MISSIONS BLOGS

We have arrived in Kazanlak, Bulgaria after a long day of travel. Our flight from Dallas arrived a little early in Frankfurt, which ended up being a good thing as we had to race all around the airport to get to our next flight. The gate number had changed from what it was originally and the line for security was one of the longest we had ever seen. We barely made it through in time (Praise the Lord) and made in to Sofia safely where we met up with George. All of our luggage made it and we are exhausted, but we are ready to start a this amazing trip, after a well-deserved night's rest of course. We can't wait to see what God has planned for us! :)

Today (June 25th) was our first full day in Bulgaria and it was an eventful one. We traveled to the orphanage in Maglizh to help them re-paint the playground/recreational area that they have there. Once we got there, everyone jumped in right away to help. We rolled up our sleeves, put on some gloves, and got to work. Unfortunately, we didn't get to stay as long as we would have liked due to rain, but we did accomplish quite a bit in short amount of time we were outside. The new paint brightened everything up and made the place seem more lively and fun. It was also extremely humbling for all of us. In addition to having physical and mental disabilities, the kids do not have much at this orphanage. The orphanage is not given a lot of money and support from the government so they have to make due with what they can afford. It challenged all of us and made us so thankful for all that we have. 

The Bible study time at the church was good. The rain drove some people away, but the few that were there were responsive and engaging with us. It was so sweet to see how deeply these church members love Jesus. Later on, we had a surprise birthday party for Phil at George and Laura's house where George's parents told us all these stories about what it was like to be a Christian in Bulgaria years ago when it was a Soviet country. We don't know what true persecution is like and his parents showed us what it is. It takes bravery and strength that we can't imagine. Nowadays, when you travel to Bulgaria, you have to register with the police how long you are staying and what you are doing here. The policeman who stamped our papers said, "I know you're not here on tourism business, but I know you're doing good work. Keep doing it." The country still has a low percentage of people who believe in the gospel, but it's better than it was. All in all, it's been a uplifting, eye−opening, "God thing" kind of a day where we were reminded to encourage one another in our faith.

Team Spain is on its way back to Dallas. I’m thankful for all of the members of the team as they did a terrific job. It has been a blessing to partner with the Parnells in their ministry in Girona. Their love and commitment to the Lord and the Catalan people is contagious! 

Jesus weeped over the people of Jerusalem. As a Spaniard, my heart cries for my own people as most of them live without the hope we have in Christ our Savior. I thank God for having sent the Parnells to Spain to be a light in the middle of such a spiritually dark place. I pray that the seeds that were planted during these days at VBS would bear fruit one day, and that the Parnells would have more opportunities to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the people around them.

As I went through Galatians this week, I was reminded of the freedom that only Jesus offers us. This freedom lets us live by the Spirit, not by the flesh, and have an abundant life. I pray that Spaniards might receive the promise of eternal life given through faith in Jesus Christ, and that they too might become children of God. 

Please, pray for the Parnells as they continue their ministry in Girona and consider going on a future mission trip to Spain!

Yesterday after VBS we had an afternoon of prayer walking. We started in the plaza of independence where the day before thousands gathered to protest against the Spanish government which is not recognizing Catalan independence. As we walked to the plaza it was raining, but as we started to pray the sun began to shine. I think the Lord was pleased to hear prayers for the Catalan people.  We prayed for walls of hostility to be torn down and reconciliation.  We also asked for the Catalan people to look to God for true freedom!!

Please join us in continual prayer for Catalonia!!

Today, our second day of VBS, the children remembered some eyewitness accounts of the things that Jesus did during his life. He healed people, he loved people, he fed people and he never sinned. Then they learned about the death of Jesus and heard from the witnesses that told what they saw that day.  

After learning about Jesus’ death we talked about WHY Jesus died. The children understood that we can never hit the target of being good every single day, but Jesus did hit the bullseye ?? his whole life!!  We learned our missing the mark is called sin. 

Finally, we read that Jesus was wounded for our sins, so we can be healed and made perfect!! Lift up these precious children as they come to understand Jesus as the Way, Truth and Life. 

We finished our day by visiting the suburb of Salt. This community is over 60% Muslim, immigrants from Morocco and North Africa. We spent a couple of hours walking around the town and praying for the Lord to break through with light into the darkness here. 

Again please pray!!

Today was a great day. We started VBS at our church plant in Girona and were relying on God to bring the kids that He already had planned for. Kids started to come at 9:15am and we had songs, games, crafts, snacks, and a Bible story. This week, the kids will be learning about Jesus life, death, and resurrection, and how that proves his deity. The kids were so interested in the stories from the Scriptures we were telling them that all I could do was thank God for a church that is willing to share with them about Him.

Hola from España!

Our team landed in Barcelona early this morning and took a beautiful hour long car ride to Girona, our home base for the week. We had some down time to get settled into our hotel and then we went over to the home of the Parnells, the missionary family we are partnering with this week. We were greeted by their four adorable and exuberant kiddos who made us feel at home instantaneously. It felt like a family reunion as we broke bread together and shared lunch. 

We had a little bit more down time this afternoon and some team members snuck in a little nap (#jetlag). We walked over to the new meeting space for the church plant called Fluid. Fluid will be a co-working, community space throughout the week and will also be where the church meets on Sundays. Our group had the incredible honor of being a part of the inaugural church service held there. This time of worship was one that I will remember forever. The pastor, Derek, stood up and shared his overwhelming gratitude to the Lord for His faithfulness in providing this space and strong Christian community for their family here. As his eyes filled up with tears, so did mine. I was struck afresh by God’s unwavering faithfulness to equip the saints for the ministry He calls us to do for the sake of His name. His Kingdom is at hand in Girona and this time worshipping together was a foretaste of Rev. 7:9-12. We worshipped the Lord through singing, both in Catalan (the local language) and English. Then we opened up John 12:12-19 and had some good dialogue about this passage, what we learn about God’s character and where we see this to be true around us. We got to learn more about the spiritual temperature here from our local brothers and sisters. 

A few things they shared that broke my heart: 1) Only 1% of Spaniards are Christ-followers 2) The Catalan people that we are ministering to are the 3rd largest unreached people group. 

They likened the hearts of the people to that of cement, demonstrating the hardness of heart that is rampant. They swiftly followed up this analogy with the promise of God’s ability to turn the heart of stone to a heart of flesh. We closed our worship service together in prayer. This was such a sweet time of drawing near to the throne of the Lord together as His kids, asking Him to do abundantly more than we can ask or imagine and praising Him for how He’s at work here. 

We wrapped up the night decorating the space for VBS to start tomorrow morning and sharing a yummy meal together. We don’t know how many kids will show up tomorrow. We don’t know how the Lord is going to work through our team. But we are confident that He is going before us and stirring up a hunger for the gospel in the hearts and lives of those we will meet this week. Pray for the Lord to supernaturally draw kids and parents to VBS tomorrow, giving a chance for kids to hear the gospel and parents to get connected to the Parnells and their church. All praise be to God alone for letting us get to join Him in what He’s doing here in Girona!