Is the world getting smaller?

I don't mean literally of course. But, I begun to question this common phrase many of us have echoed at different times over the years. I understand the sentiment - the world is most certainly more accessible than ever. This blog post proves that - I am in Spain, most of the readers of this blog are in the US, and I'm posting a video about Lagos that is being spread via the internet. It is easier to travel and communicate than at any other point in history. By far.

But the truth is that the earth is still physically as large as it ever was. In fact, more people are alive right now than ever before (duh). A friend posted this video about Lagos that really captured my attention. It was educational - I got to learn a bit more about a place I know very little about. But it also got me thinking. When I think of Lagos, I think of internet scammers and unlawfulness. Not much of a snapshot, is it? The sheer number of people who are (possibly?) living in this one city gave me pause to think. There are tons of these huge cities "popping up" around the globe that I know so little about. I know their names, where they are located (usually), and know when really bad things happen there.

I'm not convinced the world really is smaller - I wonder if we just delude ourselves into thinking that because we have the means to travel anywhere we want to. Plus, somehow it makes it not as important for us to stop and learn a little bit more about other places if we truly are all that much more connected - it minimizes the vast differences we have with others around the globe. IF the world really is getting smaller, it's hard not to feel overwhelmed by how the problems seem to grow larger as the earth seemingly shrinks like my wool sweater in the wash.

At any rate - if you've made it this far, you will be rewarded by a lengthy (by internet standards anyhow), but quality and informative video about Lagos.

Moist and Merry

We have had a good Christmas so far in our new home. Christmas Day was grey and rainy - see the pic above. This is how I always imagined winter in Galicia to be - but it has been the exception rather than the rule for us. Regardless, it was a fun morning to be inside and to open presents as we gathered around our new Christmas tree. We are building new traditions, so it is fun. The boys have been having a good time all around. We have a two-plus week Christmas break from schools - both the boys and I. It feels like the first extended time we've had as a family to simply exhale. While the pace of life never slows - it is nice to take a moment to pause and feel more 'settled' than we have for quite some time.

The Lord is good - in this season of celebration, we are grateful that he has provided a community here that we are connecting with. We shared meals with someone on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. We are of course missing home some, but feel that the Lord has blessed us in our first Christmas in Spain. It's nice that the holidays here give us reason to consider the Christmas story for a longer period of time. At home it is very easy for the real reason for Christmas to be forgotten outside of the 36 hours that encompasses Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Here they celebrate the arrival of the Magi on 1/6.

Merry Christmas to everyone! May you all experience the joys of Christmas, and have time to reflect on the birth of our savior!

Too late for Christmas Music?

I'm not sure if it's too late already to talk about Christmas music, but I thought I'd share three good finds from this year. If you shop on iTunes, all are economical buys: one is an EP, and the other two are currently available for eight bucks.


Bebo Norman: Christmas... From the Realms of Glory.
Bebo is not exactly a find that no one has heard of. He's been making quality CCM music for years. This is a quality album. The traditional tunes are unique enough in their arrangements, and I really like most of the original material. It definitely strikes me as a more worshipful Christmas album than I've heard in a while. (Why is it I feel compelled to describe it this way? That description is a sad commentary all on it's own).


Mindy Smith: My Holiday
This is one of my more pleasant finds. I've been reading good things about this artists music for a couple of years. She has two other albums out. This Christmas album was reviewed well, and I was looking for some new holiday music - at eight bucks, I took a chance, and have been pleasantly surprised. I think you'll like it too.


Hem: Peace at Last
This is a three song EP that I found on iTunes, and cannot find an image of it online anywhere else. Since I have not figured out how to get my iTunes album covers into this blog, you'll have to go to iTunes if you want to see the cover. Hem has been one of the bands I have been telling people about for several years now. I love their music, and their short 3-song EP was a nice addition to my Christmas music selection.

Merry Christmas and happy listening!

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas to all! I am so sorry it has been SO long since I blogged last. My unfamiliar path was a bit busy and crowded this month. It was hard to come by time to blog. Faith just posted tonight (again - she's been much more consistent about blogging over the last month - if you havn't checked her blog out lately, click here.)

