Happy Sunday!

 

I went on a walk this morning to the top of the hill that blocks our view of the airport. In the picture above, our house is in the second row of red houses on the left, third house in from the end. Got it? I was proud when I found the house, but weirded out that I could see my bathroom window. It's a whopping mile long walk, roundtrip, due to the winding route and you have to watch your step because people take their dogs off leash to do their business. There isn't much vegetation, but it's best to stick to a path to avoid the many varieties of cacti. I slipped on some loose rock and caught myself hard on my hand to discover the volcanic rock is pretty sharp to land on. I dusted off red dust from my shorts as I found my feet again. The view is beautiful with the rising sun.

I had been trying to take a picture of this "shrine" when I slipped. Someone placed rocks so they could prop this stucco image of Mary overseeing the city of San Isidro. Finding myself on my rump, I sat there for a while praying that people in those homes would know that Jesus is the only way, only truth, and abundant life.

At church, we had two new people: Anita and her little boy moved here a year ago from Austria. She is thrilled to have found a church so close to where she lives! Anya is on vacation from Germany, enjoying the windsurf in El Médano (the town where the church is located). Anita and Anya both speak excellent Spanish!

I had the privilege of teaching the children's Sunday school class during the preaching time. I was bummed to miss the sermon on Elijah that Yoe preached. He is quite insightful when drawing his conclusions from the text.

We had five children today (the smallest boy in the photo wasn't there), so that meant that after the time of the Lord's supper, we gathered the children from their parents and walked two blocks down to a beauty salon that Vesna (she and her husband attend church and are from Slovenia) loans us on Sunday mornings. I mentioned before that if there are less than 3 children, we let them stay with their parents for the service time. Today we got to learn about Balaam and the donkey (Numbers 22-24). It was so much fun because it was the first time they had heard the story of the talking donkey. Of course one of the kids had to relate it to Donkey in Shrek, but one of the older ones pointed out that Shrek isn't real like the Bible.

Join us in praying for a bigger building where we can have classrooms besides a larger meeting space, and ideally, parking! 

Ok, we've come to the part of the blog where I show you silly things.

Well, this one isn't silly. Sorry, I set that up wrong, didn't I? I took this picture because the street is named after one of my favorite poets, Gustavo Adolfo Bécker. It does give me the opportunity to point out that the residential streets don't have street signs on posts, but rather stuccoed onto the wall of the end house. And yes, all the houses have bars on the windows.

This is a mail vehicle! (I haven't yet seen an Amazon van.) The logo has a crown because it is the Royal Mail of Spain. Yes, Spain has a monarchy, and the government is socialist. I'm not sure how all of it works. But they do have a mail system, which is different from Ecuador. I mailed a postcard the other day, so we'll see how long it takes for my nieces and nephew to hear from me.

Speaking of my nieces and nephew, they call my mom "Ita" short for "abuelita" which is grandma in Spanish. Obviously, she's been keeping secret this restaurant named after her just up the mountain from me. It's supposed to have great Canarian food, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet. I'll let you know once I do. Especially if i happen to bump into my mother there!

My coffee included an inspirational sugar packet the other day. It says, "May your dreams be greater than your fears". Thank you, Café Ortega. I'll keep that in mind.

This is how I pictured my internship: seated at a sidewalk café, enjoying a coffee with friends from church, with a nice view of the sea and a cool seabreeze keeping us cool. Well, it finally happened last week! After our time of fasting and prayer on Tuesday morning, Diana, Mama Emma and I broke our fast together. We grabbed the last table in the shade at the last café on the last street before the wharf. August is super busy with the tourists. It was good to swap stories for a little while. Diana and her husband Mark are officially "left in charge" of the church in Priscila and Steve's absence. They feel God calling them to ministry and are taking advantage of opportunities as they present themselves. Join us in praying for Mark, Diana and their kids Aaron (15) and Nahara (9).

Ok, finally a silly picture! This restaurant advertises a kebab "salad". As you can see in the photo, the bottom half of the dish is french fries. Have I mentioned that Spanish folks have a deep, long-term love affair with potatoes in all their forms, but especially french fries. I feel that in the name of research, it is necessary for my journalistic integrity to try this dish, not for me, of course, but to let you know if the picture does it justice. ;)