Final touches

Day 11!

Today has been one of realised opportunity. We have had our usual groups, visited an old people’s home and toured a closed Azuaga mine. Following a successful morning, these one off visits enabled us to spend time with the more marginalised elderly population where we played songs and chatted with the residents. 

Meanwhile, following an invitation from two very welcoming attendees of the English language café, some of us had a tour of the mines in Peñarroya where we were shown the history of Spanish miners in a museum. We shared a drinks and stories with them afterwards.

Today we also attended a Catholic youth group which was a much anticipated occasion that has never happened before. Super exciting! The group has a total of around 60 young people with a wide range of ages. We spent the evening singing songs, sharing experiences, eating and dancing. This was a lot of fun and, for me, was a hugely uniting time. I felt that God’s love was able to transcend tradition and location and that us young people could connect over a shared interest. This much anticipated trip was wildly successful and, as our trip nears to an end, please pray that the connections formed with Peter and Kate would flourish in the future (particularly with the new friendship forming with the local priest).

Day 12!

This was our final day of both English groups. The English language café finished on a high, with great discussions about travel. The children and young people split into two groups, involving games and chat while the older group had some off topic discussion as ever. There have been multiple continued relationships within this group that have seen friendships develop. Pray that Peter and Kate would be able to maintain contact via the Café. Pray that this work would bear fruit. 

The kids work today was a bittersweet farewell. Working with the same 20 kids for 2 weeks has been both joyful and exhausting. We shared breakfast with them this morning as a surprise goodbye present. They were delighted by this. There were many hugs and goodbyes with both the kids and the Red Cross moniters. Pray that the kids would continue this interest in the group even following our departure and that we would leave a lasting impression. Praise God for the success in the group and the way our prayers have been answered.

Psalm 103 v 1 - 'Praise the Lord, My soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name'

Busy busy busy...

Day 9 and 10!

On Tuesday, we had a busy day in both the kids club (focussing on a circus theme) and the English cafe (looking at the sombre theme of slavery and trafficking). Some of us spent the morning playing basketball with a group of local girls, getting to know them. This has been a very exciting oppertunity for us to develop the friendships that were introduced in the park outreach events. These evening events have involved games, songs and sketches in the park, engaging the youth and having lots of fun together. Please pray for developments in these relationships. Pray that the young people of Azuaga would see something of Jesus' love in us and would want to know more of who God is.

Tuesday evening involved a quiz in the Alejandria cafe. This was highly successful and a great laugh, quizzing the locals on British trivia. There are a few regular groups in our activities, including a few older men, some teenage girls and younger boys. Please pray for continued interaction with these individuals.

We really appriciate your prayers and thank you for your support from home! I hope this blog is doing a good job of updating you.

Anna.

1 Corinthians 10 v 31 - 'So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God!'

Wednesday's update is brought to you by Issac!

Hola! We had a great turnout at the English Language Cafe this morning. We discussed weddings, Brexit, and the Catolonian Referendum.  We also discussed Spanish tongue-twisters and the pros and cons of attending a University. We were invited to the Azuaga Swimming Pool by two young people, where two of us attended.

At The Kids Club today the topic was sport and we made sock puppets. This was effective but please keep praying for energy for the team. The kids are hard work at times!

Tonight we split into groups and organised the "Fruity Family Fun Night" for Saturday.  Also, many of us will be attending a Gypsy Church tonight, so please keep that in your prayers.

We thank you for your continued prayer and support. We are loving spreading the Gospel through our various groups and we are looking forward to the remaining four days of our trip.

Thanks for reading,
Isaac.

Getting stuck in

Day 8!

Today's post is brought to you by Timmy.

Beunas Dias all from sunny Azuaga!

Today we continued building relationships, both in the English Language Cafe and the kids club, while seeking God's guidance more and more for those we meet and chat with.

