Blogs I Like

My admiration for blogs grows each day. Blogs give us instant access to the world around us and is basically a place of international conversation. It is like a large electronic cafe where people hang out. The beauty for someone who lives far away from friends and family is that it gives you a place to post the major happenings in your life or work. There are blogs where ametuers write online novels, some of them get published and some don´t, but they are accessible and honest.

Just this week I encountered some International Teams blogs from workers all around the world (You can find them in the right column under "Blogs I Like") I love being able to see how God is working in people across cultures and races around the world. One blog that really stuck out to me was the Refugee Highway blog. Check it out and if you feel like it take a trip around the world visiting some other IT folks like Woody, Simon, Jacob, Tim, Todd, Matthew, and Tomanddonna.

Local News

An article about the cafe appeared in a local newspaper today. You can go here to see it.

Road Trippin

This weekend our family and the Baileys are leaving town for a vision casting and planning retreat. We have a lot of questions that we have been forming over the past several months to help us discuss both our short and long term vision for Santiago. We ask you to pray for us, our discussions and our sensitivity to the spirit during this time. Also, we have all been fighting sickness this week so we would ask that you pray for all of our health (kids included). We would also ask for prayer for the cafe and all of the managerial responsibilities that the Baileys, Lori and myself have taken over. Please pray that God grants us wisdom and favor with those around us as we deal with the myriad of details that need to be taken care of each week to help the cafe operate smoothly.

Hugs and Tears

Today the house is quiet and the mood is sober as the girls sleep and I am left alone with my thoughts. We just had a week full of a lot of last things. We had a last meal, a last coffee, a last birthday party, etc.. with Scott, Shelley, Troy and Jen. We all knew that it was coming,but it seems like nothing can prepare you for the tearful tearing apart as a community is split up. I have mentioned before that the Striblings and Hellmanns were our friends, coworkers, pastors, counselors and family as we lived life together the past five years together in Spain. We have been there for one another as five of their six children were born during their time here. We have spent countless birthday parties together, and were there for each other during Passover meals, forth of July celebrations (just another day for Spaniards), Thanksgivings, Christmases and New Years parties. We have had countless conversations on everything from the mundane and ridiculous to the profound and very sensitive.

I was waiting for a friend the other day at my favorite place to get a Bocadillo (hot sandwich on homemade bread) in town. The waiter came up and asked me how I was doing and how the cafe was doing. I told him it was a pretty sad time as we were watching or very dear friends leave town. He said very matter of factly, "Well, that´s just part of life". He is right , but that does not make it easy.

I wonder how many people in life really get to know someone else as deeply as we have had the opportunity to know our teammates past and present. It definitely has not been something that I have experienced before. I praise God for it and say bring it on! Yeah, it is painful to love other people because it opens us up and makes us vulnerable, but it somehow makes us stronger.

As we gave final hugs to one another and blessed each others children it was impossible to hold back the tears and that horrible frog in the throat feeling that makes it impossible to talk. We said our farewells amidst promises to see each other soon in some unknown place and time in the future. Let it be so!

Shalom

Recently when I was at a conference in France our team was hanging out with Mark Soderquist over a coffee in a small french cafe. He was telling us about something he had learned recently about the Hebrew word Shalom. It is a word that we often just translate to mean peace, but we really miss a lot of the significance if we just say peace. It is used both to say hello and to say goodbye. It is to bless someone and to also remind your self to be part of making things the way they should be.

"The Hebrew word shalom has a wider meaning than the English equivalent peace, for it signifies welfare of every kind: security, contentment, sound health, prosperity, friendship, peace of mind and heart, as opposed to the dissatisfaction and unrest caused by evil." Encyclopedia of Jewish Concepts by Philip Birnbaum page 601 (previously published as A Book of Jewish Concepts)

Book recommendation

I just read a book that you must read, especially if you are in a ministry vocation. Here is a quote that starts the book off. "Society...was regarded (by the Desert Fathers) as a shipwreck from which each single individual man had to swim for his life...These were men who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply disaster." Thomas Merton This book, The Way of the Heart, explores the Dessert Fathers and their motivation for fleeing society to pray in the Egyptian dessert. It not only gives practical and useful advice for escaping the shipwreck of society but rescuing those who are drowning around us in the shipwreck as well. Definitely a guidepost for those of us who desire to live our life as ministry.

