we had to say no to him because he insisted on a 6 month deposit. Now that we’ve said no, they’re considering a letter of guarantee rather than the money, so negotiations are still on! Pray for God’s provision if this is the place for us.

Support Raising From Spain

2006 was an expensive year with more taxes than expected, a computer breakdown, and two weeks of field orientation—basically, it drained my account much more than I expected. 2007 looks to be about the same with fees to get my resident visa and furlough back in the States in August. I’ve also lost some of my support base in the U.S. over the past year and need to build that back up as quickly as possible. Pray that God will provide the contacts with churches and individuals that I need, and that He would provide the finances needed for me to stay here. Life here is definitely a constant lesson in trust!

New (ish) Website

I can’t remember if I’ve officially announced my website to all of my supporters, but just in case not, here it is! I used to have only a blog (kind of like an online journal), but now I have expanded it to include fun photos, artsy stuff, etc. There is even a section especially for my supporters! To check it out, visit http://web.mac.com/kellyinmadrid. Be sure to click the link called “supporters stuff” for current info, and my blog for stories about daily life here.

I think that's it for now. Or the tip of the iceburg, anyway, and I should stop before I get on a roll and write a novel. Thanks so much to all of you for your prayers and support. I thank God for you!

Peace,

Kelly

December 2006 Update

2006-12-25T08:34:00.000-08:00

I'm sure that 10 days before Christmas you have about as much time to read as I have to write (hence the 2 weeks late update), so I'll keep this short.

Merry Christmas to all!

Ok, not that short. Are you kidding? Have you ever known me to say that little! This is short Kelly style, which means normal length.

This has been a fantastic Advent season so far. At the end of November we celebrated American Thanksgiving with the internationals here. We had 41 people there speaking a few different languages--it was definitely a Thanksgiving to remember. I would estimate that almost half of the people there weren't a regular part of our church, and many of those wouldn't usually show up at a church period. It was a great time to connect with people.
We've been having weekly services for each week of Advent, and they have been lots of fun. I was really encouraged that one of my new friends from a language exchange came to the service and really liked it. Taking sandwiches out to the homeless on Fridays has been growing and we're seeing more needs for coats and blankets as it gets colder--people in the church are being generous with giving. On 3 Kings Day (January 6), we're having a dinner for the people we see out regularly and bringing them in to a central place, where we'll give them food and gifts. We haven't done this before, but we're excited to see what can happen.

AND NOW, AN IMPORTANT PRAYER REQUEST! We have been looking for a permanent space to rent--right now we're renting a room each time we meet, but don't have a space that we can use all the time. Today we looked at a space that is in a great central location and is big enough to have meeting space, office space, a room for the kids, and a kitchen. It needs some fixing up but is structurally sound and has a good price on the rent. This really would be a step of faith for us to rent this space, but we're feeling like this may be a step God is asking us to take. We told the owner that we would get back to him on Monday, so over the weekend we're asking as many people as possible to pray with us. First, that God would show us whether or not this is what He wants. Also, that if it is, He will provide for us to be able to do it.

Thanks for your prayers.

And while you're at it, here are a few more things you can pray about this month!

--I leave next Thursday (21 December) for Christmas in the U.S. Pray for safe travel and a great time with family.
--Pray that the logistics will work out for the dinner we are putting together for the homeless.
--Pray for the developing relationships our church has with the contacts we've made through the last few weeks, through Thanksgiving, friends of friends, language exchanges, etc.
--We're starting an Alpha Course (basics of Christianity) in the new year. Pray that people will come and that God will bless our conversations.
--Pray for my roommate Amy--praise that she has decided to stay in Madrid for a couple more years (!!!), and pray for her as she spends Christmas in Madrid this year
--Pray for my finances--I will be losing at least $250 a month in support next year, so pray that God will provide what is needed.

Thanks so much for your support, encouragement, and especially your prayers. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas.

Peace,
Kelly

November 2006 Update

2006-11-17T02:10:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I hope your Autumn is going well. It has finally decided to cool off here and is now cool and rainy--the kind of rain that makes you want to stay inside with a warm blanket and a hot mug of tea all day. Spain has desperately needed the rain, though, so I'm thankful for it in spite of wet shoes, umbrellas, puddles, etc.

October has disappeared and I have no idea where it went! I feel like I just sent out the last update. Anyway, for this month that has flown by, here are a couple highlights:

Field Orientation: One of the things I love about Christian Associates is their focus on development--in life as well as in ministry. For this reason, they require their staff to go through a "field orientation" process during their first year. (Some of you might be confused here--although I've been in Spain almost 3 years, this is the end of my first year with Christian Associates). So as part of this process, I went to Holland for 2 weeks of intensive training with 15 other people. We looked at everything from cultural adjustment, to dealing with conflict, to evangelism, to missional theology, and lots of things in between--there was a lot of info that I'll be processing for a while! I had a wonderful time making some new friends within CAI and sharing common experiences. I finished being energized and ready to get home and get back to work. Unfortunately, the stomach flu had other plans. I was out of commission for about a week. By then I was REALLY ready to to get back into the swing of things!

Intercambio night: This Autumn I have started going to a language exchange night at a local bookstore/coffee shop/pub. Tons of people come on Wednesday nights to learn English. I had been praying for opportunities to make friends in my neighborhood, so this was a perfect chance. I've been going for long enough now that I'm one of the "regulars" and have started seeing the same people over and over. Usually we speak English for the first while, unless conversation goes beyond the basics, and then we switch to Spanish. Most of the people there are freaked out by the fact that I'm a Christian, but once we get to know each other they get over that pretty quickly. I"m excited for this opportunity to make friendships with people who wouldn't think of coming to a church. I'm praying God will use these relationships to draw people to Him.

The usual: Everything else keeps going on as usual--community groups, sandwiches on friday, worship, etc. I spoke last Saturday about the incarnation at an Oasis Madrid service--if you want to read the talk, click
here. Our community groups are growing and will be multiplying to 5 groups at the end of November. The group taking sandwiches to the homeless is growing as well--hopefully soon part of the group will multiply off so we can take sandwiches out 2 days a week.

Here are some things you can pray about this month:
--Heatlh: Cold and flu season is starting, and last year I was sick half of the time. Pray that I can stay healthy this winter!
--Pray that God will use my new friendships with Spaniards in my neighborhood to draw those people to Him.
--I'm in the process of contacting annual supporters about renewing their support for the next year--pray for God's continued provision here as the cost of living is rising rapidly in Spain.
--Pray that I will make good decisions with my time and take the time needed to rest, work, play, study, pray, etc.
--Praise God that we will be multiplying to 5 community groups at the end of November--pray for more leaders that we can train for the next multiplication.

Thanks so much for your encouragement, prayer, and support. I couldn't be here without you!

October 2006 Update

2006-10-03T02:32:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

For this month's update, I want to highlight something that is becoming more and more important to me the longer I live here--service. Victoria, a good friend who has been here about 2 years, started handing out sandwiches to homeless people in the center last Spring along with another friend. A month ago, I started going out with her, and I don't think I'll ever see the city in the same way. The desire to serve is starting to become a part of our culture in Oasis Madrid, and I thank God for Victoria's leadership even before the rest of us had caught on! This month I have asked Victoria to write about a few of the people we meet regularly. So without further introduction.......

Gigi
When I first came to Spain the most frustrating thing for me was that I couldn't express myself when I really needed to. The times when it was most important for me to say exactly what I was feeling or thinking to get my point across were the times that Spanish would just not come to me. One time in my theology class when we were having a heated discussion about the sovereignty of God and I was supposed to explain the Christian/Protestant stance on the issue, my brain basically stopped working and the only thing I was able to say was, "er.. well... God is nice."
I understood exactly how Gigi felt.

Gigi is from Bulgaria. He speaks a few words of English and some very broken Spanish. If you asked him about God, he'd probably say that God is nice too because he isn't able to say anything else. Gigi sits on the sidewalk and waits for people to drop change in his cup. His legs have been amputated, both of them, from right above his knees. I've tried to figure out what exactly he's doing in Madrid but the language barrier has been to big. The last time I saw Gigi, I went with a friend of mine who sat down and began to talk to him. We asked Gigi if he could use anything and he mentioned something about it beginning to get cold. My friend promptly removed his jacket and handed it over. Gigi not only didn't know what to say, he also didn't know how to say it. Gigi's eyes were wide and he kept saying "no, yours, no, yours." Jonathan said, "I don't care, I have more, you take it."

Gigi looked at me with tears in his eyes and in his frustration said something to the effect of "Are you sure? my Spanish bad. really? bad Spanish..." I learned that his tears reflected his gratitude more than words ever could. He couldn't express his thankfulness, he could only accept the gift and sit in stunned silence.

Like Gigi, I long to speak in language strong enough for the gift that has been bestowed on me. Christ's love is about pouring out something that there is no response for. There is only acceptance, gratitude and silence.

René

I told him only one time that I liked art.
Now, every time that I see him we talk for at least a half an hour about it. He likes Kandinsky. I don't. We both like Picasso. He likes watercolors and I prefer oils. He either likes to paint landscapes or still lives. I like portraits. He still likes Kandinsky and I still think Kandinsky was a nut job. I make sure he knows it and he scowls at me and laughs.

Rene is Cuban-Swiss although he doesn't look like either. He is a very tall black man with a BIG whitish grey afro. He speaks Spanish with an accent that makes it very difficult to understand and he occasionally throws in English words like "honey" or "movie star". He claims to speak ten languages, among them Chinese. From what he knows about Kandinsky, I'm not sure that I doubt him.

Every week, almost without fail, I see Rene sitting outside of McDonalds with a little Spam-shaped tin and his little plastic bag of stuff. Every week he stands up and greets me and kisses me on both cheeks. I'll be honest; I don't really look forward to the kisses because instead of bumping cheeks like most Spaniards do I get full lip imprints on both my cheeks. I fight the urge to wipe them off, and by the time we're done discussing why Kandinsky is good or bad, they've almost dried off. I guess that's the Cuban in him.

Rene was the first homeless friend I made and he makes me want to meet every homeless person in the world. I've never met a sweeter, more gentle man in my life. He almost makes me want to like Kandinsky.

Consolación
The old woman uses a cane to support her four foot eleven inch frame. She has a string tied around her neck to support the cardboard plate she holds out for change. She never looks up; her black, hunched-over, tiny silhouette is unmistakable from a distance. She never looks up. Until today.

"Hola Consolación, we have food for you."

The old woman lifted her eyes to those of the younger woman, Kelly, addressing her. She hadn't heard someone call her by name in so long. The majority of people treat her like they treat every other beggar... like she isn't there. The most beautiful smile I have ever seen spread across her sun-weathered, wrinkly face. Ripples like brown waves formed on her forehead, around her mouth, and seemed to stop abruptly at her hairline around her eyes- eyes that were wide with surprise and joy. Her smile showed every tooth she had, although half were missing, and you could see her tongue prodding around her mouth to form words. She reached up her tiny arm, forgetting for a second about the tray of coins she was holding, and grabbed the young woman's head in an attempt to kiss her face.

The two women talked and in the distance people sneered.

