Final Stretch

Hi everyone!

Oh MY goodness. So I cannot believe that i am in my final month here in Spain! Here we are in July, and I feel like the time has just escaped me. SO sorry that i haven't posted a blog for awhile. Things pretty much started to get ridiculously busy and out of control at the end of May and the have only gotten busier since. We are right in the middle of our summer holiday clubs and VBS programs now, and the last month and a half has been a whirlwind of preparation, visitors, and changes. I so appreciate all of your prayers, as it hasn't been an easy road. I'm not going to lie, I'm a little tired, and a lot drained, but God is still teaching me so much every day, and life in Spain continues to be a day by day adventure.

Several small changes were made at the beginning of June, that have kind of changed the dynamic of my summer. My family and Kyler's visit was AMAZING, and it wasso great to get to show them a little of what I've been doing with myself. My roommate Lara's mom and sister also got to come visit , and, at the end of their time here, Lara, ended up deciding to go home with them. She left on June 8, and I got a new roommate in the form of Rafael and Mary's oldest daughter, Carina. It's been such a blessing getting to get to know her, and we've had some crazy times already. Our lives are pret-ty insane, and we are constantly entertaining. I dont think a day has gone by when we haven't had people in and out of the house. Good times, although sometimes a little tiring..I'm discovering how old I really am.lol.


Today was actually our very first day of VBS in torrevieja. Our theme this year is STudio GO Gameshow, and we have been painting banners, getting together bible stories, learning songs, practicing dramas, etc. for weeks. I did all of the decorations, wrote the drama, and am a clown, so I've been kept pretty busy with the whole thing. This morning went really well, and we had a fair number of kids. We would appreciate your prayers that God would bring the kids that he wants over the next few days, and that our attitudes, and the activities that we do with them would draw them to Christ. We've been blessed to have some extra help with summer workers coming in for a few weeks. Right now we have two boys from the U.S. here with us for a week, and another boy from Italy that will be here for 3 weeks working. They're so much fun, and they def. keep us entertained!

Here's the rundown on my last few weeks here. This week is VBS in Torrevieja. Next week, from Monday-Friday, I am directing a Children's Camp for the Spanish church. We will be going to a campsite about an hour away to spend the week, and Oh my word, i still have SO MUCH to do to get ready for it! AHHHH! The week after that we have the outdoor VBS in Murcia with the Spanish church. And then I come home the following Friday, the 31st. So, needless to say, it's going to be a very crazy few weeks. Please pray that the Lord strengthens and upholds us during this time, and that it would be a blessing for the workers as well as for all of the children. Pray that God works in the hearts of the kids who come, too! Thank you AGAIN for all of your support and prayers. It means so much to me, and I would have never gotten here without all of you! Can't wait to see all of your faces in only a few weeks! God Bless!
Mindy

Still here! =)

Hi Everyone! How's it going?
Well, it is 11:15am on Saturday, May 9th, and It is pouring rain outside. pouring. And my plans for the morning were canceled...we were supposed to hand out flyers and evangelize in the open air market in Torre Vieja...clearly that didn't work out this week.so...here i am. and i thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to update all of you on my life here in "sunny" Spain.lol.=b Ahhh..where do i start?? So much has happened within the last couple of weeks..
I wanted to thank you all SO much for your prayers for our trip to M_. It was a trip that i will never forget, and i was so privileged and blessed to get to be a part of it.(All of the pics in this post are from the trip). We had absolutely no problems at all getting across the border, and were not stopped on the highway at all by the police.(Last time Rafael went, he was stopped 6 times). God's hand was definitely with us, and we credit it all to the many people who were praying. The workers who we went to see were so grateful for the materials we brought them, and it was amazing to get to see their work, and to talk to some of the nationals. They are having a rough time. its not easy, but their faith is incredible. Talking to them convicted and challenged me to take more risks for what I believe. The trip was definitely an eye opener and a life-changer, and I won't ever forget it. Please remember to pray for the people in North Africa. There is a spiritual darkness there that is hard to explain, but you can feel it when you walk through the streets. A hopelessness, and a desire for change. Their lives are ruled by their religion and culture, but they aren't happy. Pray for the workers that are there, that they would be used to bring revival to this country.
Okay..what else? Oh, last weekend we had our "This is Spain" exhibit in Torre Vieja. We were the only church that was allowed to have a booth in the exhibit (Rafael knows that lady who directed it), so we had no 'competition'=b. We made some great contacts, and were able to personally talk to a lot of people, thanks to the fabulous idea that Mary had of putting a chocolate fountain at the back of the booth. You wouldn't believe how many people got excited about it and came in to talk to us. It was a huge success. =) Tomorrow will be the first Sunday since the exhibit, so we are really praying that God would bring people that we met there to our service. Hopefully we will see some new faces. =)
We have a lot of new arrivals coming in over the next couple of weeks. Our third intern, Dinah, comes in from Tennessee on Tuesday. She will be staying with us for the remainder of our time here. Also we have a girl named Kayla coming next Friday from the Philippines. She is only here for 3 weeks to complete hours of community service for her university. Rafael and Mary's two oldest daughters will also be arriving over the next couple of weeks and will be here all summer. My family and Kyler are coming in 11 DAYS and will be here for almost two weeks. (AHHHHH!) a 17 year old boy, Dimitri, is also coming for a few weeks from Italy to help with the summer VBS programs, and a young couple from Ireland, Alan and Sally who will be with us in June. Also Lara's mom and sister will be coming for the first week of June. As you can imagine, things are about to get pretty crazy around here.lol. Like they already aren't insanely crazy. We would appreciate your prayers for traveling mercies for those who are arriving, and for our sanity as they come.
We are in the middle of preparations for VBS right now, and let me tell you, it's a LOT more complicated than you would think. Hopefully it will all come together...I'm currently working on writing the dramas. Our theme this year is a game show theme. Should be pretty cool. Oh, and I have also recently been named the "director" of the week long youth camp that we're having in July, so I'm starting to work on plans for that. When I asked Mary what the definition of "director of camp" was, she told me that its the person who people go to with problems. Hurray...lol.
And that's pretty much it for now. I hope you're all doing well!
Love and miss you,
Mindy

