(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:
- Thank you for praying for Megan’s school situation. She has been in school for 7 weeks now and she loves it. Her teacher is very nice, and Megan is learning Spanish very fast. She was invited to a classmates’ birthday party this week and she had a great time.
- Thank you for continuing to pray for our visa situation. Joel’s came in, but we are still waiting for Tiff’s and the children’s. When they come in we will travel to pick them up as well.
- Please continue to pray for our language and cultural acquisition here in Spain. We are involved with three different Spanish schools. Please pray for continued open doors to discuss spiritual things with our classmates.
- As we begin to prepare for ministry here in Spain we are looking in several directions. Please pray for God’s leadership in this area and for His open doors. We are researching the human trafficking crisis and how we can help here in Europe as well as how we can help with other migrant and refugee situations.
It has been a while since we have written an update. Life is busy and time always seems to be short. In spite of our lack of communication, we hope you have not forgotten us. Much has happened since our last update and I will try to share some of it with you through pictures.
From the 6th to the 8th of October we had to make a trip to Tangier, Morocco for a few days. This was a great experience for Megan. She knows we do a lot of work to help those who are poor, hurting, or devastated (like when Joel went to help with Katrina), but until now she has never been able to put a face to what it looks like to be poor, or what is looks like to need help. While in Tangier she saw a glimpse of what those lives are like. In order to be polite and culturally appropriate I was not able to capture in photos the people we saw, but I did have a few opportunities to take photos in and around the Medina area of old Tangier.
Here is a picture of the large Mosque in the center of the old Tangier Medina.
In the Medina, narrow, dark allies snake their way up and down the hill top. Shops line each side and you can buy everything from paintings to cloths to house ware to live animals (the boys really liked the street with all the chickens). While in the meat and vegetable area, I had the opportunity to ask a butcher if I could take his photo. He said I could, so here is a picture of an open air meat market.
While in Tangier were able to use our rusty French a little and remind ourselves how fortunate we are to be learning Spanish now and not Arabic. In this picture Tiff is enjoying a cold drink. Can you guess what she is drinking?
You never know what you might see in Africa. While driving around Tangier looking for a restaurant that was open we saw this caravan of camels walking right down a main road.
Between our trip to Tangier and October 25th, Megan was in school and Tiff and Joel attended Spanish language classes. On October 25th we loaded up again and drove to the annual UEBE convention in Gandia (Valencia). The UEBE is the organization that has invited us to work in Spain. The convention was a great way for us to meet like minded Baptist here in Spain. The work they are doing here in Spain and around the world is great and inspiring. We did not understand everything that went on in the actual sessions but made some friends and got ideas for a few more ministries we will be looking into.
Here is a picture of our family at the convention in one of the main worship sessions.
Below are two pictures from the convention. Both are taken during a worship session and it is humbling to know that even though we are different in culture, language, location….we worship the same God!
Halloween in Spain is a little different that what we are accustomed to in the U.S. For one, there is not really the tradition of trick-or-treating. Instead, families with children gathered in a park, bought candy, and enjoyed talking and watching the children playing in their Halloween costumes. We knew nothing of these Halloween activities until that night when we were invited to come to the park by some Argentinean friends who have a daughter 1 year younger than Megan at the same school. Here is a picture of our children with Megan’s new friend.
Finally, the morning after Halloween we let took the kids to another park near our house and snapped this picture of all three on the slide.
Thank you so much for keeping up with us through our blog newsletter. We are truly blessed by your friendship and support.
Thank you also for your continued support through giving. If it is your desire to give to the continuing efforts of missions around the world, please consider giving to the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Offering for Global Missions by sending a check to: “Offering for Global Missions,” Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392, or by going online to http://www.thefellowship.info/ and give with a credit card by following the links. The Offering for Global Missions helps support CBF field personnel and ministries world wide.
Or perhaps it is your desire to give directly to our project; you can do that by sending a check to Cooperative Baptist Fellowship – Project, at Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, P.O. Box 101699, Atlanta, GA 30392. Be certain to note our particular project by writing Migration Crisis and Relief, account # 89832 in the memo line.
Thank you again for keeping up with us, and for your continued prayers. You can continue to e-mail us at twhitley@thefellowship.info . We love hearing from you.