"Look at them," Consolación said, pointing her finger into the crowd. "They stare at us as if we're doing something wrong...***HOLES!"

Kelly tried to hold back the laughter. She still isn't used to old women with Mother-Teresa-esque features shouting profanities. A lot of times the only thing she can do is laugh. The only other option is to cry.

**********
Thanks, Victoria, for sharing these stories in such a beautiful way.

Please pray for us as we share Christ's love in practical ways and get to know these people, and pray for the people we meet as well (between 20 and 30 every Friday). If you want any more information on our "friday sandwich ministry," like more stories, needs, what we're learning, or names you can pray for, just ask. I'll be sure to talk your ear off!

Thanks for all your encouragement, prayer, and support.

Peace,
Kelly

July 2006 Update

2006-07-19T14:31:00.000-07:00

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!

May 2006 Update

2006-05-19T14:36:00.000-07:00

The highs and lows of church planting

Hello All,

I hope you’re having a wonderful spring. How on earth is it mid-May?

I get the question, “How’s it going?” often, or maybe “How are things in Spain?” The short version is the ever so popular “fine.” This month, you get the long version. I love my life here, but church planting, international living, and life in general has its highs and lows. This month I simply want to give you a few recent “highs” to praise God for, and a couple “lows” to pray about. So here goes!

The highs
Easter Retreat
The Easter Retreat was awesome! We had 30 people stay all weekend, and then several more came out Easter Sunday morning to celebrate with us. All the pictures on the left are from the retreat. We had plenty of time to rest, worship, pray, hike, and generally get to know each other. I feel like it was a great community building time, and already we’ve had people asking, “When are we going to do another retreat?” That’s a good sign!

God surprising me
An acquaintance that I have a sculpture class with on my day off came to an Oasis service on Saturday. This had to have been entirely God’s doing, because she and I haven’t even talked about things relating to church. She text messaged me on Saturday afternoon asking if I wanted to go out, and I texted back saying, “Sorry, I have church.” I thought the conversation was over, and it hadn’t even occurred to me to ask her to come along. But then the phone beeped again and she was asking for the address—it was only then that it struck me that maybe I should invite her. About 10 text messages later, she had decided to come, even though she was really nervous because she hadn’t been in a church in years. She ended up having a great time, and coming to a birthday party with us afterward.

I have no idea what God is doing in this friend’s life right now, but hey, coming to church and not freaking out is a start! I’m glad she came, and I’m glad God showed me that He is working in people even when I’m not paying attention—any of you that know my attention span are thankful for that, I’m sure! It’s definitely a high to know that God is working here.

Spring in Madrid
I love Spring in Madrid—the deep, bright blue sky, open windows, the sun, flip flops, terraces filled with people enjoying their lunch or their café con leche, the park. I love that strawberries are dirt cheap and cherry season starts soon. I love that the temperature isn’t unbearably hot yet—actually pleasant! I love that it has rained enough that things actually look a little green.

I love how the city seems to come out of hibernation in the spring. Mind you, Madrid is never quiet, but something happens in May and things just seem to come to life. People just seem to enjoy life more when the sun shines. Every spring I remember how much I love this city.

The lows
Adjusting
Living here is a constant state of adjustment. Depending on my mood, sometimes this is a good thing, and sometimes it frustrates me to no end. Recently I’ve been leaning more to the frustrated end. I’ve lived in this neighborhood 6 months and don’t know it as well as I’d like to. Everything I’m doing right now, I’m fairly new at it, so it’s more difficult than I think it should be, and then I get frustrated with myself that I don’t “have it all together.” Please pray that I’ll be willing to let God work through this period and that I’ll grow through it rather than whine about it.

Battle
It seems like our team, and several others in our church, are fighting one thing after another. We’ve dealt with sickness, injury, financial problems, homesickness, family issues, you name it. Please pray for God’s protection for our church right now.

So that’s the long answer to how life is in Spain. It was nice to write this down and realize once again that the highs really do outweigh the lows—no contest. So yeah, the short answer? Fine. I’ll stick with fine.

Thanks so much for your love, prayers, encouragement, and support. I thank God for you!

Kelly

March 2006 Update

2006-03-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

A Week of Scary, Wonderful Things

Doing new things in church services can be scary. There’s always that fear that if we try something new, we’ll introduce it, be excited about it, and then stand there during an awkward silence while everybody silently refuses to play along. There’s the fear that those who have been a part of the church for a while will resist the unfamiliar, and the fear that those who are seeking God and exploring faith, maybe for the first time, will be scared away if we’re too weird. On the other hand, doing old things can be just as scary. There’s the fear that it won’t be cool enough, up-to-date enough. There’s the fear that people will see it as too extreme and that they’ll be scared away if we’re…well…too weird again.

But I’m learning that when we go ahead with what we know God is leading us to, these scary things can have wonderful results. Two things happened this week that fit into this strange, scary, yet wonderful space. This was a week of the new and the old for us.

New things

On Saturday, we had one of our Oasis Madrid services, and in keeping with our series about body parts, we talked about the “Right Brain,” in other words, about using your creativity and emotions to honor God. I got to speak this time, which was exciting since this is a subject I’m pretty passionate about. After the talk, we had kind of an “alternative” worship time—experiencing God in creative ways. Amy danced our closing prayer to a recording of the Lord’s Prayer by Jennifer Knapp. We had different worship stations set up around the room. There was a quiet corner with Bibles and a book of daily prayer. Next to that, there was a section set up for confessing to God, either represented by writing out confessions and then ripping them up to symbolize God’s forgiveness, or using clay to get our hands dirty, and then asking God for forgiveness as we washed our hands in the water bowl beside the clay. Next there were communion elements. In the middle of the room there was an art table where people could write or draw or paint their prayers to God, and there were a bunch of dry erase markers so people could write their prayers on the mirrored wall in the front of the room. Next, there were a pile of stones where people could make “stones of remembrance,” writing their praises for what God has done on these permanent reminders, and a meditation on God’s goodness using the sweet taste of honey. We wanted to really give people the opportunity to express themselves to God and experience Him in ways they hadn’t thought about before.

When we first introduced and explained the different stations, for a couple seconds there was an awkward silence. Something started to knot up in the pit of my stomach. We had gone out on a limb to try new things, and I was really afraid that no one would even try it. But all of a sudden the silence ended and the room sprang to life. People got up out of their seats and went to different stations. Individuals and groups of 2-3 worked on expressing themselves artistically to God on the mirrors and at the art table. Some spent their whole time there, writing praise. Some made their way around the room in a progression, spending a few minutes at each station. At the end of the service, the mirror was covered in pictures, scripture, and prayers. There was a pile of rocks covered with praises for what God has done. Rather than people getting tired of it and quitting a couple minutes into it, we had to actually announce that the service was officially over b/c they were still going. And a few kept going after that!

It was amazing to see people really being creative and interacting with God in new ways, and so far the feedback we’ve had from it was that it was a really meaningful experience.

Old Things

On Monday night, the community groups came together to have a (few days lateJ ) special Ash Wednesday prayer service to mark the beginning of Lent. We used ancient liturgy, with the leader and the people reading responsively. It was really cool to get to use some of the liturgy I remember from when I was growing up, to be connected through these words with Christians around the world and throughout the centuries. We had a time of public confession, and then together we acknowledged our brokenness and our need for Jesus’ healing and forgiveness. We then served communion to each other and ended with a time of determining to follow God together and asking for His help.

Now this was scary! Confessing sins publicly? Are we crazy!? There were 20 of us in the room, and we were all kind of nervous and fidgety when it came to this point. But when Troy read our unsigned confessions aloud, the room became quiet. You could almost see it on every face. With every confession, the thought that came into my mind was “this is me, too,” and I think that others were feeling the same way. By the end of it, we really meant it when we were asking God to have mercy on us poor sinners. Suddenly, the ashes symbolizing our burned-out selves and our hurt had more meaning, the oil symbolizing Christ’s healing was fresher, and our thankfulness for Jesus’ sacrifice and forgiveness was heartfelt. It was one of the most amazing worship settings I have ever been a part of.

The amazing thing is, no one was freaked out or scared away! No one complained that we weren’t “cool” enough! Instead, we had some awesome experiences together that I think will help continue to bring us together as a community. I love my job, and I love my church. I love that these people are willing to try new things and to try ancient things. I love that we were real with each other and that we are starting out this church knowing that it is Christ who heals and brings us together. This was definitely a week of things that were scary for us, but that turned out wonderfully.

January 2006 Update

2006-01-03T05:50:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

I hope that everyone’s Christmas and New Years celebrations were fun and that you feel rested and ready to start the new year. And if not, well, it started anyway, without your permission. Time has a way of doing that!

December was a fun, crazy month here in Madrid. I spent much of my free time settling back in and unpacking all the stuff that has been in boxes since September (2 to go and it’s done! Although those 2 have been left for the past 3 weeks, so I can’t say I’ve been diligently trying to do anything about it). Here are some highlights from the month:

Our community group has been going well—we have dubbed ourselves “the school of prayer” and have been spending lots of time talking about prayer and actually doing it—it’s been a great thing to do in combination with the 40 days of prayer for our church that we just finished. Being away for so long made me realize how much I have come to love my community group here and how glad I am to be back!

Our Christmas brunch service with Mountainview on December 18th went really well and was lots of fun. It was nice to get to lead worship again! The rest of the week I was trapped in my apartment waiting for the plumber to finish tearing apart and putting back together my bathroom (see more at http://kellywills.blogspot.com/2005/12/el-fontanero.html), and then on Christmas eve and Christmas day, I spent the weekend with Troy and Heather Cady (Troy’s my team leader) and their kids, Nic and Meg. April and Kelly Crull (some friends who live on the coast) were there as well, and a couple other families came out for a movie on Christmas eve and for Christmas dinner. Troy told the Christmas story using Godly Play figures, and adults and children were all fascinated. It was a great Christmas.

And coming up….

Oasis Madrid starts in January with having two large group gatherings in the city center each month instead of just one. We’re excited about the change and even more excited to see where God is leading us. Also, starting in January, the leadership community of Oasis Madrid will be meeting regularly to dream together what God has for our future and what we are about as a church.

Amy Swacina, from the U.S., is coming to do a one year internship with us here in Madrid. She arrives this Friday (January 6), so you can definitely be praying for her as she travels and as she adjusts to a new culture.

Thanks so much for your support and prayers. I’m excited about this new year and about how God is working in my heart and here in Madrid.

Peace,

Kelly

ALSO--- again, notice the email address now is kelly@oasismadrid.org.

December 2005 Update

2005-12-07T07:58:00.000-08:00

It's December! I hope your trees are up and you're starting to feel festive! Ok, mine isn't up yet either, so don't feel bad.

I arrived back in Madrid last Tuesday, 29 November, after a missed flight, a few sprints through the Newark and Paris airports, and missing my bags--but in one piece nonetheless. I'm reunited with my bags and spent the day today cleaning and trying to feel "moved in" to my apartment. I'm still amazed at this place God has provided! This is the first place that I've ever lived outside of my parents' house that's big enough for a Christmas tree, and I can't wait to decorate.