Ach, Mein Kind!

Halo!
(That, my friends, is the German word for hello...very difficuly i know. =b)
The rest of my extensive vocabulary that i picked up in Germany would be...Danke- Thank you. Guten Morgen- Good Morning. and Choos- See ya. Oh, and Ausfahrt...but I have no idea what that means...it just sounds really cool to say.lol.
I am happy to say that the trip to Germany was a
complete success! Lara, Mary and I made it all the way to Oldenburg, after spending an entire day on planes, trains, and buses... and about every other form of transportation known to man. We were exhausted, and didn't get much sleep all week, but the conference was SO amazing. It was the first Mission.Net conference ever in Europe, and there were about 3,000 youth from all over Europe that attended. It was just amazing to me to hear all of the different languages being spoking in the same place, and yet everyone somehow understood everyone else. I got to meet so many amazing kids..and adults from all over the world. It really puts your own life into focus when you get to hear other people's stories...especially those who have been persecuted for their faith. The entire conference was all about Missions, and I got to hear some great speakers, among them, the famous "Bible smuggler" Brother Andrew. It was an eye opening week for me as I realized how little I have actually sacrificed for my faith. I realized how easy we have it in America, and I was definitely challenged to step out of my comfort zone. The worship was AH-mazing. And I have to say, that, although I was a little skeptical of having a conference over Easter week, it was actually a really cool thing. To have so many people together celebrating Christ's death and resurrection was pretty overwhelming.

AMG also had an exhibit at the conference that Lara, Mary and I were in charge of "manning" =). The goal was to get AMG's name out there, and make some contacts for short-term teams, and possible future missionaries. We were excited to make several very promising contacts, and are praying that God would work in the hearts of students that we talked to over the week. We would ask your prayer especially for a group of new Christians in Bulgaria that we met. They were very interested in becoming involved with AMG, and we are looking at possible sending teams to Bulgaria, as well as bringing their teams into our other ministries. It's an exciting thing to get to see God working in the lives of others as well as our own!

OOkay..soo...the next thing on the list...lol...would be my upcoming trip to M_. I leave on Monday morning early, and will be gone until Friday. Please pray for safety for Rafael, Lara, myself, and a visiting missionary couple, as we take important items to our friends across the border. God is good, and He is in control. =) And I'm sure that I will have some very interesting stories when we get back. I'm also excited about getting to see yet another country and culture!

The week after we get back, we have the privilege of being involved in another exhibition in Torre Vieja. We are the ONLY church who is allowed to have an exhibit at this particular show, which is a huge privilege, and we are praying that God would use it to bring us into contact with people who need a church family. It should be a great outreach for ICA, and I can't wait to see how God uses it.

The time is still flying by. =) We have almost reached the half-way mark of our six months here, and I feel like we just started. I am SO excited to begin the month of May...a little selfishly excited.lol... because on May 18, my family and Kyler are COMING TO SEE ME!!! I can't wait to see them and to get to show them what we've been doing here!

