Just got back from Spain late Monday night. It was a great trip overall, spending time in the Boston area on the way to Europe followed by visits to both Barcelona and Valencia.
While I hope to be able to post some photos soon (*my friends took pictures and I am looking to "borrow" some of them), let me give you a quick summary of my time in Spain. It began in Barcelona, where I spent the weekend with my good friends, Marc & Christine. They pastor one of the Vineyard churches in "la ciudad condal". We enjoyed several meals together, one of them a fantastic feast of "dorada" (*a white fish that I am not sure how to translate...those of you who have a Spanish/English dictionary can check it out and tell me!) with their children, Marc's mom and his sister. Their eldest daughter, Anais, together with her husband Jose Luis, was also there. They have a 3-year old son, and are now the proud parents of twin baby girls.
After an enjoyable weekend with the Perez family, I took the train to Valencia - which is about a 3-hour trip.
I spent the morning with Jonathan Pedret, an old friend (*he's not "old", but we have known each other for several years) who is now living with his wife, Vanesa (*she's a Real Madrid fan, but hey, nobody's perfect) in Valencia. They are working with young people, sharing the love of Jesus with those who want to know, doing music, and engaging with creative/artsy people. (*They hope to open a coffee shop soon, much like RedRock here in Mountain View - www.redrockcoffee.org.)
Later that afternoon, some good friends from New England (*we planned it this way...they went to Madrid while I was in Barcelona) drove from Madrid and we met up in Valencia. We connected with Francisco and Alexandra Cardenas and their three lovely daughters Cristina, Jazmin and Abigail. (*They also have a little boy, Daniel.) The girls (*young women, really) hooked us up with some of their friends and we spent some time learning about some of the social needs of their city and praying together. Apparently there a number of Africans who have entered Spain illegally, are without work, without food, without a home...the list of "withouts" is quite long! Well, Cristina, Jazmin and Abigail can't meet all the needs of these people, but they have decided that they can give them breakfast, listen to them, befriend them, and pray for them...asking God to provide for all their needs. (*We heard the story of one man who gives the credit to God for finding a job and apparently a company that will help him get the work permit he needs to get established in Spain...no small feat!)
The Cardenas family are the sort of people that we will probably never read about, but they are heroes in my eyes.
After out time together the first night, we went to a local restaurant, El Salado, and had a wonderful dinner of Spanish tapas and wine, followed by pumpkin flan (*I had never had "pumpkin" flan before) and another incredibly tasting cortado (*a small, Spanish, coffee with milk.)
After a couple days together in Valencia, my friends from New England and I drove back to Barcelona. We did a conference with the 3 Barcelona/Catalunya Vineyards, using Gary Best's book Naturally Supernatural as our primary teaching text. (*If you want to read a book that describes the ministry of Jesus today and how He uses ordinary people, this is a great book to read.) I think some of the things that stood out to me during the conference was how God reaches out to us and heals us - whether it be a wounded heart or some kind of physical need. He really does care and He demonstrates that love in a very real, and measurable way. He also encourages us to forgive and to seek the restoration of our broken relationships. Everywhere I go I see the Lord doing this. I guess we are always stepping on one another's toes...
While the trip was excellent, there is truly no place like home.
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