The One Campaign

What in the world would ever bring democrats, republicans, movie stars, televangelists, Christians and atheists together to agree on something and speak with one voice? Believe it or not, poverty and Aids in Africa. I would never have believed it if I did not see it myself. You may have noticed a link that I keep on my blog to the ONE campaign. This past summer when I was in the states I saw an interview with Brad Pitt where he was talking about the ONE campaign and what it is doing to help the poor and suffering in Africa. I was really impressed to see a millionaire movie star walking around in a third world country allowing himself to be humbled by the lives of people living in poverty and dying from things that are preventable.

I also read a book about the lead singer of U2 called Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas where among other things he talks about both the one campaign and DATA org (Death, Aids, Trade, Africa). There is no single, simple cause to all of the problems facing Africa nor is there a single, simple solution. However, I believe that the ONE campaign is working diligently on behalf of the poor and dying in Africa and would invite you to find out more about them,what they are doing and how you can get involved.

Kind of Random

This has been a crazy period of adjustment for Lori and I (and Jacob and Tania) as we have taken over a major portion of the cafe responsibilities and all that it entails to keep it running. Even with all of the craziness involved in keeping the cafe operating, I do occasionally get some time to read. I am reading a book right now that I am absolutely loving. It is called The Shaping of Things to Come: Innovation and Mission for the 21 Century Church and if you have not read it then I highly recommend it. It talks about both mission and the church and is very useful for those of us who are not satisfied with everything the way it has been done in the past, but are also skeptical of every new fad or Church in a Box that comes around the corner.

Some times those who work in cross-cultural ministry setting have a difficult time communicating what is happening in their ministry while trying to remain sensitive to the people to whom they minister. I have found this to be the case as there is way more happening in my life and around me than I feel liberty to talk about online or in letters. My basic rule as that I consider that whatever I write or blog may be seen by anyone, and so I try not to write something about someone unless I am totally OK with them reading what I write. Here is how someone working in Australia describes "What Mission Looks Like at LivingRoom ". I really resonated with this article!

Jacob has been writing and doing a great job talking about what has been happening around here in SdC. Check out this , this, and this.

I have been trying to keep up with posting our photos online, but have fallen dreadfully behind (sorry to all the grandmas, grandpas, aunts and uncles). I will try to keep up with posting photos of the most important people here ( Abi and Isa in case there is any doubt). In the meantime you are free to peruse the following albums whenever you would like. The Family Album, The Friends Album, or take a look at our city in the Sights in Santiago Album. I do hope to add some new photos soon.

Season of Change

Six years ago this week Lori and I embarked on a journey through northwestern Spain with two other couples, Matthew and Anita Hanlon and Scott and Shelly Stribling. The six of us had quite an adventure driving from one city to the next and praying together in each place about whether this was the city God was calling us to. When we first stepped foot in Santiago de Compostela we had no idea how familiar we would become with this ancient city.

We had no idea that this would be the place where God would stretch and challenge us more than any other place we have been in our lives previously. We had no idea how much God wanted to mold and grow our thoughts of him and our understanding of him from outside our culture of birth. We had no idea that this would be the place where our daughters would be born knowing it as their home. We had no idea how God would use us as a bridge to bring groups of summer teamers and interns here to live their Christian lives in a culture that has rejected most of its religious heritage in exchange for the idols of self and secular humanism. We had no idea of the degree that God would weave us into the fabric of this society through friends, opening a café, and through our daily lives of work and school.

When I think back on that trip and the little that we knew about what our time in Spain would really be like, I praise and thank God for his faithfulness and the ways that he has worked in us, through us, and sometimes in spite of us. Today as I step back and look out over the past five years that Lori and I have lived in Spain I am also trying to peer into our future as well.

When I look into the immediate future I feel a mix of sadness and joy. The sadness being that our dear friends Troy and Jen Hellmann and Scott and Shelley Stribling have felt called to returned to the States in March. At that time Lori and I will be officially taking over as the team leaders for Spain. After the years that we have spent together with the Striblings and Hellmanns as friends, pastors, coworkers, and family it will not be easy for us to let them go (I'm quite tempted to steal their plane tickets so that they cannot leave). They have taught us so much about who we are and who God is by the myriad of ways that they have cared for and challenged us over the years. Troy and Scott will be starting a business together in Texas and we know that God will bless their new work and ministry there!