I hit the ground running as soon as I got back here. Saturday was our December Oasis gathering, and I was the speaker, so there was no time for jet lag! I think it went pretty well. Now that it's finished, I'm concentrating on a few other things now (in addition to community group): leading worship for our Christmas brunch with Mountainview, developing a logo and icon for Oasis, working on a project in the art studio to be ready for the January Oasis in a month, and lots of planning/talking/praying with my team. Have I mentioned that I love my team and am so excited to be back with them?

That's about all that's going on now--I'm starting to readjust to life here and am just so glad to be back. I'm looking forward to community group tonight so I can get a chance to talk with some people that I've really missed!

Notice the new email addres: kelly@oasismadrid.org. The Mountainview address still works, but as we're developing Oasis I'm going to be using this one and phasing the other one out gradually, so you can go ahead and change it in your books if you'd like :). Hopefully we'll have a basic website up soon so you can go see the cool stuff that's happening in the city center.

I hope all of you have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Thanks so much for your prayers and support, and I'll keep you updated!

Praising HIM,
Kelly

November 2005 Update

2005-11-10T14:20:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

This is just a quick note to let you all know I have a plane ticket! I'm staying through Thanksgiving with my family, and then I fly out to Madrid on November 28th. I can't wait to be back.

I've been here in the States longer than expected, but I'm really thankful for my time here. I feel like God has used this time to teach me a very hands-on about trusting Him even when things don't go my way, and it has been great to get to spend so much time with my family and to help my sister out with caring for her twins.

I'm ready to be back in my own apartment, sleep in my own bed, ride the metro instead of drive a car, and eat a napolitana de chocolate. I can't even describe what napolitanas de chocolate are without my mouth watering. It's pretty much the best pastry ever, and I want one!

Please pray that my last couple weeks of fundraising go well, and that I have a good time with family before I leave. Also, be praying for our Oasis ministry in the city as we start an intense time of prayer and planning for the future.

Thanks so much for your encouragement, support, and prayers. I thank God for you!

October 2005 Update

2005-10-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I'm sorry this letter is a little late...if there were a good excuse, I would give one! Here's a quick update on what's going on here and in Madrid.

There has been some confusion as to where exactly I am. Don't worry--that's only because I can't seem to stay in the same place. Just to set the record straight, right now I am in the United States raising support. I don't have an exact date for returning to Spain (the funds have to be raised first), but my team and I are hoping that it's soon. I'm definitely ready to go sleep in my own apartment on my bed, and to not have to drive and pay for gas, not to mention I want to see all you people in Spain that I love and miss dearly! I know that God does want me in Madrid, and I'm learning to trust Him to provide for what He has called for.

That being said, I am enjoying my time here in the States as well. I've been able to catch up with some friends that I haven't seen in a long time as well as make some new friends. God has been amazing in providing community for me here. I have also been staying with my sister and my neice and nephew (these are the twins I sent out the prayer requests about). The twins are chubby and happy and oh-so-cute, and it will be hard to leave them when I go back to Spain--I'm really glad that I have this time to spend with them right now.

And What's going on in Madrid? (News through the grapevine)
Lots of stuff! This month is really busy in Madrid--in addition to the usual community groups and monthly gatherings, the church hosting a conference for internationals on "Thriving Through Transition" and preparing for another trip to take supplies to the orphanage in Morocco that we visited in April. In the city center (our Oasis ministry), there is a Monday night community group that meets in my apartment that Troy leads. It has grown pretty large, so the groups will probably need to multiply soon. At the Oasis gathering last Saturday, something really awesome happened....all in all, I hear it was one of the best Oasis gatherings ever. Also, you might remember a woman named Matilda that I have mentioned in some of my newsletters. She came to an Alpha Course (kind of an intro to Christianity discussion group) in January of 2004, and has been hanging out with us ever since. Well, on Saturday, she made the decision to commit her heart to Jesus....how cool is that !?!?!?! I'm so excited for her, and I can't wait to get back to see her.

Victoria, my roommate, is in classes at her university right now, and will soon be starting a Bible study with some of her classmates--a group of girls who want to know more about Christianity and kind of see what it's all about. Victoria is a great leader and a natural with things like this, so I'm sure she'll do great--I'm really proud of her! She is one of many who will get a big hug from me when I get back to Madrid.

Here are some things you can pray about:
* Support raising
-pray that God will provide the funds needed for me to return to Spain soon
-pray that I will make new contacts with churches and individuals who are interested in
sharing in this ministry

*Family
-thank God for Katie and Sam's health--they really are miracle babies. We still don't know
the total affects of the problems that Katie had in the beginning, so pray for her
continued development.
*Madrid
-Thank God for growth! Pray that as groups multiply new leaders will be raised up to lead these groups and train others.
-Thank God for Matilda's commitment, and pray that we will really come around her and support her as a community.
-Pray for our team as we are in a pretty intense time of making plans for the next several months and the future after that.
-Pray for Victoria and her ministry to the other students--that her life would continue to change theirs.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support. Hopefully next month I can write this from Madrid!

Peace,
Kelly

My Apartment

2005-09-06T11:18:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I forgot to take pictures of the kitchen (which is awesome), but here are some pics of my new digs. I love it!

Before I show pictures, here's the story: Victoria and I started praying about an apartment, and we kind of just laid it out on the table. It went something like "Ok, God, you know that we need an apartment, that we need enough space to host community groups, a kitchen we can cook for groups in, and we'd love to have an art studio. Kelly has to leave soon, so we need to find it quickly. And we can't afford an aval." (it's like a 6 month to 1 year deposit that most apartments require). Not that we were making demands of God, but we really did need to find a place, and we believed that He wanted us to have a place that we could use for ministry.

WE FOUND THE APARTMENT IN 4 DAYS!!! It is bigger than what we need, has an art studio and a big living room, the rent is exactly what we wanted to pay, and there was no aval. God definitely has provided MORE than what we asked for! Anyway, here's our new flat.

Calle Espiritu Santo
My street: it means "Holy Spirit Street"

the ceiling of our entryway

victoria in our living room--notice how small she looks lin the huge room!

our bathroom--great acoustics in here--i've never had a bathroom so big that it echoes.

those little dots on the sides of the tub? they're jets!
a jacuzzi isn't one of the things we prayed for, but we're not complaining!

our studio has shelves built into the wall--perfect!

cool wall in living room

another cool wall--looking from the studio into the living room-we still need to get chairs for the table.

I wish I had pictures of the kitchen--coming soon. The bedrooms are just normal bedrooms, so I didn't want to bore you.

So this is where I live!!! Awesome, huh?

September 2005 Update

2005-09-02T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

This update is going to be quick....I'm in an internet cafe which is getting louder by the minute!

First of all, I have an apartment! After looking for only 4 days (which is unheard of), we found a fantastic place right in the center of town. (Actually, it's in one of the old sections with brick streets!)--it's on a street called Calle Espiritu Santo, which means "Holy Spirit Street." Cool, huh? It has a big living room perfect for hosting community groups, and a room next to the living room that works great as an art studio. I can't really describe how cool this apartment is, so I'll post pictures on my blog soon. And to top it all, it was in our price range! Suffice to say that God has provided above and beyond our expectations!

So, now that the apartment hunt is finished, I will be heading back to the States on September 8 to finish support raising. I'm hoping it will be quick (now that I'm back in Madrid I don't want to leave!), but I'm trusting that God will provide for what He has asked me to do.

So right now my life consists of unpacking boxes, finding the grocery stores in my new neighborhood, unpacking more boxes, hanging out with the Mountainview people that have been around all summer, meeting some new people, doing some planning with the Mountainview team, and making plans for support raising back in the states. And sometimes I sleep :).

Here are some things to pray about:
1) Pray for God's provision financially: while I'm in the States raising support I still need to cover the rent on my apartment here, so pray that support raising goes quickly! Ask God to raise up people to join my support team.

2) Thank God for my new apartment! Ask God to use it to bring people into our community, and most importantly, to Him!

3) Continue to pray for the Mountainview team as we plan for the year ahead--ask God to give us His vision for the city.

Thanks for your support, encouragement, and prayer. I'll be keeping in touch!

peace,
Kelly

August 2005 Update

2005-08-15T02:26:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Here is a quick update on what's going on in the crazy life of Kelly Wills.

I arrived in Madrid on August 2nd, and then left the next day for Christian Associates' staff conference in Holland. I was there for about 10 days total--practicing with the worship band and then having the actual conference. I arrived back in Madrid yesterday. It was a great conference--good time with friends, good speaking, lots of encouragement, and lots of prayer. I came away from the conference a bit (ok, very) tired, but with the assurance that God really does want me in Madrid, so He will provide all that's needed for that to happen. I'm so thankful for being welcomed into Christian Associates so warmly, and I'm excited to be working with this awesome organization.

In September, I plan to come back to the United States to finish raising support, but before that I have a few weeks in Madrid. During this time I'll be focusing on finding an apartment in Madrid with my roommate and doing some pretty intense planning for the year ahead with my team here. I'm really excited about the year to come and can't wait to see what God is going to do in Madrid.

Here are some things you can pray about:
1) Pray that God will provide the financial support that still needs to be raised.

2) Pray that God will provide an apartment that will be in the right location and the right price range for me and Victoria (my roommate).

3) Pray for my team here in Madrid. In the next few weeks we'll be doing lots of planning and making lots of decisions, so ask God lead us in that.

Thank you so much for your support, encouragement, and prayer. God is doing amazing things! As soon as I have an address, I'll send out another email updating my contact info.

Peace,
Kelly

July 2005 Update

2005-07-27T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

How on earth can it be almost August? But the calendar says it's the 27th, so I guess I'll believe that somehow July has come and gone. Here's the latest.

What's been happening?----A new Website!!!!! (blog actually, but same difference)
It has been alot of fun to visit my supporters and make new contacts, and I thank God for all of you! I've been staying with my sister's family this summer, and it has been a blast to help take care of her 4 month old twins---it will be hard to say goodbye to them when I leave!

Many of you have just been added to my email list this summer, and for several others of you, I have had the wrong email address for the past year! So for those of you who would like to see updates of what has been happening in Madrid, I have set up a blog containing each of the newsletters I have written, starting in October of 2003. Reading them all together (it takes a while) really opens my eyes to some of the things God has been teaching me over time. If you want to check it out, go to http://kellyinmadrid.blogspot.com.

What Happens Next?------More support raising
I leave for Spain August 1st, and from there I will be going to Christian Associates International's staff conference in Holland, and then coming back and finding a new apartment with my roommate, Victoria. We're looking for a place that we can use for leading small groups, hanging out, and having space for an art studio to be able to do more creative arts outreach. Since she has to be back for school, we need to find a place pretty quickly, and one that fits in our budget! We're trusting that God will put us in a place where He can use our apartment for His work.

However, I'm still several hundred dollars a month (pretty dang close to $1000, actually) short of my monthly goal, so I the tentative plan right now is to return to the States once Victoria and I have found a place to live (hopefully by early September), and I'll continue raising support until I have enough to be able to go back. I'm ready to be back in Spain full time, so I'm praying that the support is raised by the end of August or soon afterward. God is teaching me a lot about trusting HIM through all of this!

