September Update

 Thank you so much for your prayers while I was in Spain! 

Carmen’s wedding was absolutely gorgeous! It was so neat so see Carmen’s calm spirit and trust in the Lord throughout everything. I am so thankful I was able to be part of her special day. Joaquín and her are so excited to start their lives together. Please pray for them as they begin their married lives. 

After the wedding, I spent a week visiting the different sub-teams of World Team Spain. It was a great opportunity to get to know the teams, their cities, and their visions and to see how God might use me on each team. The sub-teams are in 4 cities - check out my previous blog posts to read more about them. 

A key element in where I will serve is the team I will work with. Since I am single, the team agrees it is important that I have teammates who I can connect with and have solid relationships with. Part of me believes it would be really nice to be married to be able to go anywhere God might call me rather than be “limited” in focusing more on team than location/need, but in my heart I know that I’m really not limited. God has me single for this stage in life for a reason and team will forever be an important aspect of life whether married or not. Each sub-team in Spain can use more help though! The need in Spain is so great, and we need more workers to share the gospel. Maybe God wants you to serve in Spain too?! 

While the need in Spain is so great and God could use me in some capacity on any team, we want the team where I can best use the gifts God has given me to further His kingdom. I have discussed with Tim, the field director for Spain, where I think God could use me on the team. The whole World Team Spain team has a retreat this coming weekend where they will discuss how and where they think God could best use me. Please be in prayer for the team and this allocation process! It will affect where WE do ministry together.

Thankfully, the trip reignited my passion to reach Spain with the gospel. There is such great spiritual need. I am anxious to get back and share God’s love with the people! Check out below how you can help me get there. Thank you for taking part in helping bring the gospel to Spain. Your prayers, support, and encouragement are deeply valued and needed. Thank you!

With love and thankfulness, 

Kelsey

Partnership Development

God is providing in amazing ways! It is so humbling and amazing to watch God work and move in ways I never imagined. Thank you to those of you who are already part of the team to bring the gospel to Spain. We have over 100 prayer partners! We have 67% of the monthly needs met, and we have 87% of the one-time needs met. Praise God!

There is a training in January that I need to attend. However, I need 75% of my financial support in order to attend this training. If I miss this training, I will have to wait until July to go. Please help us this month in reaching 75% of our monthly needs. $50 per month equates to a little over 1% of my monthly needs. If just 8 people would commit to $50/month, we'd have 75%! If 4 families would commit to $100/month, we'd have 75%!

Please pray about how you, your small group, or your church could take part in the ministry in Spain. I'd love to meet with you and discuss how we could partner together. Please let me know if you have any questions or if you would like to meet!

Day 10

Pricilla, Sara, and Kristen

We met Sara and Priscilla today and walked around the city with them. Sara is a evangelical believer from Malaga who came to study here in Cáceres because there are so few believers. Ever since she was young, she wanted to do missions in Africa as a nurse. I have not met someone like her here before! She really wants to reach the university students, and is forming a group with the Christians here to do so. Last year they didn't have much success at all, so they are brainstorming and praying for this year. Priscilla is originally from Michigan and came here to teach English for this year. 

The catholic church in Arroyo de la Luz

 This afternoon, Tim took Kristen and I to Arroyo de la Luz. It is a pueblo of 6,500 people where there is no evangelical church and only 3 families of believers. The church in Cáceres hopes to plant a church there.

At the Plaza Mayor

Day 9

Paul & Tamara's family
Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of Miguel & Carolina's family.

Craig took me on a running trail up the mountain this morning, and it was really pretty. It was the most green I've seen on this trip! We had breakfast with Doug and Amy, and then he put me on the bus to Cáceres. Tim was at the bus station and then took me to Badajoz to meet the team there. I had lunch with Paul who's from the Dominican Republic, his wife Tamara who's from Slovakia, and their 3 kids (17,14,9?). Paul is an evangelist, and Tamara is gifted in music and has begun 2 choirs that evangelize to the region of Extremadura. They have a vision to see churches planted in the small towns around Badajoz. Towns of 4,500-6,000 that have no evangelical witness. They desire to see other nations come and help build these churches. They've involved a church in Nebraska that comes with a group of college students who live in Spanish peoples homes n Alberqueque for a couple weeks in the summer and love the people and build relationships that way. I really like this! because I want to involve more of YOU, my team, in coming to Spain and doing ministry here too. Paul and Tamara are working with another couple who I met after lunch. Miguel is Spanish and his wife, Carolina, is from Luxembourg. Miguel is a pastor, and Carolina is gifted in music and hospitality. They also have 3 kids (17,15,11?). After getting to know each other, they took me to the bus station to go back to Cáceres. Tim was there again to pick me up, and we went to his house where we had dinner with Paula and Kristen. (Kristen came to Cáceres for the weekend.) It's been a full day but a good day. God is good all the time. All the time, God is good. 

Day 8

Doug & Amy's family.
Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of Craig & Ada's family. 

I spent the morning in Salamanca and then came to Bejar with Ada, who is a missionary with World Team. Ada is Spanish and her husband, Craig, is originally from South Carolina and has been in Spain for 27 years. They have 4 kids, 3 are living in Salamanca (1 with the university ministry there and 2 in college). Doug and Amy are also World Team staff here in Bejar. Doug is from South Carolina and Amy is from Racine; they have 2 kids (6 and 2 years old?). There basically isn't a need for me in Bejar because there is already an established church and not many youth. However, they're praying about a church-plant in Salamanca, and I could be used there. It's not really been formulated as a plan yet and seems not definitive at all. We'll see what God has for this Bejar team as they have 2 cell groups in smaller towns nearby. 