At any rate, the entire family enjoyed a bit of Christmas Spanish style on Friday. First, Brennan had a teatro Friday morning. Faith and I crammed ourselves into a small hot auditorium to watch each class from Brennan's school contribute to a show. I fully intended to film Brennan's class and post it here for all to enjoy - but my camerawork was so awful, I will not impose it on anyone. Brennan, as always, was very cute about it all. He had to memorize four lines in Spanish that he recited with a group from his class. He is doing very well now learning Spanish.

On Friday afternoon Ryan's school had a Christmas party complete with lots of candy, presents, and a short kid-friendly program. Head to Faith's blogs to see pictures of the candy. While they do have "Papa Noel" here (Santa Clause) he is really no big deal. The guys that the kids in Spain get pumped about are the Reyes Magos - The guys we call 'The Three Kings' back home. Most presents here are exchanged on January 6 - The day of the Kings (Dia de Reyes). This is the day they celebrate the Magi coming to bring their gifts to the baby Jesus. Turns out it is pretty efficient - at least it was at Ryan's party. With three guys all dressed up handing out gifts, Ryan's entire school had received their gifts in a manner of minutes. All in all, it was a fun experience. I've included two photos of Ryan with 'his' king.

Human Tetris

Every day, at least one time, Ryan asks "Watch Jap-o-nese please?" By which he means he wants to watch this video.



After much prodding by my wife to post this funny clip, I have finally given in. The boys first got attached to this particular video when their Jio-jio (uncle) Clement e-mailed us a link to the video.

The funny part about Ryan asking to watch "Japonese" is that at first we didn't know which Japanese video he wanted to watch. Was it the silly engineering-type video that I can only describe as being "kind of like those big domino things, but not really because it's with marbles"? Or was it the traditional Japanese drummer video that came in a Paste Magazine DVD Sampler that Ryan inexplicably got attached to? Or was he asking about one of our favorite Strongbad e-mails where he talks about being a Japanese cartoon? So - as if those three were not enough to be confused by, he now has three more of these Human Tetris videos available on YouTube, as well as my personal favorite 'Jap-o-nese' (sorry Strongbad). Once again, words really can't explain this, but I'm sure you'll at least smile, if not laugh if you choose to watch.



Finally, since I'm on a roll, I thought I'd add one last laugh. This one is courtesy of our friend Jung who recently finished a round the world trip. It doesn't fit neatly into the Japanese groupings above, but the picture was taken in China, so, being on the same massive continent is close enough for me. I can't think of a better caption than his own caption from facebook.

can I get a "joss-stick hot nature roast chicken fortress"?

He had a number of pictures of funny translations into English. A close second in my book was the "Green grass is afraid of your trample." sign.

The Radiohead Effect

Paste Magazine is by far my favorite magazine. I really enjoy the effort they put into finding meaningful art. They focus mainly on music, but also get into film quite a bit. They touch on other subjects like books and video games as well. Their slogan is "Finding Signs of Life In Music, Film, and Culture." As a busy parent, I have found very little time to search for quality music and films - Paste has been incredibly helpful to me especially in finding new good music. They include CD sampler with each magazine. Their website is also pretty cool, usually highlighting some video and music on their site. On the whole, I find the site to have perhaps too much info, but I suppose that means just about anyone can find something that interests them.

The reason I am blogging about Paste right now is that they have shamelessly ripped off Radiohead's most recent marketing tool by letting you pay what you want for 11 issues (one year) of Paste. If you are interested, check out their offer. I heartily endorse the magazine, and this is a good chance to get an exceptional magazine at a price you appreciate. Did I mention the monthly CD alone is worth it?

Galicia

In my thankful blog, I mentioned I am thankful for the opportunity to live in Galicia. Faith rightfully suggested I might take some time to explain in a little more detail about it.