If you know of anyone--individuals or churches--who would be interested in learning more about what God is doing in Madrid or partering with me in prayer or financially, PLEASE let me know! One of my big challenges in support raising is making new contacts, so I'm asking those of you who are already partnering in encouragement, prayer, or financial support to spread the word!

Here are some things you can pray about:
***Pray for smooth preparations and safe travel as I return to Europe August 1.
***Ask God to provide the financial support needed for me to stay in Spain.
***Ask God to help me trust HIM to be my provider.
***Pray that Victoria and I will find the right apartment at the right price, in the right location!
***Pray for the staff and leaders of Mountainview International Church as we start a new ministry season this fall.

Thanks so much for all you do! I thank God for you!
Peace,
Kelly

Kelly Wills

June 2005 Update

2005-06-13T11:16:00.000-07:00

Hello All,
Here's a quick update in the life and times of Kelly Wills:

I'm happy to announce that my email address is back in order!!! Needless to
say, I'm excited about that. :).

I've been in the States almost a month now, and although I do really miss Madrid, I'm having a great time. I've been busy visiting supporters and helping my sister take care of the twins, who happen to be 2 of the cutest babies in the history of mankind. It's alot of work, but it's fun, and I'm glad I can help.

Visiting with supporters has been great--it has been great so far to get to catch up with you and share what's been going on here in the States and in Madrid. I'm amazed at how many people are letting me know that they are praying for me! Keep it up!

Speaking of prayer, here are a few things you can pray about:
1) Pray for the health of my niece and nephew, Katie and Sam. They're both home now and up to newborn size (6 1/2 pounds)--they're 3 months old tomorrow. Pray that they keep improving.

2)Pray for Mountainview International Church's summer stuff and preparations for the fall.

3) Ask God to provide financially--I need to raise my support level pretty significantly (around $1000 a month) by August, which seems huge to me but not that big to God!

4) Pray that I will have some time to rest while I'm home so I can come back to madrid and start fresh in the fall!

Thanks so much for your prayers and support---keep in touch!

Peace,
kelly

Big Exciting News

2005-05-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

Kelly's Big Exciting News!

As the subject said, I have big exciting news. I'm not sure the best way to tell it, so I'm going to give you the short version, and then I'm going to give you the long version that hopefully answers the questions that the short version brings up. Here goes!!!! (suspense suspense suspense.....are you waiting with bated breath?)

No, I'm not engaged.

No, I haven't “met someone.”

No, this has nothing to do with a boy.

ARE YOU READY???????

OK, Here's the short version:

I'M JOINING THE STAFF TEAM OF MOUNTAINVIEW INTERNATIONAL CHURCH IN MADRID!!!!!!!!!!

Pretty cool, huh? A million questions? Ok, I'm going to put the long version into question and answer format. If I miss anything and you have a question, PLEASE contact me so we can talk! Here goes:

How do I find more info about Mountainview?
Easy. www.mountainview-church.com.

Will you be leaving Impact Ministries?
Yes, I am leaving Impact staff to join Christian Associates, the church planting organization that the rest of the Mountainview staff works for. I have discussed this with the leadership in Impact and have their support in the move. I love my Impact family very much and will be maintaining a close relationship with them, but all sides agree that the best thing for me would be to switch to Christian Associates.

I'll be letting you guys know a lot more about Christian Associates in the next few weeks, but the big picture is that it is a church planting organization whose mission is to reach the unchurched through the multiplication of high-impact leaders and high-impact churches. Pretty cool, huh? As I've said, I'll give more info in another letter soon to come, but you can also go to www.christianassociates.org to find out more about this awesome organization.

Will you still need financial support?
YES!!! My support situation will be exactly the same as it is now, except the support will come through Christian Associates rather than Impact. AS OF RIGHT NOW, DON'T CHANGE WHAT YOU DO! Still send the support to Impact, and I'll be calling you in the next couple weeks to let you know the next step.

When is all this happening?
The ball is rolling as we speak! I've been officially invited to join Christian Associates, so this summer I will be working on making the transition, and I'm already jumping into planning for my future with Mountainview International Church. As far as the financial switch and all that goes, I'll pass along details as they get figured out. :)

Why are you doing this?
Because I see that this is where God is leading me and where I can serve Him best.

Most of the ministry opportunities I've had in the last year and a half have been through Mountainview. I have been able to really explore what God is doing in Madrid and learn how to glorify Him the best I can through the unique gifts He has given me. I've become more and more passionate about the city center—doing ministry in our community. Being church right where we are. Community groups, leadership development, large group gatherings like the Oasis gathering in the city center and the Mountainview Service in the suburbs, and a group of friends that is committed to spending time together and making real effort to reach out to unchurched people are some of the things that I have been able to plug into at Mountainview. In the past six months, we have started a “studio time” in my apartment, with the goal of having permanent studio space, and out of that my passion for reaching out to the artistic community and to worship God with creativity has really been fostered.

As most of you know, one of the things that I've been praying for the past year has been a team. I know God wants me in Madrid, but I also value working in a team and really believe that God means for us to minister in community, not by ourselves. After 1 ½ years in Madrid working closely with Mountainview, I can confidently say that this is a team who loves God with all their hearts and is passionate about reaching unchurched people. On top of that, we have a blast together—they're fun to work with! At the same time that I've been growing closer to Mountainview, a need for staff in the city center has developed, and I believe this is something God has been preparing me for.

What will you be doing?
I'm going to be a contact person in the city for Mountainview's Oasis ministry, a ministry focused on young internationals living in the city center. My four main focus areas with Oasis will be leadership development, community group development, leading the team that puts together the monthly Oasis gathering, and creative arts ministry. A lot of what I'll be doing is more of what I'm doing already with Mountainview—alot more of the stuff I've been talking about in my last several newsletters.

How can I pray for you?
Glad you asked!
1—Praise God for my team! I'm so excited to be officially on staff with Mountainview now—I feel like I'm home
2—Pray for logistical wisdom in how to switch things over from one organization to
another, and that I'll be able to communicate clearly with my supporters.
3—Pray for continued financial provision—I'm coming home next week to start furlough,
and need to raise my support level to keep up with increased cost of living.

So there's my big exciting news!!!!! See, I told you it wasn't about a boy. Thank you so much for your love and support. I look forward to seeing you while I'm home this summer!

Love,
Kelly

April 2005 Update

2005-04-14T11:13:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

Sorry this update is so late in coming!!! My computer decided that it would
be fun to get a virus and completely crash, so that put me behind in
everything for a while!

Trip to Morocco
I just got back from a trip to Morocco with 6 other people from Mountainview
International church. It was an amazing experience--my first time in Africa
and my first time in a Muslim country. It was definitely different! It's
so close that you can see Spain from the beach, but you step off of the
ferry into a different world! Our purpose for going was to bring supplies
to an orphanage there, and to spend some time with some Christians who live
there--our trip was basically in their hands, so we didn't really know what
to expect until we got there!

We got to spend alot of time talking and praying, as well as walking around
the city and experiencing the culture a little bit (Moroccan food is
amazing!). We also got to help out with a music club with some of the local
kids, and then the next day we went to a soccer match with a group of girls,
and then went to an outing at the beach with the same kids we had seen from
that morning and the day before. It was great to spend some time with them
and get to know them. On Sunday morning, some of our group went to the
international church while three of us stayed and helped get sandwiches
ready for the outing to the beach that afternoon with the kids. I really
enjoyed trying to communicate with one of the women who worked in the house
where we stayed. She knew a few words of Spanish, so we tried to teach each
other Spanish and Arabic words. The last night we were there, a few of us
got to help deliver some of the baby supplies to a house for unwed mothers.

I'm still trying to mentally "process" the trip, and probably will be for a
while, but it was an intense and amazing experience. I was honestly just
blown away with the realization that these are real people that God loves
passionately. It's one of those things that I have heard or said my whole
life, but I was blown over with the realization that it is actually true.

I'll probably be talking about this trip for a while, and hopefully more
coherently when I have time to sit down and put my thoughts and feelings
about it in order. It was definitely an awesome experience, though.

Traveling Yet Again!
I just got home late Monday night, and this Friday, I leave for a conference
in Holland--I'll be there about a week, and then the day after I get back,
we have our Leaders' Community retreat at Mountainview. Once that's over, I
plan to sleep for a couple days straight! Seriously, though, pray for
strenght and rest, as this is a really busy month.

Looking to the Future
We're in the process of developing a vision document for Mountainview's
Oasis ministry---focusing on internationals in the city center. On April
30th we will be meeting with internationals involved with Mountainview who
are living here long-term, to discuss where we are going as a ministry,
involvement, etc. We really want all of us to play a part in making the
Oasis ministry what God wants it to be, and for people to catch onto the
vision and be excited about getting involved. Please pray for us as we're
getting ready for the meeting, and for God to really continue to work
through Moutnainview's presence in the center of Madrid.

Also, I will be coming back to the States May 18-August 1. I'll probably be
contacting alot of you in the near future about getting together and talking
about what God has been doing this past year, the doors for ministry He is
opening, etc. I'm excited to see everyone again!

Family Update
It's been a while since I sent out a prayer update about my niece and
nephew, because of computer issues and travel, so here's the latest: Please
pray for Katie. Because of a hemmorage that was on her brain, there is alot
of fluid buildup around her brain that the doctors are trying to drain, but
it has been too thick. It's looking like they'll probably have to put a
shunt in (a drainage tube directly connecting to her stomach that stays in
for life), but they have to wait until she's up to 4 lbs., so until then
they are planning to put in something like a catheter that can drain
continually ( that was probably the most un-scientific explanation ever, but
you get the drift). Tomorrow morning the doctor is going to decide whether
or not to transfer her to Vanderbilt for the surgery. Pray for God's
healing and wise decisions by the doctor. This is really stretching our
faith to trust God in this.

Sam is doing really well--he may get to come home within a month or so.
Still be praying for his continued growth and health.

Also, pray for my sister (the mom) Kim and my brother-in-law Adam. Pray for
God to give them the peace and strenght that can only come from Him, and
that He gives them rest.

It's been really hard to be so far away while all this stuff is going on.
My sister is my best friend in the whole world, so I can't count the number
of times I've almost decided to pay whatever amount of money it takes to be
home right now. Pray for me to be able to entrust my family to God this
next month.

Thanks so much for your prayers, encouragement, and financial support. You
are SOOOO important!

Peace,
Kelly

March 2005 Update

2005-03-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

March 2005 Update
Hello All,

I accidentally typed March 2003 and had to go change it in the subject line. How did it get to be 2005? And what happened to February? A month with only 28 days is pointless---as soon as you're used to it not being January, it's March!

Ok, with that mini-rant out of the way, on to the newsletter! This month, I want to try to give you an in-depth picture of one of the regular things that goes on in my apartment--the Wednesday night Community Group.

