As we enter into a new year of ministry we are once again facing
many changes. 2013 was filled with some incredible ministry
opportunities. We began new relationships, had the opportunity to
repeatedly share Christ with new people, participated in the beginning of a new
church, started METAS (the non-profit organization that SEND uses as a platform
for starting ministries in new areas), and faced some hard decisions.
At the end of the last school year we realized that Alex needed to leave the Spanish school system and begin at the missionary school. There are so many differences in the Spanish and American school systems and it was becoming apparent that these differences, along with his level of Spanish, were going to create a long term problem in regards to college. He was entering high school and we knew that these years were extremely important. In August he began high school at Evangelical Christian Academy (ECA), an American school that is primarily for missionary children.
The school is an hour commute each way. Our initial plan was for us to take Alex to school every morning (2 hours driving) and for him to take public transportation to a nearby town every afternoon (an 1 1/2 hour commute). A couple months into this process we began to realize that this plan was not sustainable for Alex's entire high school career and began to pray for wisdom. Gas is $6.65/gallon and his monthly train pass is $95, so you can imagine the financial stress of this change. In addition, Alex was leaving home each morning at 7:30 and usually not returning home until 7 that evening. We began to realize that this school decision was going to have a domino effect in our ministry.
After much prayer and discussions with our leadership, we have been reassigned
to a new ministry site. There are still many unknowns, but we are excited
about the potential ahead. We are moving to Mejorada del Campo (East of
Madrid, about 20 minutes from ECA), a town of about 23,000 people. There
is no established evangelical church in this town. Over the next couple
of months we will be prayer walking and investigating the best way to share
Christ with this pueblo.
At the end of the last school year we realized that Alex needed to leave the Spanish school system and begin at the missionary school. There are so many differences in the Spanish and American school systems and it was becoming apparent that these differences, along with his level of Spanish, were going to create a long term problem in regards to college. He was entering high school and we knew that these years were extremely important. In August he began high school at Evangelical Christian Academy (ECA), an American school that is primarily for missionary children.
The school is an hour commute each way. Our initial plan was for us to take Alex to school every morning (2 hours driving) and for him to take public transportation to a nearby town every afternoon (an 1 1/2 hour commute). A couple months into this process we began to realize that this plan was not sustainable for Alex's entire high school career and began to pray for wisdom. Gas is $6.65/gallon and his monthly train pass is $95, so you can imagine the financial stress of this change. In addition, Alex was leaving home each morning at 7:30 and usually not returning home until 7 that evening. We began to realize that this school decision was going to have a domino effect in our ministry.
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| La Catedral de Justo - Mejorada del Campo |
It was not an easy decision to decide to start over again or to leave the pueblo we have grown to love. We will continue to return to Illescas once a week for Scott to teach English and Cindy to meet with Joanna and Maria. We pray that the seeds we have scattered will take root and our teammates will begin to see fruit. As we move into this new pueblo of Mejorada, we pray that a God will open doors to relationships and ministries that surpass our wildest imaginations.
We ask that you pray for us over the coming days. We have found a new home and are in the process of moving. We are taking a van load of stuff to the new house everyday. The new house needs some cleaning and painting before we will really feel at home, much of which we are trying to do in the next two weeks. We are meeting with our friends here in Illescas and explaining this move. So far they have all understood our reason for change. Pray as we will work to maintain these relationships. Pray for our teammates who are staying in Illescas and the work they will continue. This is our third "starting over" in 3 years and it never gets any easier. Pray for our hearts as we say goodbye to our neighbors, who have grown to be more like family than friends. We know that there are some hard days ahead and we covet your prayers as we walk the path that God is leading. We trust that although the days ahead may be hard, there are exciting things to come!
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