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5-1-05, Carnival
Dear Friends,
The big event this week is a trip to Northern Ireland to orient a team that will be coming in July from Glenabbey Church
in Belfast. Glenabby requested that Kay and I go, so they are paying for the trip (PTL!) The team will be doing
an English camp for us and we are anticipating up to 100 children, many of them preschool age. Our teammates
Ned and Joanie Steffens will be going with us and we're very much looking forward to it. Pray for a good time together
as a team, for safe travel, and for wisdom working out the details of the English Camp. We are also considering doing
an evening session for adults, which implies a lot more work.
Greg's class is sponsoring a carnival on the grounds of the school on Tuesday, a holiday in the Madrid area. It
is a fund raiser for their class, so that part of the event is getting a lot of attention, but the kids also want it
to be an event that reaches out to the community. We're proud of them! One dad made a dozen carnival type
games and put up a circus tent that he uses for evangelistic campaigns: it is huge!
Summer is closing in and our plans are somewhat up in the air. The Ireland team comes in July, but Kay had
wanted to go to the states with Greg in June to check out colleges. Unfortunately, our tax bill was unusually high this
year (everything we buy as household items is with taxable income, even though the donations were tax deductible). So
right now it looks like Greg will have to go by himself. We'll trust that if God want Kay to go, He'll provide
the funds.
Thanks for your prayers,
Mark and Kay
Dear Friends,
A couple of weeks ago Greg's class sponsored a carnival in Camarma, which made a terrific impact on the community.
Last week the high school and junior high school choirs and band presented a concert in the auditorium of the town hall.
The mayor and most of his assistants were present and afterward presented a plaque to the school. These things are positive
steps toward establishing credibility of the evangelicals in Camarma. It also continues to develop the synergy we hope
to see between our project to start a church and the Christian school.
Our trip to Northern Ireland with our teammates, Ned and Joanie, was a success on many fronts. First of all, we
had the opportunity to just enjoy our friendship along with the beauty of Ireland. But it was a working trip, and we
had a very productive time with the team that is coming to Spain to help us this summer. God has put together a great
mix of ages and gifts, and we felt like we bonded during our time together. They understand that they are playing an
important part in the establishing of a church in Spain, we understand that we are contributing to the development of a missions
vision in Glenabby church. We're looking forward to the first week in July, the date of the activity.
Yesterday, Ian participated in an "Olympics" of churches from across Spain, and got a silver medal in the high jump for
his age category. The proud father took lots of pictures. Beyond that, it was an opportunity for members of churches
from as far away as Salamanca to get to know each other and feel part of something bigger than just their small church.
It was fun to watch Ian's closest competitors encouraging him to do well, and Ian doing the same: not what one generally sees!
We shared our uncertainty about this summer in our last letter. Well the Lord did provide a way for Kay to accompany
Greg to help him investigate colleges in the states in June. That's the good news, the bad news is that Ian and I will
be all alone and defenseless. Just kidding, we're actually looking forward to some good times together.
Thanks for praying for us!
Mark and Kay
Dear Friends,
It has been a busy month or so, especially the weekends, which makes it more difficult to have regular contact with our
non-Christian friends. But this weekend we were able to have Marcus and Sofia over for a barbeque and I had a good
conversation, though brief, with Antonio. Nacho and Amelia invited us over for a barbeque today, but we´ve invited our
friends Mariano and Fanny from the church in Buenos Aires, serving here as missionaries. It's cook out season!
Lucas and Betsabé Colmenares came through Madrid last weekend on their way to the states from Northern Africa.
We´ve been trying to encourage them in their ministry in a difficult place. For the next couple of months they will
be with Betsabe´s mother who is suffering from inoperable skin cancer. Please pray for them.
A church north of Madrid has been experiencing some conflict among their leaders and has asked me to mediate. The
idea is to try to get them to focus on the biblical purpose of the church and get so excited about a common vision that they
will be able to work through their differences. Our first session at a men´s retreat went very well and they´ve asked
me to continue the process of helping them to develop a common vision for their church. Pray for wisdom, sensitivity
to the Spirit, and open hearts.
I´ve been ask to become the District Leader for the TEAM Madrid Church Planting District. It´s not something I
would have normally accepted, but with TEAM working through a process of change in Spain, it was thought I may have something
to offer from a similar experience in Venezuela. There does not seem to be a whole lot of consensus yet about how much
change is needed, much less what should be done. Again, prayer will be much appreciated.
Kay and Greg go to the states next week for about a month. They will investigate some colleges for Greg and see
family and friends. Ian and I are looking forward to taking some day trips to places around here that we´ve not yet
seen, some castles, Roman ruins, etc. I´m excited about spending some quality time with our youngest
son.
Thanks for praying for us,
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
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