I hope all of you are doing well, and that God's doing great things in your lives. If there is one thing that I could challenge you to do it would be to not take your Christianity for granted. It's not as easy for some people as it is for us...and yet, the harder it is..the more people value it. I was floored by some of the stories I heard last week. And humbled. My prayer is that God would give me the strength to step out in faith, and do everything I can to further His kingdom without thinking of the consequences.
Love and Miss you All!! =)

Saludos de Espana!

Hi People!
I can't BELIEVE how fast the time has flown. It's way past time for me to update this and I'm so sorry I haven't been more faithful.lol. You can blame it on Mary and Rafael. They are keeping us SO busy. =) I have no idea where the past few weeks have gone. So much has happened and God has been working in so many different ways...some of them I'm not even aware of I'm sure.

Well, the weather here is beautiful. They say that we have turned a corner and from here on it will just get warmer and warmer. I'm loving it! This is what they mean when they talk about sunny Spain. =) Last weekend we had all of the Spanish girls from the purity class in Murcia over to our house and we spent the day at the beach. We had so much fun, and got a head start on our summer tans. The purity class is going really well. Most of the girls in the class are under 15, so we are pretty much just sticking to the basics of what it is to be a Godly woman. The girls are really sweet, and they are finally getting used to having us " weird" Americans around. In about another month we'll be completely accepted. =) Last thursday and friday were holidays here.. so none of the girls had to go to school. We had a few of our friends over to spend the night on Thursday night as well, and got to taste some real Spanish cooking. We have been really blessed to make some great friends here who we can just "hang out" with. they are so much fun!

I have now been leading worship in Murcia and in Torre Vieja for almost a month. It's going really well, and I am having fun working with both a Spanish and an English group. I love it, and it's always a joy to come together and worship the Lord. I practice with the torre vieja group on Thursday afternoons, and with the Murcia group on Saturday afternoons. Sundays are busy days, and I feel like i'm singing ALL DAY LONG.lol. Good thing i love it! =)

My Bilingual sunday school class is getting...easier. slowly.lol. It has been a challenge, that's for sure, and i think I'm learning more than the kids. Right now we are studying the life of Elisha and all of God's miracles. The kids are so cute, and such a blast.

The Wednesday morning ladies bible study now has about 14 ladies who regularly attend. They have been such a blessing to my life, and it's awesome to see how God is still working in their lives, and how they are still growing even after all their years of being in church. They also make very good "biscuits"(cookies). =)

We are continuing to evangelize in the markets on Friday and Saturday mornings, and, though we haven't really seen many results as of yet, we are praying that God is planting seeds. We have had a couple of families visit the church as a result, so that has been a blessing.

April is going to be a BIG month for us. The first week of April Lara, Mary and I will be traveling to Germany to work at an AMG International youth conference. We will be representing AMG Spain...we're so official.lol. I'm really excited. There will be over 6,000 kids from all over Euorpe coming, and the main language is...ENGLISH!! I think it will be a great time...and we're praying that it will be a great time of ministry as well. Then the last week of April we will be taking a visiting couple to M_ for the week. This will be where Lara and I will be renewing our visas ( we have to renew them after being here for 3 months). So we would appreciate prayers that all of the traveling would go well..

Upcoming events..
An Easter conference for the entire week of easter- we are bringing in a pastor and his wife from the U.S. to preach and they will be staying at my house.
-We are beginning preparations for Summer VBS...looks like we will have 4 weeks of VBS and a week of summer camp, so we will be VERY busy for the months of June and July.
-"This is Spain" exhibition in Torre Vieja for the first week of May. We will represent AMG, as well as the International church and make as many contacts as possible.
-May 11th arrival of our third "team member", Dinah. She will be working with us for our final three months here. We will also have several short term teams coming to help with VBS.

Thanks once again for all of your prayers. I am continuing to learn sooo much from the ministry here, and Mary and Rafael have been GREAT. We are definitely a part of the family now. I do, however miss the U.S.A. and all of you. =)

God Bless,
Mindy
XOXO

One Month!