Galicia (pronounced gah-lee-thee-ah) is the northwest corner of Spain. The Atlantic coast defines the geography to the north and west. It is known as the Costa del Muerte - "the death coast" because the dramatic rocky coasts and poor weather has meant many tragic shipwrecks over the centuries. The land is mountainous (think Appalachians more than Rockies), and Portugal borders to the south. The weather is temperate, and wet. It rains quite a bit (or so we are told - the weather has been unseasonably warm and dry since we arrived) and the result are beautiful green landscapes, and equally beautiful and dramatic rocky coasts.

It is one of Spain's autonomous regions. It is part of Spain, but also enjoys a little more autonomy from other regions of Spain. This is mainly because the people here are a different people group than much of Spain (although to be fair, Spain seems to be comprised of many different people groups). And perhaps even more significantly, they speak their own language here, Gallego (guy-yay-go). It is not a dialect, rather it is a seperate romance language that developed at the same time as Spanish. It shares similarities to both Spanish and Portuguese. Gallego is the official language for government here, so much of the early paperwork we completed was in Gallego, as is most everything that is sent home from Brennan's school. The Gallegos are proud of their language and unique heritage.

This region is truly unique, and it's been a joy to begin to learn about it. We really are only just beginning to learn. My weak attempts at explaining it in a blog will only convey so much. If you like Wikipedia, you can read a little more about Galicia here.

We have taken way too many pictures as we've had chances to sneak out and explore Galicia in the short time we've been here. I've created another album on Picasa you can peruse if you are interested. I apologize in advance for the number of photos. Just recognize I am only posting the best we have taken. I just hope it gives even a small slice of how pretty it is here. As usual, you can click on the photo below to be taken to the online album.

Galicia

More Boat Photos

In one of my early posts I linked some pictures I had taken of boats near our new home. I mentioned that these little boats had really captured my imagination. To further prove my obsession, I have more than doubled the number of photos in my Picasa album. (yes, there are plenty more photos I didn't upload). Click on the photo below to be linked out to the album on Picasa.

Boats

Thankful

We celebrated our Thanksgiving today with other American missionaries living in Coruña. It was as good of a time as we could have asked for. 14 of us crammed cozily in our little apartment. Of course we ate ourselves silly on the standard poultry, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and pie, as well as some less standard (but no less good) enchiladas, and chicken corn soup. Certainly we have much to be thankful for. I thought I'd list out just a few.

Galicia

We have had the joy of visiting three different coastal villages on the three weekends prior to thanksgiving. This corner of Spain is unique and beautiful. Stunning really. We sometimes have trouble believing we actually live here now. We thank our father for creating such beauty.

Kids

See No Evil - When 8 month olds get silly.Explorers

As I was looking at pictures of our recent adventures I felt very blessed that our kids can experience all of this. And I am very glad to experience it all with them and in some cases through them. They have a joy in exploring all that is new here that is good to have around. Even trips to the store are exclamation point inducing for the boys. (Incidentally, and only on a hardly related note, I observed today that as a parent I am not a good judge of picture quality when my kids are in them. I keep the worst pictures of my kids because deep down I like the pictures solely because they contain images of my own progeny.)

Community

We feel blessed by the community that we are joining here. The people we have become closest to so far are the other missionaries here with whom we share a language. In addition to that small circle, Vida Nueva church has been very welcoming to us. We are excited about all of the budding relationships we are nurturing there despite our deficient language skills. We look forward to the natural maturation of these relationships as our language skills continue to improve. It is also great to see the kids really connect, play, and have fun with other kids.

La Eternidad

The day after my grandfather passed away, the Spanish word of the day for Faith was La Eternidad - eternity. It was another timely reminder of the gift of eternity that God offers to all. It is so simple to say it, but so true - I am thankful for the gift of eternity. As I processed my mourning for my grandfather I was struck that even after such a long and complete life, death still seems so unfair. Something in me still protests the unfairness of it. I think it gave me a window into the nature of death and the nature of our beings. No amount of time is enough for me, is enough for any of us. We were made with eternity sewn into the fabric of our beings. We were not made for endings. Eternity is the answer we each long for. On earth, no time is enough. So, the solution is literally 'no time.' We were designed to live in timeless eternity with the creator of the universe. I for one am thankful that Grandpa can now breathe deep with his longing for eternity fulfilled. I am grateful that we have a God who would sacrifice himself so we can join him in eternity.

