Banana Boat Blog: 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 .

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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.