I believe the last very short update i sent you two months ago was from Germany. Since that was so long ago I am going to do a brief recap on what sticks out to me about that time.
Our teams time in Germany was very special. We were able to see God do some amazing things in the hearts and lives of the young people of ICZ (the church we worked with) The first night we participated with the youth group there were 3 people coming. After that for the rest of our time in Germany our team prayed and fasted for an awakening in the young people of the area. Two weeks later, at the last youth group night we helped with , there were about 12 people. That night one of the guys came to our leader, Mats, and said "I don't understand you people. How can you have this much fun without being drunk?!" The biggest thing I think we were able to do in Germany was encouraging ICZ.
Espana! Well , almost. I really need to tell you about the traveling we did to get there. It's HILARIOUS. We left the church in Germany at about 10am to get to the airport to make our 12:30 flight. The plane was late so it ended up being a 2 o'clock flight. We had to fly Majorca switch planes and then go to Barcelona. In Majorca they held the plane for us so we were greeted by lovely (sarcasm) people that had been sitting at the gate for over an hour waiting for us. When i remember it i always remember there being applause , but that is probably just my imagination. In Barcelona we waited patiently for our luggage but it was no where to be found. Fortunately one of our team leaders, Angelica, is originally from Chile and she handled all the communicating with the airport people. We were told that it would be arriving in two hours. None us had eaten anything except maybe the odd ,deck of cards size , cheese sandwiches they gave us on the plane 5 hours ago. Well maybe it wasn't 5 hours…like 3. We went and found the only place that sold food in our terminal which was RIDICULOUSLY expensive. We asked a custodian if there was any where else and he told us there was a secret cafeteria down the hall and up some stairs. There was ! and it was completely empty. It was mostly for staff that worked at the airport but there weren't any signs that said we couldn't order there so we did! we all got bacon cheese burgers fries and a coke for less than half the price at the other place. It was quiet and cool and we were so thankful . Then we went back to the luggage pick up. We waited excitedly for the first glimpse of our luggage. Some of the team decided it would be fun to play the game " lets try and embarrass Marisa at how stereo typically American we can be" . I hate that game. (side note i have yet to get my picture taken with a red telephone booth because i refuse to be that tourist person) ( i will probably break down at some point) anywhooo the luggage didn't come with that plane and we were informed that it would not be arriving until at least the next day. At this point we had missed our bus that would have taken us the three hours to Burgos the town we were going to be working in. At the bus depot we sat on the floor sleeping, reading and talking for 4 hours until the next bus with enough seats on it for all of us was departing. Lets just say you really truly get to see people's true character in situations like that. I found it highly entertaining. I have a video of some of this time that i will be posting as soon as i can. It's amazing.
The first thing i have to say is church we stayed at in Burgos was painted lime green and hot pink. try sleeping in that room. anny away. The DTS had previously been split in to two different teams. The Sweden team was supposed to arrive a few hours after we did but because of all our little adventures we arrive a few hours after them. I think both teams were a bit apprehensive/excited to see the other team. we had all gotten so close with our teams. But God is good and after the first afternoon of swapping stories and sharing pictures we were together again. The "youth group " at this church were mostly 18-28 year olds. My favorite experience was the evangelism we did in the park mon-fri. At first was was taking pictures making sure the girls on our team weren't being to harassed by the older gentlemen that seemed to live in the park . But the second week i tried my hand at face painting. Oh my goodness!! that was so much fun. God did a lot in my life in spain. I started to see some things in my life that i am not very proud And I saw somethings that were good but could still be better. When we got back London We heard from our beautiful contact and sister there, Vanesa, that since we had left they have started going out and doing evangelism in the park and in different areas of Burgos! It's so encouraging to see change in people even in just a short time.
Here comes my favorite! Bones. Bones is that camp run by the arts team that is lead by the Sister and Brother-in-Law (Johana and Chris) of my DTS leaders (Jose Luis and Gaby). The camp is a week of painting, costume making, foam cutting, spray paint inhaling,(my nostrils were green for a week, seriously) and miracles. The end of the camp is during the Notting HIll Carnival. The largest street party in all of Europe. We do performances on the street, talk to people , and just share different ways of worshipping the creator of the universe and the Love HE has for them. IT ROCKS.
I have something called cal canear navicular coalition.(this fits i promise) The long and short is there is a bone growing were its not supposed to be and it hurts like the dickens! Now i am able to keep the pain at tolerable place by taking anti-inflammatory medicine like Aleve or Ibuprofen . In Germany i decided to stop taking it. I didn't know why that thought occurred to me until i talked to God about it couple days later. I have learned a lot about depending on God since being here. When i am in a crappy mood and really don't want to do something i have to look to him for an attitude change or when it came to finances I am completely at His mercy and he takes care of me. Well this is another one of the areas he asked to me to give up control on. It sounds crazy ,yes, but when the Lord says to do something its probably i good idea to do what he says. We've all read Jonah and I REALLY don't want to end up in a the belly of a fish or whatever the equivalent to my situation would be. So WOW rabbit trail….Bones, I had stopped taking aleve and my feet were killing me for about 5 and half weeks. I had pushed myself and had continued to push myself until one day i couldn't really walk. My wonderful encourager, Gaby, told me to go home and rest for 24 hours. At first i was a bit upset but after thinking about it i went glad to be alone for a while. I woke up the next morning and my feet didn't hurt at all. Not even a twinge. I literally can not remember the last time my feet didn't hurt. 3,4,5,6, days went by NO PAIN. I FELT LIKE A SUPERHERO!! I told myself don't get excited it could be just for Bones so you can run around and take pictures. Its just for now. I haven't had any pain since! 33 days i believe. God is so GOOD!
So there you have it. Here i am after a three week break getting ready to start my Basic Leadership Training tomorrow and then from there conquer the world with my mad photo/video skills. Okaaaay maybe not conquer but definitely influence the world. The cool thing about that is that you really don't have to do that much to influence the world it can be smiling at people as they walk by you as you get your mail or helping someone get there groceries to their car. It doesn't take a lot. My need for this upcoming season is $4000. that means if each one of my facebook (475) friends gave me $8.42 then i would be set for this round. How awesome is that?! Thank you to everyone that kept to their word and continued to support me monthly . Your faithfulness in prayer and words of encouragement are so wonderful! thank you so much. I love you!