Can you believe I slept in a....?

I ran across this article today about 10 unusual hostels found around the world. Sparked my imagination a bit. Enjoy.

The picture above is of the Point Montara Lighthouse in California. I shamelessly lifted it from the article linked above.

To a Life Well Lived

My grandfather, Wilber Swanson, went home to be with Jesus today at the age of 90.

He had lived with cancer for seemingly 3 years. He was strong, and he was humble. He lived far longer than the doctors suggested he would, strong until the end. My mom also reports that he died very peacefully.

There is much that I want to say about him, but at this time I could not write it well enough. He loved Jesus, he loved his family, and he was a hard worker. He was a part of the aptly named "greatest generation" that had seen so much happen in the world - he and his generation rightly earned that moniker. He was a good Swede and loved fishing. Probably quite appropriately never saw his beloved Cubbies win the World Series (he is obviously not the only one who can say that). He was much loved by his family, and we will miss him. We are in the conflicting place of being sad that he is gone, but glad on 2 counts: that he is no longer suffering, and of much more significance, he is home with his Lord and Saviour today.

We all literally live a moment away from eternity, but so rarely think about it. Heaven always seems so far away from our lives: far from both our daily routines, and far from all of the evil things that happen in our fallen world. But the reality is that from time to time we need to be reminded that heaven is not far away at all. Today we all have one more reason to look forward to going to heaven.

Grandpa, we love you, we miss you, and we can't wait to see you. We'll see you soon.

Impossible Rumors Could Be True

"Wind in the Net"
These days my heart can be black as a raven's wing.
But soon I'll run full circle, let the day begin.
Will you whisper in my ear?
Exchange my small coin fears
For the only rumor I hope is true.

My grandfather told me once, "Stand close to me."
The day he returned to the earth I feared the world would freeze.
Lowered in the cold, cold ground,
His gentle voice still the sweetest sound,
Please let the rumors be true.

Could have been asleep
But I swore that I saw you walking on a stone still sea.

The days, they will come, the days they'll go.
At times they'll make as much sense as a summer snow.
Catch the wind in a net,
Lest we forget
Impossible rumors could be true.

Could have been asleep but I swore that I saw you walking.
Could have been dreaming but I swore that I saw you walking on a stone still sea.

Now it's the fall, killing time in this holy place.
Suddenly everything is spilling with your grace.
Will you whisper in my ear?
Exchange my small coin fears
For the only rumor I hope is true.

Could have been dreaming...
Could have been asleep but I swore that I saw you walking.
Could have been dreaming but I swore that I saw you walking on a stone still sea.

This is one of my favorite songs, by the Harrod and Funck. I have always really connected with the expression of hope and longing in this song. For me it is an expression of my faith - that I am looking to exchange my fears for 'impossible rumors.' There is also this sense of darkness and mourning, yet within this, grace springs out unexpectedly, and everyday places become holy.

Obviously, with the author writing about the death of his grandfather, this song takes on further meaning for me with the passing of my own grandpa today. Songs like this give voice to the thoughts and emotions that are sometimes almost impossible to distill into words. My hope is that you too will be moved and encouraged by this song as I am. In the honor and memory of Grandpa.

Is this football or rugby?

Quite possibly the longest football play I have ever seen. Had me laughing quite a bit.

Donde está mi mente?

I have finished one week of language school. (Notice the significant decrease in posts in the last five days.) I also started school 2 weeks late. So, I find myself asking myself (reflexive what?) the question posted above. Only I ask it in english, as I do not yet think in spanish.

Where is my mind? I have taken in so much information my mind is on complete overload. I think even my english is worse than it was 5 days ago. Some of the most consistent thoughts I've had this week as I study would probably go something like this: "I recognize that... I should know what it means. I can't remember. Where's my dictionary? Oh yeah." I am continually looking up simple things over and over. I guess brutal repetition is the best way to learn. I know I am learning, but it feels like I am taking in so much information that none of it is sticking. If I knew the spanish phrase for in one ear, and out the other, it would most definitely be appropriate.

