Reflections of Spainia

I guess this will be the last blog for me, as we've been home over 24 hours now. I keep saying how different this trip was from my expectations of "doing missions," but I am learning that the real mission of believers is to support, encourage and love one another as we work together to bring others into relationship with Jesus Christ, through the work of the local church or through other outreach activities. Because this was our church's first full team going to Spain, we're still building relationships and discovering how we can partner with the church and their leaders to realize their visions. Our presence alone shows that we care about them; our testimonies and messages bring a different point of view or present old points from new preachers; our participation in their activities and with their families gives us, and hopefully them, a sense of a world-wide family of God.

Mark's presence was huge when he finally got to Spain. Like with Tony in Sibiu, we became roadies again, basking in the glow of Mark's talent which he used to return all glory to God. The Saturday concert was wonderful, with other worship teams singing, the pastor of the Nigerian church singing two songs, and Mark closing the time with sharing and several songs. On Sunday, I got to sing with Mark for the service - gee, we got a lot of mileage (literally) out of "How Great Is Our God" singing the chorus in Romanian.

Now, back in the hot-but-not-humid East Bay, we've gone to Costco to restock the kitchen, Naomi has an orthodontic appointment and Rich has several meetings tomorrow. Routine life returns to normal, but I'm looking expectantly to the Lord for what He wants to do with my life in light of this experience.

I'm not done with my Spainia experience yet, though. Teo will be e-mailing me Immanuel's mother's recipe for gogosi!

Thanks for reading. Think about going yourself!

Joanne