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10-17-05, Matrix Report
10-23, Pooh
10-31, Focus
11-10, Fiesta
11-20, Thankful
Dear Friends,
Have you recently read the Thanksgiving Proclamations of Washington, Lincoln, and the 1777 US Congress? If
you haven't, I'd recommend you look them up on the internet, or if you'd like me to send them to you, let me know. They
are almost a presentation of the gospel in themselves; hard to believe how far we as a country have strayed from those values.
Our friends heard them tonight, as did the friends of a number of missionaries serving at ECA, the school that our
boys attend. We pretty much filled the 60 plus seats in the hall, and more than 40 were non-Christian.
Outside of a few technical glitches, the evening was a rousing success. Thanks for praying. Now we'll look for
opportunities to follow up.
Our neighbor Luis did not come, but I had the chance to share the gospel with him this week. He's not ready, but
not too far away. We hope to find a book that we can read together. He was on vacation last week, and unfortunately
works from about 9:00 to 9:00 each day, including Saturdays. So it's hard to find time to meet.
Next week we head to Belfast for a Missions Festival at Glenabby Church. We're very much looking forward to seeing
our many friends there and to share what God is doing here. They are hoping to send another team to help us next spring.
Thanks for praying!
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
Dear Friends,
Our friend and fellow missionary Jennifer Fields was excited. She called to tell us that she and her husband
Jerry had invited a neighbor family to the Thanksgiving Fiesta we have planned for next Sunday, and they said they were
coming. In fact several of the teachers at the school that our boys attend have said the same, that they've invited
neighbors and that they are planning to come. This is what we'd hoped, that many at ECA who are otherwise busy would
see this as an opportunity to invite their friends who don't yet know the Lord. Please pray as we prepare this week
for the event on Sunday, November 20, at 7:00 PM. We look forward to telling our friends why we're thankful.
A busy week resulted in an increment of 2500 kilometers to our little car as I spoke at a church retreat, attended a
church association conference in Valencia, checked on conference sites for next year and showed around a young man exploring
ministry opportunities in Spain. Kay did a great job with our friends and neighbors in the meantime, and several have
said they'll come to the Thanksgiving event. Pray particularly for Nacho and Amelia, and for Marcos and Sofía, and for
her parents, all of whom are interested in coming. Little Sonia, their daughter, just had her one year birthday and
we had fun celebrating with them yesterday.
Thanks for praying!
Mark, Kay, Greg, and Ian
Dear Friends,
TEAM Spain is in the process of reforming itself to better accomplish our purpose of establishing churches.
To do so, we've established focus groups in three key areas, dealing with church planting vision, personnel issues, and field
structure. Kay is a member of the structure group and had a couple of long meetings this week. Their hard
work produced a proposal for a streamlined administrative structure. They did a great job.
Our group met several weeks ago, and followed that with a meeting of all the church planters in Spain. One
of the most important things we did was to begin to explore how we can reach the most people that have the greatest need. In
order to do that, we'll need to try to determine what are the centers of influence in Spain, and there are several different
ideas on the subject. Please pray for unity and that God will be glorified in the whole process.
This is a long weekend and we're hoping to get together with some of our neighbors. Yesterday I was able to
get in a game of tennis with Oscar, and we talked about the difference between love and sex, and the implications to
pornography on the internet. One never knows what kind of opportunity is going to pop up! Our friends Scot and
Ned, for whom we requested prayer last week, both came through their surgeries well and are recovering.
Thanks for praying,
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
Dear Friends,
Several weeks ago our friend Anabelia told Kay that she likes Winnie the Pooh and wanted to decorate her baby's room using
that theme. So Kay asked a friend to buy her some Pooh wall paper at Target (can't get it here) and it arrived this
week. This week Kay helped her put up the wall paper, Anabelia was very pleased. We continue to look for ways to
bless people's lives and trust God to open doors to share the good news. After tennis today with Anabelia's husband
Oscar, I was able to share a bit of my testimony.
Our partner Ned Steffens is having surgery on Tuesday to clear out his sinus passages. This is at a time when we
had hoped to start English classes in the community, and Ned is the main man. So pray for a successful surgery and quick
recovery. Our friend and co-worker Scot Musser is going in for knee surgery the same day, and he'll appreciate your
prayers too.
Thanks for praying,
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
Dear Friends
Thanks to those of you who prayed, and especially those who have asked how our Cine Forum went Saturday night.
