randalevan's blog

snowy new england still holds a warm place in my heart

I left our Mountain View, CA home in the wee hours of a Thursday morning in January. It was the beginning of a typical, mid-winter day in the Golden State: lo's in the hi 40's, with a hi that would reach the mid 60's. Jacquie was bringing me to the San Francisco Airport, where I would hop on a flight for Hartford, CT.

I knew the weather would be slightly different (HA!) in New England. I even knew that a blizzard had just dumped two feet of snow. But somehow, temperatures in the 20's just felt colder than they used to when we lived in Framingham, MA...a town about 20 minutes west of Boston.

manhattan, spain, and boston.

 
Jacquie and I just got back from a fantastic trip to Manhattan, Spain, and the Boston area. It was both wonderful and very busy! We were traveling for about two and a half weeks (April 26^th thru May 13^th), visiting family, friends, and partners in ministry.  If you would like to hear a bit about our journey and see a few photos (*thanks to Jacquie and Greg!), here is a quick summary.

don't leave home without them

there was a great american express commercial years ago with the actor, karl malden. the catch phrase was "don't leave home without them", referring to the importance of traveling with american express traveler's checks. (*if you want to check one of these commercials out, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4K4seWtxEeA&feature=related)

well, that is not what i am referring to in my blog! i am thinking about prayer, and if you are reading my blog because you care about jacquie and me, then i would like to ask you to pray for us and the team we are traveling to spain with next week. we don't want to leave home without knowing people are praying for us!

Spain Trip - December 2009

I recently returned home from a ministry trip to Spain and I thought it might be good to share with you some of the things I saw and experienced.  I spent my time in two cities - Sevilla and Barcelona - so that is how I will break this up.  I hope you find this encouraging, and, that it inspires you to pray, give and/or go to Spain!

My God always lets me know He´s there...

So, I´m on my way to the Spain Partnership pastors´meeting at the Vineyard in Hopkinton, Massachusetts (www.vineyardhopkinton.org) last Tuesday morning.  On my way, my friend Rob Davis (*the pastor of the Hopkinton church) takes me to the Starbucks in Southborough so that I am not grumpy during the meeting.  While I'm waiting for my grande cappuccinno, I notice a sheet of paper at the bar.

Spain Photos

Check out my latest photo album: Spain April 2009, for a handful of photos from our recent trip! (*You have to go all the way to the bottom of the blog on the right-hand side.)

Back from Spain

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.

Glen Eyrie, Part II

I promised more info on our trip to Glen Eyrie, CO...so here goes.  The photo in this post is of Jacquie and me in the Garden of the Gods...which was in walking distance of the conference center.  Let me just share a few hi-lites...

A New Year for Spain

Here's the letter I wrote for our Spain Partnership in January...thought you might like to read it, too.

Dear IAM Associate Members:

As we begin a new year, I would like to encourage all of us to revisit why we are seeking to establish a Vineyard church planting movement in Spain.  After all, there are many opportunities to minister both locally and globally.  Given this fact, why spend any of our time, energy, money, prayers and effort on Spain?  I think one of the keys in found in the book of Acts.

Sevilla Team Visit

We had Miguel Angel Pino, pastor of la Viña - Sevilla and a team from his church with us this past week.  it was great!  We heard stories of how God is moving in their lives, how important their relationship with us (the people who make up the churches of the Spain Partnership in New England) has been to them...stories of how God used many of us to pray for them, to encourage them, to bring His healing and forgiveness to them.  We had a paella dinner at Rob & Liz Davis's home (pastors of the Hopkinton Vineyard), we spent a day in Cambridge - walking the streets, checking out the Harvard campus, and in Boston - cappuccino in the North End, Quincy Market, the Boston Common, etc...

One of the highlights for me this trip was the worship and prayer celebration we had last Sunday evening.  After a time of worship, Miguel Angel shared about one painful truth about Spain's history:  the mistreatment and expulsion of the Jews.  This opened all of our hearts to the importance of repentance of things both small and great.  We then prayed for one another and God, miraculously, supernaturally, wonderfully...began to touch people.  A group of teens came forward.  Then some women who had trouble with their eyes asked for healing (*we prayed for them...to my knowledge they were not healed...but hey, doesn't the New Testament tell us to pray for the sick?  The healing part is God's responsibility!)  Others came forward for a number of reasons, and all were prayed for.  I know people felt God draw near to them (*Man, if you have never experienced this, go and check out a Christian church that prays for people!)

The team is now in Kingston with Don & Nancy Andreson, pastors of the Vineyard there.  I am sure they are going to have a great time!