I've talked about community group a lot in my newsletters, but I don't think I've ever really explained what it is. As part of the Leaders' Community in Mountainview International Church, I lead one of our community groups in the city--these groups aren't an extra ministry of the church-the community groups are the core of what makes up the church. Our church's regular weekly meetings take place in apartments or houses in Madrid and the northwest suburbs--we eat a meal together, pray, worship, and study the Bible as a group. We try to do life together rather than just going to church. Twice a month, the groups come together to worship God all together in big services, but the heart of it all is in these little communities. We train up leaders from within the group, so when a group gets too big, we form another group with one of the apprentices as the new leader. And that, basically, is how the church operates and grows. We just had to form another group in the city because a couple of our groups were overflowing, so I think that makes 13 community groups going on right now. I love my church here--I'm so thankful to be part of a group that is committed to following Christ as a community, to being the church.

Each group has a different personality, depending on the people in the group, the leader, the place, etc. My group (the Wednesday group) has been dubbed "the loud group," and I think that fits us pretty well. Over the past few months we've ranged from 9-14 people (hence the new group formation)--and when we're all here we manage to cover pretty much every square inch of the apartment. We start the meal together at 8p.m., and we split up who brings which part of the meal so no one's stuck with the main meal every week. I love when Shawn cooks--his spaghetti sauce is amazing, and he always manages to finish cooking the meal at exactly 8, which is more than I can say for anyone else in the group, including myself! Shawn is an English teacher from Richmond, VA, and I enjoy the southern American influence—it’s like home. English Robyn (we have a lot of repeat names in the church, so we have to add the country to their names!), Matt 2 (of 3 English Matts), and American Nicole usually come early and hang out. Robyn is one of the quiet ones, and really sweet. Matt is a great guy, although I can only understand about 30% of what he says.

Sofia is an au-pair (it’s like a nanny) from Finland, and she makes me smile just by her presence every time I see her—she is beautiful inside and out. She also loves to wash dishes, so I make sure she knows she’s welcome to come wash mine any time! Marianna and Elida are roommates, and wherever they are, there seems to be lots of energy and, yes, noise. Everyone always begs for Marianna to bring dessert because she is an amazing cook. Victoria comes and makes us all choke on our drinks because we’re laughing so hard—she’s funny and she’s an artist, and she and I will be roommates next year. Ana Maria leads worship for the group. She is from Colombia, and she is a student at the University here, studying chemical engineering. She is one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, and one of my closest friends here. According to Ana, I’m not allowed to leave Spain until she graduates. I’m ok with that.

Some of the new faces in the group are Anna and Lenore from Georgia, Sherwin from Hong Kong, Emily from England, and Kate from California. I’m just starting to get to know these guys, and they seem to be jumping right into the thick of things. Coming into a large group can be kind of intimidating, so I’m glad they’re enjoying it.

After the meal, at about 9, we get together and spend some time worshipping God and praying, and then we start the discussion. Right now we’re looking at eight big-name characters from the Bible and learning what we can from their lives—it’s a really participative group, so after reading the passages of scripture we usually discuss enough that we don’t make it through even half of the questions I had planned! One of my favorite things about our discussions is that people feel safe and free to question here, and that they feel safe to be open about things that are going on in their lives and encouraging each other. Rather than only coming to teach or to be taught, there seems to be an awareness that we are on a spiritual journey together—discovering God and helping each other discover Him. Over the past few weeks in the new study we’re doing, I honestly feel like I’ve learned more from them than I’ve taught. We finish up (technically) at about 10:15 or 10:30, and the last of the group members usually leave around midnight.

I love my community group. I don’t just mean I love opening my house to people from all over the world, or that I love leading discussions, or that I love meeting new people and developing friendships, or that I love worshipping together---I do love all those things, but most of all I just love these people. We are a crazy bunch. We all have our quirks—some of us are loud, some of us are late, some of us have a hard time focusing in the discussion, and we all manage to make my flat look like a tornado has ripped through it by the end of the night. Sometimes on Wednesday morning I think forward to Wednesday night and think “I just don’t have the energy for my big, loud group today!” But they come, and they love me and encourage me. These people are my family. I love my community group.

This month, instead of a bunch of prayer requests, can I ask you just to pray for some of these names I’ve mentioned? Pray that God will continue to encourage and lead these people, and that we will show His love to each other and those around us as we get to know Him better together. Pray that the new group that starts next week will form a community that can seek God together as well.

Thank you so much for your love, encouragement, and support. I thank God for all of you.

Love,
Kelly

February 2005 Update

2005-02-08T11:09:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I apologize for not sending out a January newsletter! With all the
traveling, seeing family and friends, visiting churches, and returning back
to Spain, it was a crazy month! For a quick recap, I went back to the U.S.
for 3 1/2 weeks to see family and friends and spend Christmas at home in KY.
It was a wonderful time, and it was nice to be home and see everyone
again, and it was a really refreshing time of rest.

Things were in full swing for me almost as soon as I returned here to Spain,
and they haven't let up yet! The community group just finished our study of
Hebrews and will celebrate with a fondue party this week before we start an
in-depth look at some of the great heroes of the Old and New Testament.
Mountainview International Church had our monthly Oasis service in the city
Saturday night, and several new arrivals to Madrid came and are hopefully
going to plug into community groups. A large group of us went out to eat
afterwards, and it was a great time getting to know everyone! Studio time
on Friday is going well--one of the girls who comes regularly brought a
friend this week who is very vocally anti-anything to do with church, but
loves art and has a great time hanging out. We're praying that God will
work in her heart through the relationships she's forming. With classes,
I'm taking some really hard finals right now, so I'll be glad when that's
over with. I don't have a very good memory in Spanish! That's a quick
recap of what's going on here....now for the funny story. You probably want
an explanation of the picture below!

In case you wondered, yes, that green thing is my backpack, and the black
line is the bus door. I was cramming myself onto a crowded bus from my
class building. The good news--I made it. The bad news--half of my
backpack didn't, the bus driver didn't hear me asking him to open the door,
and I had to ride 5 minutes in heavy traffic until the next stop like that.
I was pinned to the door because the backpack was pulled tight, but luckily
my friend Marianna was with me and had her camera. She was also able to
tell me about the reactions of people on the sidewalk and in cars to the
floating backpack on the outside of the bus. Evidently I entertained a lot
of people that day! Yet another adventure in the life and times of Kelly
Wills.....

Here are some things you can pray about this month--one for each day of the
week!
Sunday:Pray that Jesus will remain my focus and that I won't put busyness or
ministry before Him.
Monday: Praise God for Mountainview International Church's influence in
Madrid and my life, and ask God to bless their staff richly this month.
Tuesday: Pray for the new contacts Mountainview has made in the past
month--that God will use our church to impact their lives for HIS Kingdom.
Wednesday: Pray for the Wednesday night community group--that God will draw
us closer to Him through our time together and the study we're doing
together.
Thursday: Ask for God's continued financial provision--praise Him that He
always provides!
Friday: Lift up the studio time today--especially ask God to open Lelia's
(the new girl's) heart to Him, and that we will be a loving example of the
Jesus' love to her.
Saturday: Ask God to raise up opportunities for new relationships with
non-Christians this month.

Thanks so much for your love, support, and prayers. I thank God for you!
Praising HIM,
Kelly

December 2004 Update

2004-12-08T11:08:00.000-08:00

Hi from Madrid!

I hope December is going well, no one is freezing too much, and everyone is
enjoying all the festivities leading up to Christmas. The center of Madrid
is beautiful right now--nativity scenes and decorations in windows, lights
along the streets, and tons of people everywhere you look! All we're
missing is the snow! Here is a quick look at how things are going as the
year winds down:

School:
With my first big test coming up in History, I'm starting to remember that
being a student can be hard sometimes! On the bright side, worrying about
the test together has sparked conversation with several more students, and
I'm hoping we can study together and work on friendships through that. A
couple of the girls and I live near each other and are getting to know each
other on our bus ride home--thank God for public transportation! Please
continue praying that God will use these relationships to draw people to
HIM. The classes are definitely improving my Spanish, also. When I get
home from school after speaking and thinking in Spanish all morning, my
English grammar is pretty horrible. Hopefully this is just a phase in
language learning and I haven't permanently damaged my mother tongue!

Community Group:
I love my community group! We are usually between 7 and 10 people, from 5
different countries. It's a really diverse group, but it has been great to
watch them come together to be the church. For the past 3 weeks we have
been celebrating advent and discussing related topics--so far, hope, peace,
and joy. During the discussions, people have been really open about what
these things mean to them, how God is teaching them, etc.--and they are
making it a point to encourage each other. One of the girls has been
regularly leading worship for the group, and another led the discussion last
week and did a great job. This is something only God could do, not me, and
I'm so thankful for it! Thank God for working in these people's lives, and
for using them to work in mine as well!

Other Fun Stuff that I can't think of a Title for:
Mountainview International Church is hosting a Christmas brunch this Sunday
(Dec. 12), and we're expecting 150-200 people! A fun, kid-friendly program
is planned, and I think it will be lots of fun! Please pray that God will
use this event to HIS glory.

On Friday afternoons, I have started something in my apartment called
"Studio Time." Basically, I turn my flat into an art studio, and anyone who
wants to come paint, draw, sculpt, write, or just hang out can come over.
So far it has been a good outlet for me and a great way to get to spend time
talking with one of the students that is part of my community group (not to
mention last week it was a good place to paint the sets for the Christmas
drama!). i'm planning to continue studio time next semester, and a couple
other people have expressed interest in participating. I'm excited that God
is allowing me to use something I love so much for ministry!

God has really answered prayers concerning my apartment. When I moved in
here, I asked God to use my home as a place where people felt free to come
hang out, talk, study, etc. I thank God that this is happening now. I keep
telling myself "I think I live alone, but there's no proof of that!" To be
able to keep doing this, I will be needing to find a bigger apartment
(hopefully with a roommate) soon, so you can be praying that God will
provide a place where people can continue to feel at home that's a little
less cramped for space.

I will be traveling home next week, and I'll be in the states from Dec.
16th-Jan. 11. I'm really excited to come home and see my family and
friends! Please pray for safe travel and a good time of rest at home.

Thanks so much for your encouragement, prayers, and support. God is using
you, and I thank Him for you.

Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas (just a bit early)!

Praising HIM,
Kelly

The Gospel Through Ibero-Roman Art

2004-11-02T11:07:00.000-08:00

Last night, as I went to bed, I asked God why on earth He has me taking
these classes at the Complutense--and this wasn't the first time. I was
still sure that this is something God has lead me to do, but until this
morning, I hadn't really seen what exactly God is doing in these classes.
This morning, in my Spanish Art History class, I heard an answer, loud and
clear--from the mouth of my professor.

Today, professor Abrantes (who is not a Christian) began lecturing about
Spanish-Roman Art and symbology in the early church in Spain (which dates
back to before 300 A.D.). I know, I know, if you're not an art buff, it
sounds really boring, but he's a great teacher, and his lectures keep us all
on the edge of our seats, or at least awake. Abrantes began his lecture by
saying that from this point in the class until around 1600, the art that we
will be studying will almost exclusively be Christian art. To begin, he
took today to show us what some of the most common symbols were, what they
meant, and why they were used. He began with a picture of a fish, spelling
out the greek word for fish, and explaining that the letters were an
acrostic meaning Jesus-Christ-God's-Son-Savior. He then went on to talk
about the use of old testament stories that point to Christ--he used the
examples of Abraham's sacrifice of Isaac as pointing to the sacrifice of
Christ, and of Jonah's three days in the belly of the fish representing
Christ's death and resurrection. For the next 15 minutes, he went through
slides of pictures on different tombs, all representing resurrection and
eternal life. He ended his lecture by showing us a picture of a tomb that
had the scene of the 3 magi worshipping Jesus carved into the side of it.
After showing us the picture, he explained to us that the reason this was
such an important Christian symbol to include in a tomb was that just as
death is for all of us, and not just the Jews, Christ's resurection and
therefore salvation is also available to everyone.

