Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours! More photos at our Family Album.

Dollars and Centimos

When Matt and I moved to Spain in January of 2001, our monthly personal salary of $1535 converted to 1805 Euros. Since then the Euro began to gain on the dollar and our family has grown. Fortunately, we have been blessed with an increased support base every year since we moved to Spain , and we have been able to increase our monthly salary twice. Despite the increase, things have become quite tight for our family. This month our personal salary of $1849 converted to 1390 Euros. Even though our monthly salary has increased by $314, we've still taken a 23% salary decrease of 415 Euros a month because the Euro has gained so much on the dollar. 2001: family of 2 $1535 = 1805 Euros 2004: family of 4 $1849 = 1390 Euros We are not here in Spain on our own. We are here because we are supported by an awesome team of believers who also have a heart for Spain and the students in Santiago de Compostela. It is only because of your prayers, your contributions, and your encouragement that we are able to be a part of what God is doing in Spain . For this we THANK YOU! If you are interested in supporting the ministry here in Santiago , please send your contributions to: International Teams 411 West River Rd. Elgin , Illinois , 60123

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).