Day 7

I had a really great day with Kristen today. It was nice getting to know her more and being able to share our hearts for Spain. She showed me the school where she's taking Spanish classes, which is most likely where I will take classes too. She also brought me to meet some people who are part of the university ministry in this city. I learned a lot from her just about the adjustment of moving to Spain and being alone in this city. I think we'd work really well together. Whether or not we're in the same city, I don't know at this point, but I do know it'll be great having her as a teammate on the Spain field. 

Day 6

Julia, Johan, Cesar, & Hannah

I spent the morning talking with Heidi Schmidt and getting to know her and her family more. Then we went to the market and stood by a table where they rent books to people for free. They've been doing it every week as a way to connect with people but haven't had much feedback from it. One lady did stop by who knew Heidi and Julia and told them she had questions about the Holy Spirit as she didn't think the Holy Spirit was a separate entity but rather a force/strength within her. They made plans to meet this weekend and see what the Bible says about the Holy Spirit. After the book table, I went with Heidi to pick up her kids, Brian & Cecilia, from school. Many parents were waiting outside the school, and I can see how you could possibly begin relationships talking with other parents there. We had lunch at Cesar and Julia's house where I got to know them better. Cesar is originally from Colombia, and Julia is from Germany. They both accepted Christ in Spain and then went to seminary in Madrid, where they met. They have two kids Johan (3) and Hannah (1 1/2). Cesar said he is praying for me to be on their team and was trying to convince me to join them. He said they need someone young to reach the youth and that I could teach English, coach basketball, be close to Madrid and host people flying in and out, which I thought would be nice to involve you (my home team) in visits and serving in Spain and possibly in intercambio relationships with the Spanish families. After lunch, I got to go to the dentist with Cesar's family, and then he took me to Madrid to take the bus to Salamanca.

Salamanca is where I will most likely study Spanish for the first 6 months that I'm here. Kristen Bond, a full-time staff member with World Team, began her service here in Spain 3 months ago and has been studying here in Salamanca. It's been fun to get to know her, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her more tomorrow and seeing more of the city. When Kristen finishes her studies in Salamanca, she will join the team in Caceres and focus on a university ministry. It's possible that we will be future teammates in that ministry if God leads me to serve in Caceres.

Day 5

I was able to enjoy the morning with Carmen's family while trying to figure out the meeting plans with World Team. Carmen and Joaquín joined us for lunch and picked up their suitcases for their honeymoon. They are going to Boston, NYC, and Washington D.C. I'm very excited for them and can't wait to hear about it! Since Carmen's parents were taking them to the airport, they insisted on bringing me to Velilla to meet up with World Team teammates. I insisted on taking the metro as they had already been far too good to me, but they wouldn't back down. It was very nice and generous of them to do that, and I can't say thank you to them enough for all the kindness and love they showed to me. They treated me like family; Carmen's mom said I was their adopted daughter as one moved out, another moved in. I thank God for them and am completely humbled by their generous love. 

I met Cesar who brought me to Marvin & Heidi Schmitt's house where I spent the day and night. Marvin and Heidi are both missionary's kids who grew up in Paraguay, married and lived in Paraguay for 7 years, then in Canada for 6 years, came to Spain 2 1/2 years ago with Avant ministries, and joined the World Team Spain team 1 1/2 years ago. Their kids are Carla (13), Brian (10), and Cecilia (6). Velilla is a liberal town of about 15,000 with no evangelical church. They are having a hard time making friends and seeing any fruit. They find the soil very hard here. Many families have moved to Velilla recently, so their is a lot of youth that I could potentially work with. One woman we met in the park said that yes, I should come so I can teach the kids English from a native speaker. We'll see what God has in store!

Day 4

It sure was strange crawling into bed at 7 a.m. instead of getting out of bed at that time. It was great to have this day to rest and continue enjoying time with Carmen's family. Tomorrow begins the week with World Team. Please pray that I would hear God's voice, enjoy the week and not analyze every moment but trust God to make the big picture clear.

Carmen & Joaquín's Wedding Day!

Getting ready...

The whole day was so beautiful. It was great to spend the day with Carmen while she got ready. She was so calm and acknowledged this day was very special but wasn't a "princess day" as she referred to it. She was excited to begin living together with Joaquín and have each other for the rest of their lives. Carmen was so calm and not picky about anything; she trusted everything to God's hands. And it was beautiful! Their ceremony was very special, and people noted how special it was because of their relationships with Christ. Dinner and dancing took us through the night, and it was all so beautiful. Praise God for this new couple who have devoted themselves and their marriage to Christ!

Day 2

I promise I have pictures of us doing other things than eating, but I don't want to reveal anything related to the wedding before the big day! 

Today we could all sleep in, and it was much needed! We enjoyed a relaxing morning, and then Carmen and Joaquin got to spend the afternoon together. I really enjoyed the time I got with Carmen's family and was able to practice my translating skills by going between the Spanish and American families. I am learning so much Spanish by living with Carmen's family. We've had a couple people ask if I'm Carmen's sister, and that is very fun as I always wanted a sister (although I do have one now in Ashley : ). I feel so blessed and unworthy to be given such special time with Carmen and her family and to know such a loving, generous, and kind family. They are truly wonderful. I thank God for this time and am excited for Carmen's big day tomorrow!

Day 1

It was such a joy and blessing to be with Carmen and her family today! We were very busy, and Carmen has been extremely busy all week preparing for the big day. Please pray for her to get the rest she needs! We enjoyed a nice dinner tonight with Carmen's Spanish & USA (host) family as well as Joaquin's USA (host) family too. I thank God for a fun-filled day and am so ready for bed after just an hour of sleep on the flight over. Praise God for this blessed day!