Christmas in July

My team and I are doing well. In just 15 days we will be on a plane headed back to the United States. It’s been mayhem until this point with language classes, host family stays, three solid weeks of English camp with a total of about 150 campers, and three cities under our belts. Four weeks were spent in Granada, two weeks in Madrid, and just two days ago we arrived in Murcia. We are here 9 more days until we have our long-awaited team retreat back in Granada (just before our departure at home on August 2nd). Here’s a brief synopsis of each city:

GRANADA: southern Spain, tourist city, Arabic influence, nominal Catholics, many foreigners and middle-class Spaniards. We took formal Spanish classes where we had a spectacular view of the Alhambra. Google it and be jealous of the view! We also spent a week in preparation for and then a week of facilitating the first of hopefully many English camps for the neighborhood of Ojijares where we lived. The interns also stayed in Christian host homes where their Spanish was tested and where their patience with the culture and themselves was certainly tried!

MADRID: central Spain, tourist attractions and bull flights, Catholic influence, composed primarily of middle to upper-class Spaniards. We lived with non-Christian Spanish families where our Spanish was tested again and where we started to really get a feel for the lost-ness of the country. We taught English for two weeks to elementary school kids (350 kids sign up and only 100 are chosen at random to attend camp…HUGE outreach!)

MURCIA: southern Spain, high South American and North African immigrant population, Catholic and Islamic influence. Our time here is much more relaxed with down time, which I, in particular, am very grateful for. We spend most of our time entertainlng the missionary children. They are Nicaraguan so once again, our Spanish is being put to the test. We will attend and help run a four-day Christian camp this coming weekend. Next week we’ll sneak away to see the Mediterranean Ocean with the church family here and then we have a day to visit downtown Murcia with the youth before heading back to Granada.

We’re staying busy, but strong.

What does this have to do with Christmas in July? Nothing…just keep reading.

My mom is doing amazingly well. She is through cycle three of six. Her spirits are super high and she continues to encourage and bless those around her. Her faith is astounding!

Dad just had surgery to allow him to breath better, sleep better, and to eliminate risk of further sinus infections. He’s recovering well and hopefully will soon begin to see benefits of the procedure.

Please keep them both in your prayers! It’s been a long haul. We’ve got a few more months to go before they are in top notch, but God is most definitely leading them in that direction it seems! Thank you so much for praying for them! Christmas in July, you ask? Keep reading…

I’ve committed to reading the Bible in chronological order in 61 days. Yesterday was Day 47. And Day 47, you guessed it…Jesus was born! Hence, it was Christmas on July 18th this year!

Years of prophecy and expectation come to fulfillment in a tiny stable in Bethlehem. Ten tiny fingers, ten tiny toes, a precious little face…all wrapped up in a perfect package, or ”swaddling” clothes. There certainly wasn’t a bright red bow on the top of his head, nor did everyone consider Him to be the Messiah or long awaited gift of a savior from God the Father. But He was. The shepherds went with “haste” to behold Him. The wise men “rejoiced with exceedingly great joy”, while Herod obviously had other plans. Years passed and multitudes began to search for and follow Jesus. Others sought to slay Him, just like Herod.

And He was, for sinners, slain. Three days later, however, He arose and gave hope to a world of law-breaking citizens. Grace was bestowed and mankind no longer rested on his own offerings and sacrifices, but rather on the Lamb of God, whose blood sprinkled the nations of the past, present, and future.

As I write this blog, there are two Moroccan muslim ladies in the kitchen making Arabic food for my team. These ladies’ Spanish is limited. One is illiterate, even in Arabic that we know of. One is divorced. They both work diligently as maids where jobs are available here in the town of Murcia. They live as foreigners in Spain to have a better life than what they had in their home country, from what I gather. They are full of smiles and laughter, yet the Holy Spirit constantly reminds me that, without Jesus, they are but wanderers here without purpose. Their smiles will fade. Their laughter will cease. They are condemned without hope if someone doesn’t introduce them to that tiny baby boy who was born for them 2,000 years ago.

It’s the same with my friend, “C” whom I got to go out with two more times, thanks to many prayers! I was not able to share directly about Jesus and His redeeming grace, but I was able to clarify some specifics about Christianity as opposed to the Muslim faith. “C” needs to be introduced to that tiny baby boy.

One of my host families along this 2-month journey desperately needs to know Jesus. They are VERY adamant that Christianity is mythical and a just bunch of rubbish. Those weren’t their exact words, but It doesn’t sit well with me when someone bashes my Jesus. I understand why they still seek to “slay” Him. It’s because they don’t know Him like I do.

I just wish, with all my heart and soul, that they did.

61 days. I will make it. I’ve never read the Bible through before with the exception of when I was in Bible college when the Bible was a textbook to me. While in Spain it’s been an action/thriller/suspense piece of non-fiction that I can’t seem to live without. No, I don’t absorb everything, but I certainly haven’t skimmed anything either, not even the genealogies! God has blessed me and once again reminded me of His plan for the world. 2.4 billion still don’t know…

…about that tiny baby boy.