The good news is this: I expected it, and am not discouraged. I get frustrated with it at times, but not discouraged. This is the road to learning it. I hold onto the long-term goal of becoming more conversational by the end of the semester, and even more so by the end of the year.

Curious Discoveries

Our education here is continual, and I feel like I see and hear new things every day. Here are just a handful of sights and experiences that might give you some insight to our daily doings.

Four-wheelers: You may know them as ATVs - Call them what you want. I am not very surprised to find them in Spain. I am getting used to seeing a few of them driving on the roads. I saw this once in the first couple of weeks, and assumed it was unique. Since then, I have had several sightings of guys driving their four-wheelers in and out of traffic. They wear helmets, and outfits that appear like that of a motorcycle rider. I guess the only difference is that their 'bike' has a few extra wheels.

Headlights: Our car has headlights that turn off when the car is turned off. Therefore, since we park in an underground garage, our headlights are on quite a lot - resulting commonly in us driving with our headlights on during daylight hours. This evidently is somewhat of a cultural anomaly, as we have now had quite a few locals tell us that our lights are on (even while driving). I think for the most part, they are telling us out of neighborly care, and really feel like they are doing us a favor. So for that, I am grateful. I am just amused that this action, being pretty common where I come from, is abnormal enough for a number of strangers to feel compelled to inform us of our error.

Regisration: It took me 3 days to register for my language course. Three!!
Day 1: I went to the school, purchased the application forms (that's 3.50 euros for the application, thank you), and was instructed to return the next day with the completed forms, and proof that I had paid for the course via a local bank. Complete forms, and go to a local bank and successfully pay for the course.
Day 2: Return to register. Informed that there is a new process, and I now need to get permission from the Ministry of Education to learn Spanish (since I am a foreigner). Also discover that the class I wanted to take was two hours earlier than I expected (my error).
Day 3: Drive around Coruña searching for the right office to get permission to learn Spanish. Find office, get a short letter with an official stamp from a nice lady. If you are following along at home, you can rest easy, because I am now cleared to learn Spanish. Return to the school to register, and discover the class I had been trying to register for all along was closed. So instead of completing Spanish one over one semester of 2-hour a-day classes, I will now complete it over the course of the entire year with 1-hour a day evening class.
Conclusion: So, it never looks like I expect it to look, and it never goes as planned. Nothing here seems to be as easy as I think it will be. The good news is I finally get some classroom time in my quest to learn Spanish. I start Monday. The other good news is that God has proven time and again to provide what we need in his perfect timing - regardless of what we thought might be coming. We can trust with confidence that, once again, his place for me is not exactly the same place I thought it might be. Hasta lunes!

The Courageous Solo Backpacker

This is our friend Jung. Faith and I both knew him at Wheaton College (class 97, yeah!!). I have some fond memories playing floor hockey with him. At any rate, he has earned the (dubious?) distinction of being the first backpacker to stay with us here in La Coruña. He is on a 6 week trip through Europe with a trip to China tacked on at the end.

At any rate, he is doing this backpacking thing alone. I have much respect for those that choose the adventure of traveling alone. We were blessed to hang out with Jung for about 36 hours. It was nice to catch up, and nice to hear about his travels. I am convinced as ever that something much more elemental than tourism occurs when people travel the world in this manner. Sure, hostels and hotels are booked, tours are taken, and meals are eaten. There is undeniably a sense of holiday for such trips. But that is just the surface for many backpackers. For many there is a sense of experience that goes much deeper than checking off landmarks. There is a sense of searching and finding. There is a curiosity to see where, and how others live. There is some thrill in watching other cultures live out their daily routines. There is often a desire to experience something larger and different from yourself. I am glad Jung has the opportunity to experience it.

I am also convinced that God likes it when we seek, and is invested in helping us find. The New Testament speaks of living as strangers and aliens where we are. When we leave comfort and familiarity behind, we can be surprised by what we find as an outsider in a new place. Jung, we wish you all God-Speed, blessing, and adventure for the rest of your journey.