I was totally blown away. Had I really just sat in class and listened to a
non Christian professor explain the Gospel to 30 or so people? Over and
over in the class, all I could think to do was just pray "God, open these
people's ears--use this!!!" This is was amazing in and of itself, but then
when I started looking around the room, I was more amazed by what God had
just done through this man. Our class is all internationals--about half are
from western cultures that have probably heard the Gospel in some form at
least once. The other half, however, are from China, Taiwan, Japan,
Pakistan, Israel, and the Phillipines--meaning there is a good chance some
of them were hearing this for the first time.

Right now, we are somewhere between 200-300 A.D. in our Art History class,
and because we are concentrating on Spain, almost all of the art we will
study until after 1600 has to do with Jesus. Please pray with me the next
few months that God will use these lectures--that He will open up
conversations with some of my new friends in class to talk about Jesus
naturally, and that they will ask questions about the things they don't
understand or haven't heard before.

I am amazed that God can use a non-Christian teacher at a secular university
to show His glory.

Thanks so much for your prayers and support--I praise God for you!
Praising HIM,
Kelly
Kelly Wills

October 2004 Update

2004-10-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

Kelly's October Update-11 October 2004

When I started working on this newsletter three days ago I was wearing my
birkenstocks and wishing I had chosen something cooler than a three quarter
sleeve shirt to school. Today, I'm wearing a long sleeved shirt and a
sweater, and seriously considering a jacket. Things change that quickly
around here, evidently!

The weather isn't the only sudden change in my life right now. I started
classes at the Universidad Complutense Madrid a week ago, and suddenly, I'm
having to get used to earlier mornings, lectures, taking notes, homework,
etc. all over again. Only this time, it's all in Spanish! I already feel
like my Spanish is improving greatly, though, and I'm learning so much! I
had almost forgotten that as much as I complained about school, I really
loved it! For me, I think the best thing about being a student at the
Complutense is that it opens doors to make friends that are impossible to
create outside of being "one of them." For one thing, the fact that I am in
class every day, taking the bus to my neighborhood, walking on the main
streets of campus, eating in the cafeteria (when I dare), etc. means that I
have a natural way of meeting people. I have met more students in the past
week than the past several months combined, without really trying! I'm
praying now that God will develop friendships with some of these students
that will draw them closer to HIM. The program I am in puts me in class
with the same students for an entire year, so I'm excited to see what God
does with that. I'm so thankful for this opportunity!

24-7

Another cool thing that's going on this month is that Mountainview, along
with a couple other ministries in Madrid, is hosting a 24-7 prayer room the
week of 18-24 October. A 24-7 prayer room is, basically, a room that is
dedicated to prayer 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Besides a place to go
talk to God, there are lots of art supplies, music, paper on the walls,
places to sit and be quiet, etc., so an individual or a group can express
themselves to God in their own way. (check out www.24-7.com for more info
on this cool ministry!) Stuff is kind of busy this week with preparations,
but we're excited to see what happens with it.

Speaking of prayer.

A group of people who have a heart for university students in Madrid came
together to pray for the first time last Wednesday. It was an awesome time!
We're planning to meet monthly to pray for university campuses, actually
prayer walking on a different campus each month. It was one of the most
encouraging things that has happened here in months!

Community Group

The Monday and Wednesday night groups both outgrew their homes this
month-from those groups we have formed 2 new groups-thank God for providing
leaders for those groups and for the new people that He has brought to
Mountainview!

Merry Christmas Kelly!

I just got my plane tickets home for Christmas last week-I'm really excited
to get to see my family! Hopefully I'll get to see some of you that are in
the states while I'm home.

Here are some things you can pray about this month:

Monday-Praise God for the opportunity for me to study here! Ask God to
bring along relationships with students that will draw people to HIM.

Tuesday-Ask God to bless Mountainview International Church, especially the
24-7 prayer room and a trip to a Moroccan orphanage that a group from the
church is taking at the end of the month.

Wednesday-Pray for my family today-My two older sisters are both pregnant
right now-Susie and Kim-praise God for new life!!!

Thursday-Pray that my only goal and focus will be pursuing Jesus this month

Friday-Pray for the community groups in the city, that we will continue to
grow Spiritually and in size, and that God will continue to provide leaders
for new groups that will form from existing groups.

Saturday-Ask God to continue to provide for my finances

Sunday-Pray that I adjust well to my new schedule and balance school, work,
and rest well.

Thanks so much for your prayers and your encouragement and support. I
praise God for you!

Peace,

Kelly

September 2004 Update

2004-09-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

September 2004 Update

Adjusting to a new culture can sometimes feel like an emotional roller
coaster. One minute you're praising God for what a wonderful place He has
brought you to, and the next minute (for no apparent reason), you're livid
because there doesn't seem to be one person in all of Spain that knows how
to make a real milkshake! And sometimes cultural adjustment can be just
plain hilarious. This month I'm going to take some time to tell you about
one important piece of Madrid culture that has caused all of these emotions
in me-the Metro.

The metro is Madrid's subway system-usually the quickest way to get from
one side of town to the other. There are no traffic jams, no crosswalks,
and no gas bills. You pay for your monthly pass, and you have public
transportation to get you where you're going. And no matter how far you
wander in the city, as long as you can find one of those red and blue
diamonds, you can get home. The metro is your friend.

The metro itself has its own personality. There are the
businessmen who manage to read the free metro newspaper from the time they
start down the stairs , stand on the platform, get on the train, find a seat
or a pole to hold on to, get off the train, and climb back up the
stairs-never looking up, never tripping, and never acknowledging the
existence of anyone else. There are the people who think the no smoking
sign is just for decoration, and then there are people who stand nearby and
complain loudly, hoping that they will hear. There is the old man who
accidentally jabs you in the thigh with the end of his umbrella and then
glares at you as if to say "How dare you get in the way of my umbrella!"
There are guitarrists, singers, and accordian players who hop on the train
and play, hoping to collect some change, and there are babies that coo and
smile and entertain everyone on the train. There are always the odd
tourists in Birkenstocks who have their metro maps out and suddenly realize
they are on the wrong train, and there is the old woman who looks at their
feet and shakes her head, because they should know better than to wear
sandals before June. I love the metro. It makes me feel like I'm at home
in Madrid. I know my way around it, I know which trains are slow and which
are a pain, and I'm learning which stations are the best for switching
trains and which car I should be in to come out nearest to the exit I need.
I get a kick out of helping tourists figure out where they need to go. The
Metro makes me feel like this is my city. I have been especially proud of
my balance on the Metro. I knew I was no longer obviously new to the Metro
when I started leaning against the wall instead of holding onto the bar, or
when I could just stand up without holding onto anything and keep my balance
perfectly. I am so cool.

What's that you say? God "gives grace to the humble?" Maybe
that's why I've had a few ungraceful episodes on the Metro! I realized that
maybe I don't quite "own" the metro yet one day when I was on line 8. Line
8, the pink line, goes from the center of town to the airport. It is one of
the newest lines, so it's very clean and VERY fast. Still, it's the Metro,
and I can handle it, right? One rainy March morning I stood smugly at the
end of one of the cars of line 8, looking at all the tourists with their
bags, holding on for dear life. Poor things! It was really too bad no one
had as good balance as I have.

It was about this time that line 8 hit a curve-did I mention
it is VERY fast?-and gravity decided it was time to get to know my
neighbors. There was no time to reach for a bar, no wall to lean against.
Before I was aware of what was happening, I found myself flying face first,
straight into the stomach of a man standing a few feet away. The poor guy
was reading a book, and then suddenly he was being driven into the wall
while some crazy American girl had evidently decided now was the time to
test the laws of inertia. Inertia works, by the way. A million thoughts
went through my mind in that split second. First, ouch! Second, a
prayer-"please, God, let this NOT have just happened!" Third,what should I
say when I stand up? Here I am splatted onto another person like a bug on a
windshield-what's the cultural etiquette here? What is the stinking word
for excuse me?!?!?!?! I don't remember anything about this guy except the
fact that he wore a dark blue button-up shirt-I saw it up close-but I'm
pretty sure he remembers me.

This is only one in a string of idiotic things I've done
here. My friend April says you can claim jet lag for all the dumb things
you do in the first few weeks, then cultural adjustment for a whole year!
Thankfully, on this system, I still have an excuse! What will I use next
year?

Here are some prayer requests for this month:

**Pray that my passion for God increases daily.

**Pray for unity among Christians in Madrid, especially among Christian
university

students and those who are doing student ministry.

**Continue to praise God for and pray for the Mountainview International
Church-that

we would continue to seek HIM together as a church

**Pray for the Wednesday night community group as everyone comes home
from

holiday and we start our study of Hebrews-ask God to speak to us as a
group

and personally from His word

**I register for classes September 13, and classes begin Oct. 2. Ask God
to give me

peace and to already be preparing relationships with students that will
build up His kingdom.

**Ask God to raise up a team of staff to come to Madrid and work with
university

students.

**Tons of new international students are pouring into Madrid right now.
Pray that God

will use this time to draw them to Him and get them involved in a
Christian community.

"Now to HIM who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or
imagine, according to HIS power that is at work within us, to HIM be the
glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever
and ever. Amen!" Eph. 3:20-21

Praising HIM,

Kelly Wills

August 2004 Update

2004-08-14T11:04:00.000-07:00

Hello from Madrid!

I hope you all are having a good summer. Things really slow down here in
the summer--there are signs on several stores and restaurants in my
neighborhood that announce they will be closed the whole month of August!

It's still summer here, but fall is coming on quickly. This weekend, I
leave for a conference in Amsterdam with Christian Associates International
(the organization that the church staff here works for), then a week of
vacation, and suddenly, it will be almost September! Here are some things
that are lined up for the fall:

School time!!!----I register on September 14, and then classes begin October
1. To be honest, I'm a
little bit nervous. I've not been out of school long, but it
has been long enough to get used to not being a student anymore!
Please pray for God to use these classes to make
relationships that will make a difference for HIS Kingdom, and
that He will provide the funds needed by the registration date.

Now that I have lived here a while, I'm even more thankful for
the location of my flat--two
blocks from the edge of campus. Many of the students I meet
will be living with roommates or with a family, so being able to
have a place to come hang out is really important. I have
already seen this spring and summer how God is using my flat
for a place for people to , and I praise God for providing
me with a home that creates that place!

Mountainview Int'l ChurchCommunity Group---in September, all the members of
the Wednesday night group will finally return from their
travels. We will be studying the book of Hebrews. It's
great to be part of a group that grows together and ministers to each other.

Making connections---I still plan to continue helping out with the GBU Bible
study on campus,
meeting regularly with Ana, the group leader. She and I also
are planning to do an
intercambio (English/Spanish language exchange) with a friend
of hers who is exploring
Christianity, and we're hoping to get more students involved in
a group intercambio.