Our theme for the English Language Cafe was about old age and caring for the elderly, this was a struggle as a lot of the audience was under 15! Due to the number and age range of people, we split into two groups, the men and the young people. During the morning we spent great times in conversation with the young people about what it is to be scared of something and what things they may be scared of; while our friends Antonio (1 and 2) and Pepe returned faithfully once again to improve their English through chatting about how caring for the elderly is different in Spain compared to England and what challenges they have personally faced. The team was a little 'thin on the ground' today as Josh, Timmy and Isaac were invited to play basketball with a few of local young people; but the team powered through with God's blessing.

At the kids club we had one of our best sessions yet! The kids were learning about body parts through a hilarious sketch were a crayon got stuck up the patients nose. The kids loved this! All in all the morning was very successful and positive as the craft, songs and games went smoothly. A blessing from God was that the kids adapted very well to the change in team with Ben and Silviu taking the place of Anna and Emily.

An opportunity arose through both Anna and Emily being invited to play basketball with some of the local young people. Myself, Josh and Isaac went along to show our support and to try and form relationships with those who we met during the basketball game. Please pray that more opportunities like this continue to arise. 

Monday evening will see the whole team visit the park once again and run various different activities to reach out to those in the park. Please pray that this will be a blessed time with much fun and laughter and that more and more locals will see the happiness and love that God gives through each of us.

Please pray that God will continue to bless the team and those around us with opportunities and Godly conversation.

Philippians 4:19 - "And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his Glory in Christ Jesus."

Rest and Spanish Church

Ollie has been making a video of our first week...

Day 6 and 7!

Today's blog is brought to you by Mark!

Hi all! Here is a very brief update on what we have been up to in beautiful Spain over the last couple of days.

On Friday evening we were treated to a guided, dramatized tour around Azuaga informing us about the lives of 3 famous people who were from Azuaga and went on to do amazing things. It was great to mingle amongst the local people in our team shirts and feel like part of the community. After this finished we went up to the castle and watched the red moon, marvelling at the incredibly bright, visible stars and planets which God created. Some time after we wandered around town where people approached us and we spoke to them about why we are here. The kids especially seemed fascinated by us and it was great to share a little about Jesus to them.

Saturday - (Rest day). After a long, hard week we were granted a well-deserved rest day! This was spent mainly at the pool where further friendships were made. The team had a tremendously fun time sunbathing and getting involved with the large water slide! Others wandered around the town exploring and getting to know the surroundings a bit better. In the evening Josh, Levi and I joined a basketball practice having made friends with one of the team during English classes the day before. It was great to witness friendships forming through sport and to see our team and the local people having such fun together! In the evening things got serious during the Ligretto playing, with Rahela and Anna eventually coming out on top!

Sunday - Today was Church! The service was led by the mission team in a mixture of English and Spanish. Each team member had a role and the Spanish believers really enjoyed our presence. It was so lovely to worship together in Spanish and be united in faith with our Spanish brothers and sisters. Praying together in our different languages was a particular highlight for me, it was so beautiful to share these moments. The team has really grown in their language skills and confidence over the last week and this was reflected in the quality of the service! The local community were really welcoming and happy to see us, it was such a lovely reminder that God’s family transcends language and individual culture.

The sermon which Nick delivered so well was on the parable of the Lost Son. A beautiful parable which always seems to touch people whenever and wherever it’s delivered. We were all reminded of how God’s love for us is so overwhelmingly deep that he longs to be in relationship with us no matter what we have done or however far we stray.  

This evening we shall be off the to the park again with plenty of games and a newly acquired football! Please do continue to pray for us, for confidence and wisdom in how best to preach the Gospel while we're here.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers, each day we are growing in faith and fellowship, forming amazing friendships and blessing this community in the name of Jesus and receiving many blessings in return!

Have fun in England, Sorry to hear the heatwave is over, I think it may have dropped a degree or two here today, so we feel your pain... !

Encouragement

Day 5!

Today's post is brought to you by Nick!

Firstly, I'd like to say a big thank you to all of your for reading, and for praying for us in Azugua.
I have been so encouraged to see the team working together, we looked at Phil 2:1-11 this morning as our quiet time passage, and it has been wonderful to see this being lived out in the team; people looking out for one another, putting others interests ahead of their own.
Ruth is coordinating the service for the church in Penarroya, for this coming Sunday, which as a team, we will be leading - really looking forward to this.