News Briefs

Open-Air Worship

The status of our church, Vida Nueva, is still unresolved. We met outside again this past Sunday, and are awaiting a response from the city government this week. So far no news.

The Sling

As seen in these pictures, Ryan realized on Monday night that his arm was feeling better. He's been good as new since, and the sling has only been used as a cartoonish headband. Sorry - we didn't get any pictures of that.

Hospitality of Strangers

“Hospitality is as close as we will ever get to the face of God,”
declared a rabbi. Hospitality is at the heart of the Gospel. God
was not willing that we, who were estranged from Him by sin,
should remain strangers. The Father sent forth His Son to extend
an invitation to His home, welcoming those who would receive His
invitation into a holy comm-unity called the Church. His desire
was that we be one in community with Him even as Christ was,
that the world would be convinced of Christ and His mission.
Hospitality is to reach to strangers. In a very real and growing
sense, we are all strangers here. We must grasp the God-breathed
need for Christ-infused hospitality to reach the virtual strangers
around us, beginning with those virtual strangers right in our midst
in the household of faith. Hospitality is glorious, but not glamorous.
It is not an artificial marketing tool but the Master’s authentic
method for birthing and maintaining relational community."

This thought was forwarded to me in an e-mail. I would love to tell you who wrote it, but it was unattributed. I felt the thoughts expressed were worth repeating and spreading.

The italics added are mine. Because christians have found so much in Christ, I think it is easy for us to come across as insiders. Christianity here in Spain, but also around the world, often has an image problem among not-yet-believers. Often, this image problem is genuinely earned. This article highlights some statistics published by the Barna Group highlighting how young adults in the US view christianity. It is important for us to reclaim our position as strangers and aliens among our neighbers, co-workers, and friends.

I also wanted to highlight the comment about hospitality being glorious, but not glamorous. In my experience it is always rewarding to welcome others into your home and life. But it often involves serving, sacrifice, and the messiness that real interaction with others often includes. One thing I felt we heard too much as we prepared to move to Spain were well meant encouragements that often made it sound like we had chosen some sort of higher way of life. It just isn't that way - there is nothing glamorous about our move, or our vision. I feel as obedient in following Christ to Spain as I did into my corporate cubical in suburban Chicago. Not glamorous, but in both places, there can be glorious moments when God is at work.

May we all feel a bit like a stranger, and experience a little of the joy of hospitality.

Unplanned Experiences: The Sling

We continue to learn about how to live here in Spain, and continue on our pretty constant parade of 'firsts.' We made our first visit to the emergency room here in La Coruña Thursday evening. We were visiting another home, and Ryan fell in the simplest of ways. He was already sitting on the wood floor, and he spun around to do something, lost his balance, and fell over. It took us 5-10 minutes to discover that his arm was REALLY hurting, and he would not allow us to touch it.

Once again, God really provided for our needs. We happened to be with a number of bi-lingual missionaries at the time, and one of them, Leah, was so great to give up her evening and help us take care of Ryan. We had been planning on applying for the public health care system on this coming week, so obviously had not registered yet. The local clinic took a look at Ryan anyway, and suggested an x-ray was necessary. This meant a trip to the local children's hospital emergency room, where they also helped us. .

Overall, Ryan was an excellent 2 year old patient. Especially one who missed dinner and bedtime to check out the emergency room. He obviously did not enjoy having his sore arm poked and prodded. He spent most of the time in the hospital in my arms, whimpering or crying. He gave several dirty looks to the Doctors who poked and prodded him. Despite his misgivings, the Doctors were very nice to him, and tried very hard to figure out if anything was wrong. The x-ray showed no broken bones, which is good. But evidently with children this small it is very difficult to tell if there is any ligament damage. He refused to use the injured arm for the entire visit. They said it's most likely a sprain, and put him in a sling. They suggested he take ibuprofen, and if he wasn't using his arm in 5 days to visit the pediatrician.

Here is a picture of him taken on Friday.