...So there is a brief (or actually, not so brief--sorry about that!)
outlook for the fall here in Madrid. I'm excited to see what He has
planned.

Here are some things you can pray about---
Prayers:
Sunday--pray that I would grow daily in my love for God and would trust HIM
in every aspect of my life

Monday--praise God for the wonderful family He has given me through the
Mountainview International
Church. Continue to pray for His will as we seek God together
as a church.

Tuesday--pray for my safe travel to the conference in Amsterdam and to visit
friends in England the
week afterward. I will be traveling August 7-21.

Wednesday--ask God to raise up more Impact staff to come work in Madrid

Thursday--ask God to use the classes I will be taking to bring along
relationships that will build up
HIS Kingdom

Friday--pray for the new Wednesday night community group, that God will lead
us to the curriculum
He wants us to use to bring us closer to Him and to each other
as a community

Saturday--ask God to provide the necessary funds for me to go to school
here. The 1500 euros
($2000) is due in September when I register for classes.
Praise God for being the great
provider!

If you would like to support me monthly or send in support for school funds,
you can send a check to Impact Ministries International with my name in the
memo (the address is at the bottom of this email), or if you would like to
commit to support me in prayer, please contact me and let me know! My
desire is for everything I do to be founded and surrounded in prayer--God is
so powerful!

Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and encouragement! I want to
be able to pray for you also, so if there is anything that I can pray for
you about, please contact me and let me know.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to His power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Gal.
3:20-21

Praising HIM,
Kelly Wills

July 2004 Update

2004-07-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I hope summer is finding you all well and getting some relaxation time in.
Summer started suddenly here at the beginning of June. I left on the first
of June for Impact's European conference in Austria, and it had been cool
and rainy for the most part. I returned on June 6 to blazing sunshine and
unbelievable heat! One of my main summer activities this year is learning
how to stay cool and hydrated in the hot, dry Madrid summer. I am really
feeling at home here now, though. Just over the past few weeks, I've come
to the realization that I really LOVE living in Madrid! God is amazing!
Even before I had started thinking about missions, or Spain, or anything
along those lines, He already knew He would put me here, and He knew I would
love it. Wow!

Things are slowing down now that July is here. The semester ended at the
university here in late June, so many of the contacts I made among
international students have moved back to their home countries now, and the
ones who live here are on holiday! I'm enjoying a little bit of extra time
to relax, work on learning to play guitar, paint, and start to develop
relationships with the several new internationals that have moved into the
city--some for the summer, some for longer. Here is a quick recap on some
of the things I have been updating you on.

Monday Night Group
The community group from Monday night and another one from Wednesday night
have done some switching around because of people moving away and new people
coming in, so now I'm leading the group that meets on Wednesday night in my
house. We eat together, pray, worship, and do Bible study together.
Everybody participates, and I really enjoy the atmosphere of everyone
ministering to each other. In doing church through community groups, I have
been made more aware than ever that the church is the people, not an
institution or a building, and that we all work together as the body of
Christ. The group looks different every week because of people coming and
going, and will probably continue to do so for most of the summer, but
that's part of the fun of the international community. right now we're
studying Colossians and trying to see what we should study once we're done
with that at the end of July.

The Alpha Group
The Alpha course ended in late May, still with some great discussions.
Sonya, Alex, and Matilda are keeping in touch and may be getting involved in
some more Mountainview groups after their holiday travels. Please pray that
God continues to work in their lives to bring them closer to HIM.

GBU group on campus
The Bible study on campus, led by my friend Ana Maria, kept meeting until
finals were over. When the weather was nice, we started to have our
meetings outside. To an American student, that sounds really common, but
this took alot of courage for some of the students here. Seeing a group
praying together on a university lawn is not a common thing here, so we got
some strange looks!

Ana and I have met a few times to talk about planning for the group next
year, mostly talking about vision for the group and where God may be
leading. Ana is such an encouragement to me, and it's fun to watch her grow
in her passion for God and as a leader. I'm excited to see what God does
with the group she's leading next year, and glad that she and I will be able
to continue to meet regularly.

Plans for the Fall
God has been making it increasingly clearer that it is His will for me to
attend school at the university here in the fall. Actually, I'm getting
really excited about it now that it's getting closer. Originally, I was
under the impression that I was going to be "doing ministry" and going to
school on the side, but I'm realizing now that going to school here is
ministry. Being a student and being a Christian at the same time isn't
something that happens very often here, and I'm seeing that God wants me to
obey Him in going to university, and He'll be the one that takes care of
when, where, and how ministry happens. Yet again, the same question comes
up as last month...what if LIFE were ministry?

Support for School
The school program I am doing here costs roughly 1500 euros, which is around
$1900, depending on the exchange rate of the day. I'm asking God to provide
for this as well as additional monthly support, since going to school here
means I will be six months later than planned in coming home to raise more
support. If you would like to pray with me specifically about this, or if
you would like to support me financially, you can email me at
kwills@impactministries.tv. We have an amazing God who can provide in
amazing ways!

Prayers:
Sunday--pray that I would grow daily in my love for God and would trust HIM
in every aspect of my life

Monday--praise God for the wonderful family He has given me through the
Mountainview International Church. Continue to pray for His will as we seek
God together as a church.

Tuesday--ask God to bring the people across my path that He has for me to
meet, and for me to be responsive to Him when this happens!

Wednesday--ask God to raise up more Impact staff to come work in Madrid

Thursday--ask God to continue to draw Sonya, Alex, and Matilda closer to Him

Friday--pray for the new Wednesday night community group, that God will lead
us to the curriculum He wants us to use to bring us closer to Him and to
each other as a community

Saturday--ask God to provide the necessary funds for me to go to school
here. Praise Him for being the great provider!

Thank you so much for your prayers, support, and encouragement! God uses
you in amazing ways!

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine,
according to His power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and
in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Gal.
3:20-21

Praising HIM,
kelly wills

June 2004 Update

2004-06-09T10:59:00.000-07:00

Hello to All! I hope June finds you all well and enjoying some sunshine.

In my previous newsletters, I've sent mostly information about what I'm doing here in Spain. This month, I'm going to focus instead on letting you guys know what God is doing in me. After all, if God is not working, anything I do is in vain.

When I was thinking about joining staff with Impact Ministries International, one of the things I looked at again and again was Impact's definition of success. It goes something like this:

Success is developing intimacy with God.
An individual who is developing intimacy with God will make an impact on the Kingdom of God.
A team of individuals who make an impact on the Kingdom of God will have a fruitful ministry.
We do not aim for "making an impact" and we do not aim for "fruitful ministries." These two situations supernaturally occur when an
individual develops intimacy with God. We cannot control "making an impact" and we cannot control "fruitful ministries," but we have
absolute control over developing intimacy with God. We must not allow ministry for God to crowd intimacy with God out of our lives.

After almost 5 months here in Spain, I can look back and see how God has been and is currently teaching me this lesson--and not always painlessly! The past few months have caused me to ask some serious "what if...?'s," not just about what God is doing in Spain, but about ministry and life as a Christian no matter where I am.

What if I wasn't busy?
If I want to be successful in doing what God wants me to do here, I need to focus on Him and trust Him to use me where HE is working. The temptation is strong here to fill every spare moment in my schedule with "ministry stuff" so I feel justified in being in Spain. That is just what I had been doing, working myself until I was so tired I couldn't go on any longer, crashing abit, and then getting up and doing it again. In the middle of May, I had a leak in my bathroom and had to sit in my apartment for 3 days waiting for the plumber to come. God used this time to open my eyes to the uselessness of being busy for no reason. It's so easy to look like you're doing something good when you're busy, but who is looking? Do I need to impress the Creator of the universe, who sent His Son to die for me before I was even born? The fact is, there is nothing I can do to justify my! self before God or other people. All the work I do is nothing compared to Him. The work that God has given me is to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, and if I am doing that, I am justified. God hasn't called me to be busy, He has called me to be HIS.

What if my life was ministry?
My concept of ministry has really been changing since I've been in Spain as well. So much of my time is spent making friends, doing language exchanges, going for coffee, having people come over to my apartment, etc. How can I call this ministry? This is the question I have asked myself several times over the last few months. I can't think of a better way to explain it than through this analogy.....

Imagine you were adopted, and your Father told you to that He wants to adopt as many more children as He can, and suddenly, you find yourself in a place full of orphans. In this country, no matter how many activities you plan, how many classes about your Father you lead, how much frisbee you play, or how many meals you serve, what sets you apart is that you have a FATHER! When God works, He draws people into His family. My job is to be a faithful member of that family and get to know the Father so people can get a glimpse of Him when they see me. Ministry isn't about attracting people, being cool, or being liked--it is about living in the real world as a real child of God. It's really that simple.

What if I prayed more?
The ETSU Campus House team came all the way to Spain to pray last month, and they were a huge encouragement to me. Of course, it was encouraging to see people from home that have known me for longer than a few months, but the big encouragement was that they PRAYED. They didn't come to do manual labor, to preach, or do plan activities. They came to pray--to ask God what He wants to see happen in Spain and to pray that His kingdom would continue to grow here.

Impact's European staff had our annual conference in the mountains in Austria last week, and we spent a huge portion of our time praying. I came back home to Madrid feeling refreshed and encouraged, and I am confident that the work God did at the conference and is continuing to do is the result of all the time we spent asking God what His direction is and praying for each other.

It is humbling to admit that we don't have all the plans or all the power to do God's work for Him, but it is the truth. God never intended for us as Christians to go and make disciples without Him. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead is at work when we pray! Prayer is not just something we should do on the side when we have time, prayer is the thing we should start with and continue no matter what we're doing. I have been reminded repeatedly this month that prayer is more than important--it is vital.

and while we're on the subject....
Speaking of prayer, here are some things you can pray about! If you are one of my daily prayer supporters, there is one for each day of the week!

Sunday*Pray that my goal and my focus would be to know Jesus better each day.

Monday*Pray that God will bring along the friendships that He has planned, that will draw people to Him and bring Him glory.

Tuesday*Pray that God will continue to provide for me financially, for living here as well as going to school here in the coming school year.

Wednesday*Ask God to give the Christian students on campus boldness, unity, and a desire to follow God wholeheartedly.

Thursday*Praise God for my friends and church family here, Mountainview International Church. Ask God to bless Mountainview and pray that
we will seek Him together as a church.

Friday*Ask God to raise up more staff to come work with university students in Madrid

Saturday*Pray that God would especially bless my family back in the States this month with His presence and joy.

"Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." Gal. 3:20-21

Praising HIM,
kelly wills

April 2004 Update

2004-04-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

Hello All!

I hope you all are enjoying new life all around you this spring—God is good! March was quite an eventful month here in Madrid, and plans are already started for the coming autumn. Take a look at what is going on!