Today sees the end of our first week of programme - I have been in the Libreria Alejandria, with the English conversation classes. I got to talk to two men for the first time this morning, in one of three small groups. One was an Indian business man who lives here in Azugua, and the other is a keen runner (a lot faster than me!).

The other team had great fun making masks this morning:

This trip has been a reminder for me personally too - a reminder of how reassuring and how challenging Jesus' words are to his followers. Peter Knowlson lead us through the story of 'Feeding the 5000' a couple of evenings ago.. and the challenge Jesus gave them, of 'you feed the people', when that challenge to their ears would sound completly impossilbe, and yet, Jesus wasn't setting them up for failure. Jesus doesn't do that. Jesus has sent us here, to Azugua, He wants us to lean on him, to trust that He will achieve things in and through us that to our eyes are impossible, and He is not setting us up to fail. Jesus doesn't do that.

Please pray for our team, that we would lean on Jesus in new ways, in deeper ways during this trip - please pray the same for yourself too!

Thanks for reading,
Nick

Growing Relationships and New Challenges

Day 4!

Today's post is brought to you by Emily.

Continuing our time in Azuaga has brought some new relationships and challenges. However, God is sovereign and reigned through both.

In the English Cafe we had 4 new members joining us which is really encouraging as it has meant even more relationships building throughout the community. The topic of conversations was 'sport', which meant that there were many discussions that crossed the culture boundary. We are encouraged by these new people. But please be praying that we will have even more new members, to spread the love of God even more throughout Azuaga.

In the Kids Club we had a busy morning, with unforeseen circumstances meaning that we had to adapt to the situation. All worked out well, and we had a great morning learning about 'clothing and colours'. The session was followed by a trip to the local swimming pool, which the kids deeply enjoyed, and deeper relationships were built with the kids as well as the monitors from the Red Cross. We are encouraged by this, and pray that this will continue.

The kids decorated paper people to learn colours and clothes in English.

We are so grateful for the gifts God has given Wally, and the help that Ruth has given to provide the whole team with some amazing meals!

We have experienced some challenges today, where some of the team has felt disheartened in this new culture. But God has been gracious and we have been able to support each other through prayer and team morale. Please continue praying for individuals that you know in the team.

Romans 8:28. ' And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[i] have been called according to his purpose.'

Settling in

Day 3!

Today's post is brought to you by Josh.

As we continue in our missionary adventures here in Azuaga, we are learning more and more about our host families, the people of the area and the beautiful town itself! Another huge thank you for your valuable support in prayer for God's work here!

As mentioned previously, we made our way to a hill with a castle with believers from Peñarroya and Azuaga. We spent time worshipping in Spanish (God understands everything!) as well as praying, which was heard by God and some of the community.

Later that evening as we wandered around the town, we began to build relationships with some of the young people from the town, talking about what we're doing here. It resulted in them inviting us to a temporary water slide in the street, and we're hoping to see them again this evening. Please be praying for God to be working in their lives, as the Holy Spirit works through us.

This morning, we've met many new people again. Next to "La Casa de Rod" we've been woken up both mornings by road works (not too early fortunately). While taking a photo, one of the builders decided he'd love us to take his photo, as they've seen us walking past multiple times. We had a great conversation talking about why we're here. We are praying that further encounters will allow these men to get to know our awesome heavenly Father! Pray with us!

At the English Language Café, we've received answer to prayer, with many more people than yesterday; pray that more would come in the following days! We talked about what life and culture is like for young people in Azuaga, which is very appropriate considering we have many young people on our team. They're very curious about why we'd come to Azuaga, would love to meet up with more of us, and get to know us better. Once again, please be praying, our God is a powerful God and we can't do this without him!

The kids club team has had another successful day focussing on the theme of family. We did a sketch that the kids found highly amusing, representing charachters such as mum, dad, grandma and brother. They picked up the phrases quickly and have got to know them more deeply. We are already seeing relationships grow and have managed to communicate well via basic Spanish and smiles.
Please continue praying for this growth and that these kids would feel God's love via our deep care for them.

Thanks for your support!

'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!' - Phillipains 4v4