Remember November

Our team is growing! On November 3, Brian McDaniel moved here to Santiago from College Station, Texas to be a long-term member of the team. He is a talented musician and avid hiker/climber and we are excited to learn from his previous experience in church planting and in the café business. Please pray for him as he adjusts to Spanish language and culture. To get to know Brian better visit his web page here. We love visitors! We want to send a special thank you to Harper Swenson and Bet Freed who visited us here in Santiago during their recent blitz through Europe. Both came to catch a glimpse of what it's like for us to minister through a café/business context. While they were here we had many wonderful conversations about a wide range of topics (from the relevance of the church in the culture to how many days it really takes Iberia airlines to locate lost luggage). Not only that, we got to expose them to one of our favorite Spanish cultural experiences Café Terra Nova- café con leche. Seeking Solitude Last week was my turn to lead at the GBU bible study. Recently, I have just felt swamped by life (which always seems to be even crazier around Christmas time) and have been reading a book called “Spiritual Classics”. It contains excerpts from Christian writers who address specific spiritual disciplines. I have been really drawn to the section on solitude and silence. In this book the authors talk about more than just having a quiet time. They talk about seeking a deep inner silence that allows one to hear the still small voice of the Spirit. I have been finding, that even in a quiet room away from the street noises, advertising, telephones, and e-mail that my mind is anything but silent. I have an almost constant noisy conversation going on in my mind (Sometimes I write about what I am thinking and sometimes I don’t). These authors have been challenging me to seek the self-discipline of inner quietness that will allow be to be more open to what the Spirit is saying. I posted an excerpt from this book in my Secret Passages. Check it out if you get a chance. Mix Tapes Yes, I am proud to say that I am from the generation of mix tapes. My friends and I would take our favorite songs and make a tape that had a mix of tons of different groups. Everyone’s mix was like a signature or a fingerprint. It gave some insight into their musical tastes and no two tapes were ever the same. Well, when our friend Jill gave us one such mix tape that is how we first heard of the Violent Femmes. This week while working in the café Lori was talking with some American customers. They said that they were from Milwaukee and Lori asked if they were on vacation. They said that they were here because they were going to be giving a concert in SdC. Yes, they were the Violent Femmes. They spent the week using their laptops to connect to the café’s wireless network. They were a very down to earth and friendly group and gave all of the café workers free tickets to their concert. We had a blast at the concert (Lori and I especially enjoyed the songs that took us back to our mix tape days).