Pages

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Finding Freedom


Living in Spain has brought all kinds of learning experiences for me. I’ve gotten to learn new things about language, culture, driving, teamwork, and church-planting to name a few.

I’m also learning a lot about myself. As I’ve had to make many decisions on my own here, I’ve learned that I am a terrible decision-maker! It takes me way too long to make a decision, and I often second guess if I made the right one.

One day talking with my mom I asked her, “Was I always like this?!”

She said, “No, it’s gotten worse as you’ve gotten older.” As I reflected on my life, I realized that as I grew in my faith I became worse at making decisions. How could that be?!

It shouldn’t be that way! But I’m starting to realize that I have feared upsetting God. I have feared falling back into sin, and I have feared losing Him. These fears are not based on God’s truths, and they have paralyzed me for too long.

God promises us freedom not fear. I’m in the beginning of this journey towards freedom, and I don’t know what it’s going to look like or what it’ll take to get me there. I am excited to begin the journey though and hopeful that God is going to teach me what it really means to be free in Christ. 

Thank you so much for doing life with me and taking part not only in what God is doing in Spain, but also in what God is doing in my life. I’m so thankful for your partnership and could not do this without you!


Thursday, February 26, 2015

February Update


Thank you so much for your continued partnership in prayers and finances. I am so encouraged by you and thank God for each one of you. I can’t fully express how encouraged I am by your partnership. It’s such a blessing to know I’m not in this alone and that you care about the Spanish people too. Thank you so much!

In the last newsletter, I mentioned that we were praying about a trip to the USA this summer with students from the English Academy. Good news is things are rolling to make this happen!

This past weekend we had an informational meeting for parents and students interested in the trip. We had 5 boys show up! Praise God for their interest. We hope and pray that we fill the 10 spots to give the max amount of kids this experience. Students have 2 weeks to sign-up, and we would like to see some girls sign-up too! 

This trip would be during the month of July. We aim to place the youth in homes with youth around their age. The students would spend 2 weeks with the family and then head to Castaway Club (a Young Life camp) for a week. The final week they would return to their host families. 

We are planning about one event a week for the Spanish youth. We’d like them to spend as much time as possible with the families, improving their English and making a strong connection. Our hopes are that the students see and feel the love of Christ in the families they stay with.

Please pray for this planning stage as we make arrangements here in Spain and in Wisconsin. 

Thank you so much for taking part in what God is doing in Spain! Please let me know how I can be praying specifically for you too.

Friday, January 23, 2015

January Update


I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas and are enjoying the new year!

God has provided a really neat opportunity for me this month: I get to live with Carmen’s parents! Carmen is my good friend from Madrid who was an exchange student to Oostburg High School. In order to become more fluent in speaking Spanish, I needed to be in a situation where I would use it more. 2 weeks in and I can say it’s been great! 

Carmen’s dad is retired, so we spend a lot of time together. He asks many questions about English that I turn around into questions about Spanish. We make a great team!

While I’m in Madrid, I also have the opportunity to learn more about other ministries in Spain. I’ve been able to visit other Christian organizations, meet different missionaries, and attend local churches - Catholic and Evangelical. We hope this time of learning will help me glean ideas and vision as I pray about what God wants ministry to look like for me in Spain.

Please pray that this month is a great time of learning Spanish: language, culture, and ministry. 

I’m excited to see what God has in store and what I’ll be able to put into practice when I go back to Cáceres. Thank you so much for being part of what God is doing here in Spain!

With love, Kelsey