Migration Crisis & Relief Project Update

Our ministry has started in two areas: Yegua Verde (the Green Mare – a rural type neighborhood surrounded by the green houses that are used here in Spain for much of the agriculture) and 200 Viviendas (200 houses – similar to neighborhoods know as the projects in the United States). Pictured below is the sculptured “green mare” that stands in the roundabout marking the center of the Yegua Verde community. Also below, is a picture of the playground in 200 Viviendas.

Ester is from Equatorial Guinea and now lives in Yegua Verde. She is interested in going to church and by the time we get this posted we will have had the opportunity to take her to a local Evangelical church in Vícar near her home.

Mamadou is from Senegal and lives in 200 Viviendas. He has become a friend and guide to knowing and understanding the culture and lives of those Africans living in 200 Viviendas. Pray that as we work with him we might meet other families from Africa who are also in need and that we might be able to be the presence of Christ to them.

One of the ways we are being able to meet people like Ester and Mamadou is through our weekly food distribution. Each Wednesday morning we work with a partnering missionary family and a Christian worker from Granada to collect the weekly excess vegetables from a nearby produce factory. We then sort and bag up sacks of vegetables for distribution to families and individuals who have little resources to purchase such items. Pictured below is our crew sorting and bagging the vegetables one Wednesday morning. This small scale food distribution has been a very meaningful and beneficial way for us to meet individuals, start friendships and nourish hungry stomachs. We hope that in time we will be able to share the “food of the gospel” and nourish hungry and hurting hearts.

Recently Tiffne visited a children’s program for North Africans. Some of our coworkers here have recently started this program. While we were doing crafts with the children some men from the local mosque came in and they were very unfriendly. Also, one of their wives told a little girl in the group that if she continued to attend the program she would hit her. This little girl is beautiful and she belongs to the family that is friends with our missionary partners. This same North African family has such a close relationship with our ministry partner family, that when their oldest boy got into some trouble at his school, our partners and Joel had the opportunity to talk with the school about a problem he was having and was able to work out a solution for his return to his classes. During that time, Tiffne held their new baby daughter and later visited in their home and had wonderful Moroccan tea and pastries. Please pray for our ministry partners and this precious family as they face some persecution.

Banana Boat Prayer Update:

• Pray for our “Migration Crisis and Relief Project.” Pray that we will be the presence of Christ to those we serve.
• Pray for the migrants and refugees that are making the dangerous journey to Europe. We have meet people from Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, the Gambia, Mauritania, and Somalia.
• Please pray for the two teams that are making preparations to come this summer and join us in our ministry here in southern Spain.
• Please pray for our family as we continue to assimilate to the cultures and languages that we experience here each day. (Please pray specifically for Megan’s dance recital in June – that things would work out for the ballet performance as well as the flamenco dance.)