Unfortunately, no one came (well, Jesse Dolan from ECA came). We are discouraged but not crushed. A couple of
our neighbors asked how the Cine Forum went, so we may try to do one in our neighborhood. The most important thing
is to continue developing our friendships and looking for ways to share the Good News.
We´re looking forward to the next event, a Thanksgiving Dinner at ECA on November 19. There will be free
food, so people should come for that!:>)
Reading My Utmost for His Highest in my evening devotionals, Chambers talked about prayer in the piece written
for October 17. He says that many people pray in preparation for the work. Actually, prayer is the work.
When the Holy Spirit is moving in peoples' lives, there is plenty to do. This isn't new, but it's a great reminder to
me in my life, and also a reminder of how important you are to our ministry.
Thanks for praying,
Mark
Hello,
This coming Saturday night the Steffens and we'll be sponsoring an event called a Cine Forum. It's something we
did in Caracas, showing portions of a movie and trying to open up discussion on spiritual issues. We've been blessed
as we've watched the movie, The Matrix, and specifically looked for themes that can lead to spiritual questions: there are
a lot of them. It's not perfect, of course, it's a secular film with a lot of eastern religion junk in it. But
there are also all kinds of Christian allegories: the choice between truth and the lie (a red pill or a blue pill), the burning
"question" in the hero's heart, quotes like, "I can only show you the door, you have to walk through", "there's a difference
between knowing the path and walking it", the challenge that the hero has been living two lives, that he must choose one.
And many more.
Please pray for wisdom as we put the event together, for the friends that we and others will be inviting, that Jesus
Christ will be glorified.
Thanks,
Mark for the Steffens and Johnsons
Dear friends,
This week I went for a ride on my bike. As I was coming down the hill toward home, I took the turn that I always
take onto our street. Unfortunately, the front tire had gradually gone flat, and I suddenly found myself on the ground.
What can you do? Get up.
Working on a home project later that same day, I dropped a cabinet door on my big toe from about a meter high.
That's pain! I'm still recovering, of course, and will be for awhile. The toenail cracked, and eventually will
come off, affecting my various sports and conditioning activities. After sitting around feeling sorry for myself for
a couple of days with my foot up, I needed to prepare a seminar for a church on Saturday. I had to get
up!
But the biggest "downer" for us this week was some news from the school administration. They hit Greg with some
consequences for bad decisions made last school year, which he had confessed or they would not have known of them. The
consequences included the withdrawal of an invitation for Greg to attend a leadership seminar this week in Budapest.
He was to leave Tuesday. He found out Friday. Needless to say, this has hit us hard, and we're still in the process
of getting up. We'll appreciate your prayers.
We have a full calendar for the fall. Check out our web site at the address below for an overview and for prayer
requests.
And thanks for praying!
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
Dear Friends,
Our friends Oscar and Anabelia are a young, dynamic couple. They just had a beautiful baby daughter and are learning
how to be parents. Oscar and I play tennis at least once a week and he usually beats me. He´s a strong guy with
a booming serve.
Oscar has just found out that his 50 year old uncle is dying of lung disease. Kay saw Anabelia in the street this
morning, and she said that Oscar is taking it hard. I´ll plan to call tonight and visit during the week. Pray
for this opportunity to share the hope of Jesus Christ with them.
The boys had a terrific time at the school camp last week, and came back spiritually rejuvenated. It´s a good start
to the school year. Ian loves being in middle school and having several teachers rather than just one.
Thanks for your prayers,
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
Dear Friends,
It's fiesta time in Spain, and the local fiestas are one of the more distinctive things about this country. Greg
was just telling me this morning that it's difficult for him to believe that we are actually living in Spain. And he
thought specifically about this weekend. Friday night and Saturday night there was a unique event in our town
called the Toros de Fuego, literally bulls of fire. One poor soul from the town is asked to put a crate on his head
with ground fireworks hanging off it. They are called "correpies" (foot runners), and they run all over the place on
the ground trailing sparks before popping. A city street is blocked off, and the fire bulls take off. People sort
of hang close watching until the fireworks detonate, then everyone takes off running, the "correpies" zipping around
feet and making people dance. Reminds me of an old cowboy movie: "Dance, partner". Tonight we went to a free meal
at the town square with some friends, listened to Cuban music, now we're waiting for the fireworks at midnight with our neighbors.
(Not Toros de Fuego, fortunately)
Sure would be great to see people celebrating like this for a new relationship with Jesus.
Thanks for your prayers,
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
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