For our first experience into socialized medicine, it wasn't that bad. We've heard that waiting for a long time is the norm. (The socialized system is known for it's slowness. Our friend Leah, who was helping us, hurt her knee almost a month ago, and will not get it x-rayed until December!!) But in our case, it didn't seem we waited any more at the public hospital here than I ever have at a US hospital. We now get to urgently complete our registration for the health care system on Monday in order for this visit to be covered.

At any rate, he perked up almost immediately after we walked out of the hospital doors. Thankfully, Friday was a holiday, so we've had a three day weekend. It's been two days, and he is still in his sling, and still not using the arm. He's terrified to take it off, even though we have made him take it off once each day since. Outside of the very noticeable sling, you'd have trouble recognizing he's operating with one arm. He climbs around, makes trouble with his brother, plays and eats normally. I've included three more photos below to prove he did just fine as we did some sightseeing in Coruña today, and at the park. You can feel a little bad for him, but not too bad. After all, he gets even more attention now than he was before when we go out.

Throwing rocks.

Looking tough at the Torre de Hercules (Tower of Hercules - the oldest working Roman lighthouse in the world).

Enjoying some time at the park.

Brazilian soccer player sings James Blunt

I found this on a soccer blog. Luciano Emilio is a Brazilian playing for DC United. He is tearing it up this year, leading the league in goals. He is also a large personality, and quite funny. One of his teammates posted this video in his blog. You can follow this link to read more about the set-up.

Kids

Kids

Going through this life change with the kids is most interesting. It is obviously more challenging to make this kind of move with kids than without. But it has been a lot of fun to see them enjoy the changes. They have been very natural ice-breakers with Spaniards - they LOVE little children here. I created an album of photos of the kids we've taken since our arrival. Click on the photo to be linked to the album. Enjoy.

Ruins

There is this enormous mansion in ruins just about a block away from our Piso. Along with the boats, this mansion is the other part of living there that has captured my visual imagination.

Wish I could have seen it in it's heyday.

What do you do...?

What do you do when the police show up at your church with orders to close it down and bar you or your congregation from entering the building?

This is exactly the situation the pastor of our church in La Coruña faced on more than one occasion this last week. One week ago, on Sunday night, during a new members class, the local police showed up at the door of Vida Nueva with orders to evict the church from their building. The building was not closed down, but everything was removed from the worship center.

On Wednesday the police returned during a training session for missionaries in Galicia. This time the worship center (sanctuary) was closed down, and they sealed the door with official tape barring entry. The church offices were allowed to remain open.

On Friday afternoon the police returned to close the offices. Instead of having a class session with other missionaries in Galicia, we helped remove important items from the church that would be needed. Imagine you knew you had two hours to get as much out of your house before fire hits - this is similar to how the church staff operated on Friday. Whatever we did not remove Friday afternoon is now sealed inside the church. Print and television media came Friday to cover the event. I didn't see it, but the local news report was favorable towards the church.

The church leaders still are not entirely certain what is going on, or where the pressure to close the church is coming from. In the eyes of many Spaniards evangelical churches are cults, so the evangelicals are viewed with suspicion. There has been some friction in the past with one neighboring business over noise issues. The order to evict the church from the building had something to do with sanitation. At any rate, it feels and smells of repression and persecution based on religious beliefs. Certainly, Vida Nueva is a very active church, and is involved in a number of significant ministries. There is no doubt that whatever human activity is driving this opposition, there is a more important spiritual battle going on.

So, today, for the first time in my life, I was privileged to experience a worship service with a church body who had no home as a result of religious persecution. It was both surreal, and surprisingly normal. It was obviously a little more emotional than most services. It was a little strange I think for the neighborhood residents to see a church service outside. And it's not every Sunday service that gets covered by the local media. But, the overall hallmark of the service was that of community, peace, and joy. There was no public display of anger or bitterness. There were a few tears. But we worshiped, shared communion, passed an offering basket, and listened to a sermon on the body of Christ just like any other Sunday. It was a concrete reminder that Christ lives and works in and through people. The church is the community of believers, and does not need a building to worship and minister together.

I've already written a lot, and there is much more I could say. I don't have pictures or video of the events to post at the moment, but if I can gleam any from other sources, I'll post them here.