11-M
Madrileños mourn at the Atocha train station.
On March 11th, at 7:30 a.m., several bombs in in train cars exploded at key stations around the city of Madrid. On the television (just as
with 9-11 in the states), there were reports of numbers and more numbers of nameless injured and killed. On this side of the Atlantic, my friend Samuel didn’t know if his wife had been on that train until he finally reached her 2 hours later, my friend América would have been on the train if she hadn’t been in Barcelona, and
the stories go on. Being so close this time really made me stop and realize that those people were fathers, mothers, friends, sons, daughters—real people. Please pray for the families that lost loved ones.
Thanks again to the nearly 50 people who emailed me expressing your concern and letting me know you are praying. It was quite an encouragement to me!

Friendly Faces
Speaking of encouragement, I have been quite encouraged this month by my Impact family. Rob and Allie Marmion and their two kids, Alexa and Elijah, came here March 10-16 to pray—what a time to be praying in Spain! At the end of March, I went to Munich for a few days to spend some time with much of the rest of Impact’s European staff. I praise God for the opportunity to pray together, as well as the refreshment, encouragement, and friendship these times provided.

Ministry in Madrid
At home in Madrid, I thank God every day for the family He has provided with the Mountainview International Church. It’s so great to be in an environment where I am learning so much while getting opportunities to serve, as well as making lots of friends! The worship team (led by Kelly Crull—yes, another Kelly!) is such a blessing to be part of, and not afraid to be creative with worship. God made us creative beings, so we should praise Him with all of our creativity—through art, writing, singing, praying, etc. The Monday night group is still a spiritual lifeline for me, and our Tuesday Alpha group is a great discussion every week. Sonya, Alex, and Matilda seem to be really seeking to know God. My prayer is that they will move from knowing about God to knowing God.
On Fridays, I have been attending a Bible study on campus at the university led by my friend Ana, a student at the university leading a small group involved with GBU (in University Bible Groups). I thank God for her friendship (she and I are too alike for our own good!) and for the opportunity to get to know one of the other ministries on campus and work together with Ana.

Dusting off the Backpack
While I was in Munich, a group of us went to see The Passion of the Christ together. If you haven’t seen it, drop what you’re doing and go now. You can finish my letter on the way. It was a clear reminder to me of exactly why I love Him so much. He deserves nothing less than my whole life. One thought that hasn’t left me since this movie is that Jesus didn’t come to earth to “hang out” with the humans, or to “minister” to them. He became a human.
In figuring out how on earth to minister to students on such a big campus and in such a big city, I’m convinced God is leading me to follow His “becoming on of them” by becoming a student myself. Universidad Complutense Madrid offers a program called Hispanic Studies, a 2 semester, 3 hour a day series of classes all about Spain’s language, culture, history, language, literature, etc., and it is specifically directed toward international students. This October, I will dust off the notebooks and the backpack and become an international student for 3 hours a day. I’m excited about the opportunity to meet so many students in a natural way.

Change of Plans
The main challenge that this study program presents is a change in my schedule. I was planning to come back to the states next January to raise more support, but I will now need to wait until the school year ends next June. This means that I will need support for 6 months more than I had originally planned. Please pray for me as I will be doing some support raising from here in the coming months, and praise God that He always provides for His plans! If you are interested in how you can help out, feel free to contact me so we can talk. My contact information as well as donation information is included at the end of this letter.

Here are some things you can pray about….
*Pray that my hope, my trust, and my passion will lie only in Jesus
*Pray for healing and comfort for those grieving after the terrorist attacks here
*Ask God to raise up more staff to come to Madrid to do campus ministry
*Pray that God would bring me into contact with the people He has for me to meet
*Pray that Sonya, Alex, and Matilda would come into real relationships with Jesus Christ
*Ask God to provide the finances needed for me to do the international study program at
the university. This will require more monthly supporters as well as one-time gifts.

Thank you so much for encouragement, prayers, and financial support. God is using you for His kingdom!

“Now to HIM who is able to do immeasurably more than all 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, forever and ever! Amen.”

Praising HIM,

Kelly Wills

Contact info:
kkrenee@yahoo.com
Donoso Cortes 80c, 2-9
28015 Madrid, España home phone: 34 915 436 281 mobile: 34 637 079 740

Terrorist Attacks

2004-03-11T10:59:00.000-08:00

Hi guys,

For those of you who haven't heard yet, there were
several explosions due to terrorist attacks in Madrid
this morning. No one is really sure who is
responsible--authorities originally suspected the ETA,
a terrorist organization from northern Spain, but now
they think it could be another organization like Al
Queda.

Several train cars in the city were bombed, a couple
in Atocha, one of the most important train stations in
Madrid, right when traffic was starting to get busy.
The most recent casualty count is 186 deaths and
around 1,000 wounded.

I just wanted you to know that I'm okay. All of the
explosions were toward the eastern side of town, and I
was still in bed on the western side of town when the
attacks happened.

I have several friends who usually would have been on
one of the trains that were attacked, but none of them
went to work or school by train today, so praise God
for that. I actually had planned to go to an art
museum today that is right next to the Atocha station,
so I also praise God that I had decided to sleep in
today.

Also, please pray for the families of those who have
been killed in the attacks, and for safety here, since
presidential elections are Sunday, so the government
is on high alert.

God is bigger than terrorists, explosions, and
anything we can fear. Thank Him for that today!

Praising HIM,
kelly wills

February 2004

2004-02-27T10:11:00.000-08:00

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

January 2004--Ready to Go

2004-01-27T10:10:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends!

It’s finally time to go! The ticket is purchased and my bags are packed (almost). I leave for Spain on Wednesday, January 21st, and am scheduled to arrive in Madrid at 9:25 a.m. the next day. Until I find an apartment, I will be staying with the Cady’s, staff members from the Mountainview International Church. I will be checking email regularly, so if you need to contact me, that would be the easiest way (kkrenee@yahoo.com). I will be sending an email with my new address and phone number as soon as I find an apartment.

Please pray for my safety traveling and cooperative weather on the 21st. Also, here are some ongoing prayer requests:

*That my primary focus and goal will always be intimacy with God.
*Pray for a smooth transition to Spanish life and culture
*That God will reveal HIS vision for HIS ministry at the Universidad Complutense
Madrid.
*Ask for God’s presence on campus at UCM, and that He will draw students to Himself.
*Ask for God to raise up more staff to come work in Madrid
*Ask for God’s continued provision in financial and prayer support
*Physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health and safety

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. I look forward to sharing what God is doing in Spain in the coming months!

Praising HIM,

Kelly Wills

Fall 2003 Update

2003-10-01T10:05:00.000-07:00

Dear brothers and sisters,

Wow! I can’t believe it’s already October! Time has flown by. If I could sum up in one thought what God has been teaching me the past couple of months, it is that HE is not bound by my plans, and that HIS plan works. Always.
As much as I wanted to leave right after Thanksgiving, God has shown me over the past few weeks that He wants me to wait until January. I prayed and asked God to make it clear to me if He wanted me to wait, and this is what was brought to my attention within the next few days:
*The Mountainview International Church, which I will be working with in Madrid, gets their paperwork through at the end of this year to be a registered entity, which means that they can give me a letter of invitation to come to Spain, which I need for a resident visa. Praise the Lord for HIS provision!!! However, this also means that I need to wait until January to arrive in Madrid with the letter of invitation.

*A few of the churches interested in partnering with me financially indicated to me that their new budgets start in January.

*Third, my mom told me she had been praying that God would work it out so that I could be home for Christmas this year. At this point, I was saying “OK, God, loud and clear.”

So, I plan to leave for Madrid in January; tentatively January 10th. The main thing that this changes, other than the departure date, is that I won’t be living off of financial support until December, so the support in my account right now will be saved to cover initial expenses such as a plane ticket, paying my relocation agent, shipping costs, initial household expenses, etc.
One other big development is my association with Mountainview International Church. Since I am still the only current Impact staff headed for Madrid, I need a team of people to work with. While continuing to be on staff with Impact, I will be acting as an “intern” for Mountainview for the first several months I am there. Again, God is awesome. When Troy Cady, their team leader, and I talked about the possibility of my working with them, he mentioned that they have several international students and would like for me to be in charge of that part of ministry. Other than that, I will be taking some courses through the church in leading small groups, studying the Bible, and lifelong leadership; and I will be spending a lot of time on campus getting to know students. (If you want to find out more about Mountainview, you can go to www.mountainview-church.com.) God is so good. He has provided a group of people that I can work and learn with while beginning campus ministry. What an awesome God we serve!

Here are some things you can pray about:

*Pray that my focus will remain completely on God. It’s so easy to let preparations and
ministry cause distractions in our pursuit of HIM, so I ask you to pray that my
focus on HIM and my passion for HIM will grow every day.
*Continue to pray that God will raise up more staff to come work in Madrid.
*Ask for God’s presence at the Universidad Complutense Madrid, and that HE would
draw students to Himself.
*Pray for boldness among the Christians on campus at UCM.
*Ask for God’s continued provision in financial and prayer support.

Thank you all for your support and friendship. I look forward to seeing what God has planned. We serve a God that blows away our expectations over and over!

Praising HIM,

Kelly Wills

A Very Long P.S…..

Some people requested a few more details about what I am doing and how I will get started in Spain, so here is a more comprehensive addition to the Fall 2003 Newsletter.

Mountainview International Church is a non-denominational international church made up primarily of small groups. Their main focus is actually on the small groups and not a large Sunday service, so there is a lot of personal accountability within the group. This is the church I will be working with when I arrive in Spain. My main responsibility with them will be the college age ministry within the church. I will also be helping with the worhship team and spending the rest of the time on campus meeting students. In addition to responsibilities, I will also be getting some Bible study and leadership training through the church. WWW.MOUNTAINVIEW-CHURCH.COM has a lot of information about the church and the Cady family.

The Cady's are the family that I will be staying with when I first arrive in Madrid. Troy is the team leader for the Mountainview Church team, and he and his wife Heather and their two children live on the outskirts of Madrid. Some people within the church are already looking for an apartment for me so I can move into my own place (as close as possible to the university) as soon as possible.

Here are some statistics about Spain:
1) population: approx. 41 million. Madrid is the
capital of Spain, with about 5 million people
2) 94% Roman Catholic
3) less than 1.5% Evangelical Christian
4) Universidad Complutense Madrid--the main University
in Madrid--has 126,000 students—less than 50 are
involved in Christian campus ministry.

One of my methods for starting ministry is to work with college students in the church that are already plugged into the university--moving more activities onto campus to bring other students in. Christian international students can be a big help to starting the ministry. No one relates to a student better than another student.

I also plan to contact the two other campus ministries already in place (Campus Crusade for Christ and University Bible Group). They are both small ministries and could use encouragement. I want to be sure a good relationship is established with them from the beginning.

Another method to get started is just to be on campus meeting people during as much of my free time as possible, making friends. Ministry is often slow with Spaniards--they are friendly on the surface, but it takes a while to establish trust with them to dive into spiritual questions, so frustration with the slowness of ministry is something I have been warned that most missionaries in Spain deal with.

Right now I am in the middle of preparations to leave. My tentative leaving date is mid-January, hopefully around the 10th, but that depends on a couple of things: 1) the dates for Impact’s team leaders’ conference in mid-January, and 2) financial support. I can't go without $2,000 a month raised. Right now (November), I need about $700/month more, and I have a couple of churches getting back to me within the next few weeks about support.