The Mercat. Valencia's oldest market.

The trip got off to a rought start with arriving just in time to the gate because I had a person at check-in who didn't want to take my ID. Luckily my friend was kind enough (after he had just taken us to the airport) to go back to my apt. and pick up my passport and bring it to me! So I made it to Valencia and it's my job to collect all of this demographic information and document it. Getting started can be really difficult, but the Lord provided! There is no one difinitive way to do all this. So we get started by looking on the internet where restaurants, stores, government groups and churches that may have the information we're looking for. Just showing up at their doors, and asking a lot of personal questions can seem pretty strange. And it is. That's why we do a lot of praying before and during this scavenger hunt! The first thing we did when we arrived was go to a neighborhood that was known for having a high population of Latino immigrants and walked around asking for a restaurant that is in the area. The first people we asked spoke some English! (this never happens in Spain!) A passer-by heard us and asked if we needed help finding something. This girl was just a lil older than I, and had spent some time living in Australia, so she spoke perfect English! We never found out about a restaurant, but after carrying on a short conversation and sharing with this girl why we are here, she gave us some information that helped us get started on this adventure! Her mother went to a protestant church, and so she called her mother and gave us the address of it right there on the spot. "L" (the girl on the street) is 7 months pregnant with a baby boy and waiting on the father to move to the city with her and get to know her family. L says she no longer attends church b/c she's been to "naughty". So please prayer for L. Before I leave I'm going to write a letter to her thanking her for her help and to encourage her to find her way back to the church and Christ.The information she gave us lead to us meeting some missionaries who then introduced us to another pastor and some other nationals, and basically all the of the information that we've collected. So the Lord used this girl, who felt she wasn't good enough to go to church, to facilitate all the work we've done here. Hopefully the information we found will lead to other missionaries coming here and spreading the Truth to the city of Valencia! This is a beautiful city, and I'll hate to leave, but I'll be glad to be home for atleast a little while! Thank you for your prayers and your messages. It's so encouraging to here from you!


The science center. This is one of Valencia's major attractions b/c of the architecture, this picture really doesn't do it justice, though. It poured rain 2 min. after I took this!

It may have been a while since I've posted, but I found myself in a state of conflict as to whether I was really busy, or doing nothing. But I think I figured out how to explain it.... I've been busy doing nothing (a lot of internet research and planning for this trip). With the exception of the World Cup, I didn't find anything that I would really want to write to you. However, the page has turned! It's 10:13p.m. here. Tomorrow at 2:30 in the afternoon I will be on my way to Valencia, the east coast of Spain for the next 22 days. "Wow", you might say,"that's a lot of vacation time!". And you're right it is, which is why I am going for work. This will be my first excursion for interviews and gathering information from organizations, churches, and individuals. (I'm sure I'll find some of those interviews to be on the beach, though ;). So please pray! I'm actually pretty nervous. I need to be able to understand and communicate well in Spanish, and I have to know what I'm doing in this new job. At one point I thought a friend of mine would be going who is a native speaker, but that didn't work out. I think this will be a big learning experience for me on how to trust God with EVERYTHING. If things turn out well, and like we planned, then praise God. And if things don't turn out like we planned, but totally different, the praise God. But he will be the Rock on which I stand in every moment. Would you also please be praying for Taryn. She's been getting better and better, and so is her walking, but it's is still difficult and uncomfortable. Pray for the Lord to heal her legs and give them a rest. We've been preparing ourselves for roadblocks that may come along the way due to spiritual warfare, but the last thing we want is to allow these roadblocks to steal glory from God. So here's my top 5 things you can be praying for us this month! 1)Taryn's legs 2)Ability to communicate well 3)Taryn & I to love a serve one another. We'll be sharing everything (room, work, play, meals... air). It's easy to become selfish! 4)The Lord to prepare the hearts of people so they will be open to the Gospel, and he will receive glory! So until the next time I write (which I hope to be much sooner) I hope you enjoy these pics! The crowd waiting to welcome home the champions! There were over 2 million on this street alone. And there they are! I could literally touch the bus they were on! Check out more on my facebook page.
This was the madness downtown at one of the viewing spots. I could see millions of people in the streets celebrating! No burning cars, just maybe some broken street signs from people climbing to see the view....