About 7 years ago I traveled to the south of Spain to work along side missionaries who lived and served in Jerez. I lived with them for three months and because of my experiences there, the people of Spain have been on my heart ever since. I was surprised, though, that upon my returning from my first trip to Spain that my path was leading me in a very different direction. The doors were flung wide open.....in the direction of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. And here in Montreal I have been living for the past five years. It has been an amazing five years... tough but good, BEAUTIFUL, sometimes exhausting and yet strengthening my faith, BEAUTIFUL, broken and restored, BEAUTIFUL. The Lords ways are better than our ways. His plans full of purpose and hope. We will not always understand but we can trust Him completely. I have been privileged to be a part of a community of believers here in Montreal who, by the grace of God have overcome many trials together and have come out on the other side closer to one another and more importantly, closer to the Lord. 
When you are part of a church plant you wear many hats in the beginning. Sometimes you even wear hats that aren't the right size, make and model for your head but you are willing to look silly if it means that others will be blessed. But there comes a time when a person comes along that is perfect for that hat and it is time to pass it on. Lately I have been giving a lot of hats away so to speak and it makes sense that the church is benefiting from the right hats fitting the right heads. Many in our congregation are taking steps forward and walking in the gifts that the Lord has given them for the benefit of the whole body. They are willingly and lovingly taking advantage of opportunities to minister to one another. As we are challenged to serve one another by exercising our gifts we are bound to grow more and more in our love for one-another and in spiritual maturity. It is happening! One word...FAMILY. One more word...Amen! Galatians 6:6-10
So after sharing all of this, you might be wondering why I started out talking about my first trip to Spain.... Well it has long been a desire of mine to go back someday and about two months ago I was blessed with the opportunity to take a nine day trip to southern Spain. I flew to Malaga to visit with the Martos family (the pastor and his wife of a Calvary Chapel Church plant in Rincon de la Victoria) with whom I had been corresponding for about a year. It was such a blessing to finally get to meet them in person and to see with my own eyes the fruit of the ministry they had been pouring into for about three years. On top of the joy of returning to a country that I love, I had the added bonus of experiencing it all with both my parents and my grandmother. I admit that I am a bit spoiled. We spent one wonderful week with our church Family in Rincon de la Victoria where we were treated with such hospitality, you would have thought that we were related by blood. While there we attended all the weekly church meetings such as the Wednesday night prayer meeting, the men’s bible study (attended by my father) and the Sunday Service. Before traveling to visit the church, Eunice (the pastors wife) had asked me to prepare a teaching for a special woman’s bible study event. A bit nervous, I prepared my teaching not knowing my audience’s ages or backgrounds. I prayed that the Lord would use me to speak to his daughters whom I had never met but whom He knew intimately. When the event took place, praise be to God, we had a truly beautiful time with the ladies who attended and I felt as if we all had know each-other for years. The Sunday service was the first time I had ever heard Ivan Martos (the Pastor) teach and I was truly impressed, not that it was his goal to impress. As he taught it was evident that his heart for the congregation was truly a heart of love; desiring to disciple by teaching humbly the word with authority. I found the Martos family and their parents, who served along side them, to be genuinely loving, hospitable, godly and down to earth people. My family and I had a truly exceptional visit with our new family in Rincon de la Victoria. 
The last three days of our trip we traveled to Toledo, Spain where we believe many of our ancestors came from, on both my father’s and my mother’s side. We invited a missionary named Eric Flores take the trip with us. Eric had also played the part of a wonderful host almost the whole time we were visiting the church. He was only going to be in Spain for one more month after living there three years. As he hadn’t had the chance to travel around the country much, he gladly accepted the invitation. The city of Toledo is a beautiful combination of Medieval, Jewish, Moorish and Spanish architecture. It was surreal walking down the steep, narrow, cobblestone streets feeling like you had stepped back in time a few centuries. I loved watching my parents and grandmother walking around looking as though they had returned home. It was a bit of an adventure trying to drive down these streets but with the help of a few back street drivers my father pulled it off like a pro. On the way back to Rincon de la Victoria we spent one night in Granada where, because of arriving during a festival, we saw hundreds of women dressed up in Flamenco dresses.
Our last day in Spain we spent with our new church family who had prepared a feast for us upon our return, including the best paella I have ever tasted in my life. We spent as much time together as we possibly could before we absolutely had to leave to prepare to fly out the next day. We kissed goodbye and each shed a few real tears. It is amazing how close you can become in such a short period of time. One last thing I would like to share with you is that I planned and took this trip with the desire to seek the Lord’s will; more specifically if I should join this church family in their ministry efforts to serve the people of Southern Spain on a long term basis. I would really appreciate your prayers concerning this possibility. The experiences I had there were more than encouraging, but my greatest desire is to be in the center of the Lord’s will. To be living In His ways and in His will is not always the easiest place to be but it is the only place this crazy pilgrim feels at home. If you are interested in how you can be involved by way of financial support you can do so by contacting:
Global Adventures
Phone #: 1(505)338-3680
4001 Osuna Rd NE Albuquerque NM 87109
E-mail: contact@globaladventures.org Website: www.globaladventures.org
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