What I do have is the photo above (I recognize it's not perfect, but will give you some sense of the staging). Faith and Ryan are at the door to the church offices. The door to the sanctuary is the white door in the center. The church has a front courtyard/parking area that is big enough for three Euro-sized cars. This is the space in which we worshiped on Sunday morning.

What happens next? It's uncertain at best. Truly, God only knows where it goes from here. But I'll close by describing a short conversation that truly struck me in the midst of this. It was on Friday afternoon, there were no less than four police cars and 8 uniformed policemen at the church. The pastor and secretary were in the offices, and no one else was allowed to enter the building. There was a medium sized crowd of folks milling about outside the church uncertain of what to do, or what would happen next. Our friend Jerry arrived and walked into the crowd with a large smile on his face. He has decades of ministry and life experience. He was positively beaming and said, "Isn't this exciting?" I checked his face for humor or sarcasm - there was none. He was as genuine as could be. Then he said this - "God is up to something. Whatever happens here, His name will be honored. It's very exciting"

Boats

I have been surprised by my desire to take pictures since arriving here. Typically in our family, Faith is the photographer. But I have felt drawn to try and capture at least some of what I'm experiencing on film. I'm not sure if this is some subconscious need to process the life change we are experiencing, or what. Regardless, I'll try to start sharing more photos here.

One thing that has captured my imagination are boats. We live near a tidal river - here it's called a ria. It's a freshwater river that is not that large, and sits in a river bed far to wide for it. Each high tide fills the river with salt water and makes the entire body of water much wider. It really is very cool. At any rate, in our ria, there are a number of these little fishing boats. Many of them old, some of them painted in lively colors. Some are of questionable sea-worthiness - even to my midwestern eyes.


At low tide these little boats rest on the exposed growth and rocks.

These mostly sunken boats infer more usefulness in some unknown past. But they retain some sense of quiet dignity resting in such a beautiful spot.

Each boat is small, and uniquely made. They are very close to the Atlantic Ocean, but not very fit for ocean travel.

While these boats are pretty obviously have year of wear, many proudly display fresh paint and bright colors. As if they are struggling with all their might to remain not only useful, but pleasant.

Entering a new culture, at times I feel a bit adrift and perhaps a bit beat up occasionally. But I find incentive to not only try to be useful, but to try my best to put the best and brightest of paints on to remain attractive. I find myself looking forward to times when the tide is out so I can rest for those precious moments, and soak in the environment around me.

I wish you could experience them with me, but I hope these pictures do some justice to how captivating these simple boats are.

Our Story: Hostels, Spain, and Vision

Our friend Andy Burns helped us put this 7 minute video together (with the help of some footage lent to us by our friends who ran Cafe Terra Nova). It was designed to help us raise support, but does a good job explaining our history and vision in a relatively short time.

It is a bit dated in that the team from Santiago has sold their cafe and returned to the US to continue ministry. We still are planning on opening a hostel in Santiago, but are spending the first years in Spain in La Coruna as we learn the language and enter into the Spanish culture.



This video can also be found on YouTube here.

Fun fact: The footage of Faith and I was filmed in Woodstock, IL, where Groundhog Day was filmed.

Que tal?

This is one of the uber-basic Spanish phrases I have already picked up. I don't even know the literal translation, but it's essentially saying 'what's up' as a greeting. I've even toyed with delivering it 'wassaaaaaaap' style, complete with extended tongue.

Another word I hear a lot is claro. It is an indication that the listener understands. To me it seems that it is used most often when things are anything but 'clear.'

One of the things that I have observed in my first week here is that no business or system seems to be simple and clear. This is of course in relation to the veritable sea of bureaucracy and red tape that we have already navigated to find an apartment, open a bank account, register the kids for school, and register our residency. Maybe it's because I'm 'fresh off the boat', and each experience is brand new. Maybe it's because the Spaniards have had centuries to develop these intricate layers of bureaucracy.

It's actually not been that bad though. We have had LOADS of great help from a number of people here. Our red tape has certainly been confusing at times, but with help, both human and sovereign, it has gone much smoother than we expected. God is most definitely good.