Hello Everyone! Time for an update...=)
I can't believe that Lara and I have already been here for a month! It has just flown by. We have been so busy that we haven't even had time to really stop and think about how long we've been here.lol. So much has happened in the past month, and it's so exciting to start to really connect with people and build new relationships. I have already learned a ton from the people here, and I respect and love many of them, after only a month. It's been so fun to see how God is working as we become more involved in the happenings at both the church in Torre Vieja, and in Murcia,

A few updates on what I'm involved in:
- I am now in charge of the worship team in Torre Vieja. I pick the music, organize the practice (The worship team is made up of Mary on the piano, one acoustic guitar, and three other singers), e-mail the notices, and lead the worship time on Sunday evenings in Torre Vieja. It's actually a very time consuming thing,which i didn't really expect, but I'm loving it.
-I am also singing in the worship band at the Spanish church in Murcia. I practice with them on Saturday mornings, sing for the sunday morning church service, and supposedly am going to be playing the piano for them in the future...should be interesting...lol
-I am teaching Sunday School for the kids in the Torre Vieja church. It is quite a challenge because I am having to teach it in both English and Spanish. I am basically translating for myself as I tell the Bible stories, which I've never done before, so it's been fun trying to think in two languages at the same time. It's definitely good for my Spanish. =)
- Lara and I have also become involved with a purity class for the teenage girls in the Spanish church in Murcia. We meet on Friday nights at 8 and have a time of games, and a "chat" where we talk about Biblical purity. It's been so fun getting to know the girls, and I can't wait to see where the study goes..it's fairly new. We have only been meeting for three weeks.
-On thursday mornings we have what we call our "ladies meeting" in Torre Vieja. We are going through a Beth Moore study about the life of Christ...LOVE it...and the ladies.
-On Friday and Saturday mornings we are evangelizing in two of the local outdoor markets in Torre Vieja. We had out flyers and tracts, and invite people to church. If you could pray that God would be working in people's hearts the draw them to him through this outreach it would be greatly appreciated. You never know who you're going to come into contact with, and I can't wait to see how God works! I am specifically praying that God would put us in the path of some young families, and college students. We really want to fill the church with kids before we come home =).

A couple of weeks ago, after we had gone to the market to evangelize, i was sitting thinking about my personal witness, and how I could show people their need for a Saviour. I came to the conclusion...and was very convicted in the process... that the one thing that I have that is different from anyone else in the world is my joy in Christ. It's a joy that can never be taken away, no matter the circumstances. Without that joy i wouldn't look any different than all of the other people walking in the market. I have received an amazing gift, and have a light inside of me that should shine through me no matter what kind of horrible day I've had. My prayer for myself is that my mind and heart would be so in tune with the Lord, that my joy would overflow into the lives of those around me. That will be my real witness to people.

Thank you again for all of your support and prayers. You all mean so much to me! I hope everyone doing well..I miss you all.
God bless,
Mindy

The Rain in Spain...

Hello there! I thought it was about time for another update! =) We are all alive and well here in Spain, something that we don't take for granted.lol....we have now been driving ourselves around for two weeks, and say a prayer of thanks everytime we get somewhere safely. the drivers here are CRAZY. But God has been watching over us, and we are so excited to be two weeks in. Lara and I both agree that it seems like we've been here for way longer than two weeks, because we have done SO MUCH already. Mary and Rafael have definitely been keeping us busy. =)
This week has been very eventful. On Tuesday and Wednesday we took a group of 17 ladies from the church in Torre Vieja to La Manga, a resort area on the coast of the Mediterranean, for a women's retreat. We stayed there Tuesday night, had some great fellowship, praise and worship, and teaching. The hotel we stayed at was absolutely amazing, and all of the ladies has a great time. Lara and I loved it, because it gave us a chance to really get to know all of them. Sometimes at church you just don't get the chance to have a real conversation..so we were really happy for the opportunity. I stayed with a lady named Mary, who is from England. a Lovely lady...lol. I'm already catching myself starting to use British words when I talk. They are contagious. When we got back from the retreat I wanted to get a picture with all of us and so I yelled to get everyone's attention and said, "I'm going to take a photo!!" They're so nice, though, and it's been such a blessing already to get to know them. Il put a couple of pictures of the weekend above so that you can see some of the faces. They're so much fun!
The other pictures that you see were taken last night at a big Valentines Day bash in Torre Vieja=). We had a potluck dinner, some music, and several amazingly fun games...that I just happened to be in charge of. If you haven't ever tried to give instructions to a group of 45 people over the age of 60, then I would suggest that you do, just so you can feel my pain.lol. They're worse than kids...as far as the listening goes. =) It did go very well..and we had a great time, and a lot of laughs.
Ive been enjoying running on the beach every day, a perk that I didn't really expect coming here, but it's soooo beautiful. There is a little strip of land that goes about 2 miles out into the sea called Lo Pagan, and I have been running on it a lot. I don't think anything really compares to the beauty of the ocean. it just takes my breath away, to see something that giant and endless and to think that God is so much bigger..
Thank you so much for your support and prayers. Please continue praying that God would use us in the ways that He has planned, and that we would be open to serving in every possible way that we can.
God Bless.

A few Pics of my new Home!!