Migration Crisis & Relief Project...Helping Humanity

(Read from the bottom up, if you want sequential order. The newest posts are always at the top.)

Prayer Update

Thank you for praying for us:

• Megan is enjoying summer school and her Spanish language classes. On the first day of summer school she cried in the car saying that she didn’t even know how to ask for a Kleenex, but when we got to her school the teacher and a little girl who spoke a tiny bit of English were waiting at the gate to welcome Megan and they became fast friends.
• Our trip to meetings went really well and we adjusted as well as possible to the jet lag. Here is a picture of Megan, Cade and Dylan with their luggage.
• Please continue to pray for our language learning. It is going to be a real challenge to learn Spanish and then be able to minister to people in French and Sereer. Please pray that God will help us to differentiate between the languages and be able to communicate His love in various languages. One night this week as we were walking along the beach we met 5 ladies from Africa. They spoke a little Spanish, and French. One of the ladies was Sereer, so I (Tiffne) sat down next to her and spoke to her in Sereer. It was awesome! (For those of you who haven’t heard me go on and on about it – Sereer is the language that I learned in Africa while living there and serving among the Sereer people.)
  
• Joel's visa has come in and we are expecting the rest of the family's soon, so he will be making a trip to Houston, Texas the first part of September to pick up the visas. Please pray that his trip will go smoothly and that Tiffne and the children's time alone in Spain for 5-6 days will go smootly as well.
  
• Megan starts school in September. Please pray for her new teacher and for a smooth transition for Megan. Please pray that she will have an encouraging first day of school.

Thank you again for keeping up with us, and for your continued prayers. You can continue to e-mail us at twhitley@thefellowship.info .

__________

As we continue with language study we are beginning to look to the future. Our work here in Spain, as you know, is primarily with refugees and migrants coming from Africa. Spain and many European Union countries call this people “irregular immigrants.” In The Almería Messenger, a local English newspaper we receive, we read articles in each issue that tell of the number of immigrants reaching the Almería coastline. In the July 6^th to 19^th issue we read this:

“Another 96…immigrants were escorted into the port in
Almería City this weekend, arriving on two small boats
carrying 33 and 63 people…Reports indicate that at
least 36 of the passengers on the two boats are underage.”

Everyday hundreds of thousands of people leave their home in search of safety, food, or simply the opportunity for a peaceful happy life. Our work here in Spain is just one point were groups of people intersect with immigrants along common migration pathways. Our work is two fold: simply meet human needs and present the gospel. In order to facilitate our work we have developed a project titled “Migration Crisis and Relief Project…Helping Humanity.” Below is a brief description of our project, project goals, and how you might be able to partner with us in ministry here in Spain:

• Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
  Joel & Tiffne Whitley
  Internationals Cluster, Europe Team
  International Refugee/Migrant Coordinators, Spain
  Contact Info:
  twhitley@thefellowship.info
  blog: http://www.nabcsf.org/
  click “Banana Boat Blog”
  
  Project Info:
  Migration Crises & Relief Project
  Account #: 89832
  
  Project Description:
  The Migration Crisis and Relief Project is designed to meet two fundamental needs of internationals who either have migrated to or are migrating through southern Spain. The first fundamental need is to aid in the crisis stage of migration. These are those beginning days and weeks after first landing in southern Spain. The second fundamental aspect of this project is to assist those internationals we meet by providing relief for the situations in their lives through humanitarian programs and spiritual outreach.
  
  Project Goals:
  1) Meet the physical needs of the people who migrate into and through southern Spain and be the presence of Christ to them amidst their situation.
  2) Collaborate with the local Red Cross and other organizations that minister to the immigrant populations in the Almería region.
  3) Create ways to incorporate hands on ministry experiences through mission trips or projects for churches in the U.S. to participate in meeting the human and spiritual needs of the international peoples here in southern Spain.
  4) Establish this ministry then encourage and enable local churches to participate. Eventually the goal will be to hand over parts of this ministry to local church congregations.
  
  Project Involvement:
  
• Pray…Pray for the peoples who make dangerous journeys along the migration routes from Africa to Southern Spain.
  
• Give…Support the work of CBF field personnel by giving to the Offering for Global Missions or specifically to this project. Send donations to: Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392. If giving specifically to this project, be certain to include this project’s account number in the memo line. (project # 89832)
  
• Serve…Join this ministry by sharing it with others and by participating in mission service.

Blessings,

Joel & Tiffne Whitley

Pictures for Fun:

The boys….Megan taught them to make these faces!

Megan, Cade and Dylan at the McDonald’s play place sporting their new D.C. shirts.

Good news!

(from June 23rd)

Megan got into summer school. We are excited. Thanks for praying for her. Please continue to pray for us as we begin our trip tomorrow. Please pray that we will adjust well to jet lag and that our visas will arrive in God's timing.

Your prayers are so important to us.

Love,

Tiffne

Blog from June 5th, 2007

(Read from the bottom up, if you want sequential order. The newest posts are always at the top.)

Prayer Requests:

1. We enrolled Megan in a summer school program at her new school; they are not sure that there will be an available spot for her. Please pray for God’s will in this matter and that this would help her feel more comfortable with starting kindergarten this fall.
2. Please pray for language and cultural acquisition for our entire family.
3. Please pray for us as we travel in June and July to meetings. Pray that our children will adjust well to jet lag.
4. Please pray that we will receive our long awaited visas soon.

Thank you for keeping up with us, and for praying for us. You can continue to e-mail us at twhitley@thefellowship.info.

In the Almería region there is only one Unión Evangélica Bautista Española (UEBE) church. The UEBE is the entity that has invited us to work in Spain and underwrites our visa. This is a picture of that church and it also happens to be the church we are attending. Our friends Pastors Eliezer and Virginia serve in this church.

These are our international friends from Romania. One of them volunteers with the Red Cross and works with immigrants. She offered to introduce us to the Red Cross staff to help us begin our ministry after language school.

Many of you have been praying for Megan’s school situation. Well, about two weeks ago we found out she has been placed in Torrequebrada. We are very happy and Megan is excited. Here is a picture of Megan outside of her school about to go in and register for classes.

Near our home and all through the region there are green house type structures. They are made of plastic and inside is grown everything from peppers to oranges. This is a picture across the top of a bunch of these green houses. At some places there seems to be so many that is looks like a sea of plastic.

This is a picture of the inside of one of the green houses. The workers (almost exclusively from Africa) were cleaning this one out and preparing the soil for the next crop. It looks like tomatoes were grown here previously.

Most of our life right now revolves around language learning. So, we thought we would show you our language school. It is just one of many shops on the ground floor of an apartment building and has three classrooms. We are enjoying the process of learning Spanish and the Spanish culture.