I am finally settling in here. I’m catching the bus on the right side of the street and showing up on time more often as I am getting lost less frequently. I have been in Granada, Spain now for about two and a half weeks and am finally past the initial orientation phase. There is still a learning curve for the language, but all things considered, all is going very well!
Connecting with New Family and Friends
My church is a really great, tight-knit bunch of people from all over the world. A few missionary families from Mexico, Holland, Guatemala, and elsewhere; a few other expatriates; and a lot of locals (Granadinos). For the first time, the church had a Passover service and there were over 40 of us there. Singing together, learning and reflecting on the story of the first Passover celebration and the atonement through Jesus Christ. It was a really special time- family time. This experience helped me to see once again, but in a new way, the mystery of the Gospel and the connection that we have as the Body of Christ. As people from all over the world with no former connections or blood-ties, we become family, actual family, in our union with Jesus and one another. Words really can’t express it, but an experience like this expresses the heart of God in a most intimate way. The love that we have for one another is the same love expressed all around the world in every expression of Christ’s Church.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13: 34-35)
Christ loved all and loves all and we who belong to Him are filled with His Holy Spirit. We are transformed and captivated by the love that He showed to us on the cross, in his time on earth as a man, and continually in our daily lives through the ongoing, tangible relationship with Him.
I was not only blessed with this special dinner at Communidad de Fe, but have been invited to share many meals with families in the community and have been out for countless tapas now. One family in particular, however, much like Jesus, has shown me more love that I could ever expect. The Martinez-Nuñez family has become really special and dear to me. In the past six or seven years, almost all of the family of five have come to know and love and follow the Lord, starting with the oldest daughter, Alba. When Alba was 19 and in college in Madrid, she encountered a group of missionaries from the United States. After the missionaries left she started getting to know a missionary family with the ministry who were living full-time in Madrid. Alas, the love of Jesus shown through their marriage and their Christ-centered community drew her in more and more until the love and acceptance of the Lord was all that she wanted. We really connected on this as I came to know the Lord in a very similar way. After Alba devoted her life to the Lord, like dominos others in the family started coming to faith in Jesus as well. Truly a miracle! Now, the family is a shining example of the redemptive power of God on this earth. An example that I aim to follow.
Fighting
Overall, things are great here. I'm surrounded by people who care about me and want me to learn and succeed. That being said, life in a new language has been anything but easy. It has been frustrating at times and almost unbearable at others. Having very little training or education in Spanish before moving here, not only is my knowledge of the language very limited, but I am still getting accustomed to listening and discerning what words I am actually hearing. Some days I listen to people talk and nothing registers. Between the headaches and random spells of tiredness, the first half of each week has been a real struggle. On top of that, most Spaniards from other parts of the country can hardly understand the local dialect/accent. Every once in a while, I get moments that are really sweet when I can really connect with people and we understand each other almost perfectly. But for the most part, it has been a battle.
Some days I have gone almost all day fighting through it and speaking in Spanish pretty well, but most days I'm able to take it in in stride. My host family speaks really good English and so do a lot of the younger people at my church, but I know that I really need to be disciplined and not give into that temptation. It is the only way I will learn. My Spanish classes are helping me to be motivated by giving me new vocabulary and tenses to try to use/conjugate, but speaking in English here is kind of like really strong drugs. It hinders me from learning and pulls me back time and time again like an addiction, but it also makes me feel better when I am struggling to connect with others, which is what I have been lacking most here due to the language barrier. And just like a drug, once that door is opened, it’s nearly impossible to shut. Its addicting, but I know that I will need to be committed since I am in it for the long haul.
Pray With Me:
- For continued blessing over the Body of Christ in Granada as we live and grow together in the faith and share the love of Christ
- For this missionary to learn Spanish fast
- For continued courage and commitment to plugging in with the culture and becoming all things to all people
*To support this ministry through financial contribution please see the green link on this page: "Support This Ministry"
** For More information on my specific assignment, see the following link to Avance España: https://gocorps.org/tracks/placements/n/9087556?platform=hootsuite