This past summer our team was joined by Jacob and Tania Bailey. Lori and I feel an amazing unity of vision for the future that could only have been orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. As we look ahead we are excited about the new season of ministry that God is bringing us into. The last two years a lot of our time as a team has been spent learning the ins and outs of running a business in a foreign country (which is no small task). As we look ahead we are excited about all of the plans and visions for ministry that we have, but we also realize that

"No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him"

So we enter into this future with plans, hopes, dreams, desires and the realization that we must submit each of these areas to God for he ultimately knows better than we do. We ask you for your prayers as our team transitions into this new season.

-Please pray that God would abundantly bless Scott, Shelly, Troy, and Jen in their move back to the states and in their future business endeavors.

-Please pray that God will bless Lori and I with wisdom beyond our years as we move into the team leader position.

-Please pray for Team Spain and our plans, visions and dreams for the fututre and that we will be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Friends and Family

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much... " -Jesus the Christ

Being away from family is definitely the hardest thing about living on another continent. I remember shortly after Lori and I moved to Spain I came across this verse and was intrigued by it. God seems to understand on a deep level the difficulty in leaving those who are closest to us for his sake and so he gave us a promise to bless us with family, fields, etc when we have left it all behind for his sake. He does not say that he will replace family (I don´t think that would be possible or desirable), but he promises to give us even more family. During those first days in Spain I wondered how that was possible and how that would play out in our lives.

One way that we have seen this verse come to pass in our lives here in SdC is through our friendship with Father Sal. He is a retired Priest that our team met several years ago. He was born in thePhilippines but spent a significant amount of time working in San Francisco. When we celebrate holidays he celebrates with us. He loves our children and our children love him. He is like a surrogate father, grandfather and friend. Occasionally we have a meal together and it is like having a meal with the family when we are hanging out with him. Yesterday he invited took us to a local Philippine restaurant where we tried some typical Philippine dishes. We praise God for his blessings and the ways that he works that are beyond what we could think or imagine!

International Cuisine Day Yesterday was a day of foods around the world. In the evening Lori, I, Jacob and Tania met at our house with a Cuban-Gallego couple who are parents of one of Abiga's friends at school. We had a mix of traditional American, Gallego, and Cuban dishes. It was a blast hanging out and trying new foods. We look forward to our future with our new friends!

Around the World

Friends from Lancaster! Lori and I returned to Spain from our time in the States a week ago Friday and hit the ground running here in Spain. We were pleased to have Zack Altoff come last week to begin an internship here with us. We have known Zach for years as we both have the same home church in Lancaster, Ohio. Zach is living in Spanish student housing and will be giving us a hand in the cafe over the next couple of months. He also brought music recording equipment and some graphic design skills- that should be fun! Our good high-school friend Krista Rea also came last week. She too is from our home church of First Presbyterian, she is here for a visit and we praise God that we have this time to catch up with her.

Friend from Europe! This weekend (almost before recovering from jet-lag from my previous trip) I went with Troy, Scott, Jacob and Tania to Paris, France. We went to a conference that was hosted by IT workers in France for European Church leaders. The guest Speaker was Brian McLaren. While we were there not only were we challenged by Brian´s message to church leaders to work together. This is especially needed in Europe where so many Christian churches are deeply divided and fragmented across denominational borders. Some of the things he talked about reminded me of some of the positive experiences that I had in Lancaster, Ohio when all the youth Pastors would meet together and pray. I pray for and would love to see the Christian leaders here in SdC come together to bless and sharpen one another.

Todd Burkes is a an IT worker in France and he gave us a deep glimpse into the people and history of France. We got to see first hand the suburbs that surround Paris and were able to see France's racism play out before our eyes. Thankfully, Mark Soderquist who lives and works in inner city Chicago was there to keep us from becoming too self-righteous and to remind us that the United States has the same problems of of injustice and oppression of the poor in its inner cities that France has in its suburbs. I also got to meet Paul Voltmer who works in a counseling minstry in Strausburg and see old friends like Matt Glock who works in Grenoble, France and Al Feria who works in Paris.

I really had a great time with all of these guys. It is always so powerful to sit over a meal or a coffee and tell and hear stories about how God is working around the world. I really appreciated my time with these guys and the way that they challenged me to be a better disciple of Christ. I am sure that I will be processing our conversations together a lot over the next days, weeks and months to come.

What is up with the Swains?

Well, we came home for Christmas and New Years and have had a good time with friends and family in Lancaster, Ohio. We have been very busy trying to see as many people as possible during our time here and so we have not had as much time to write about what is going on. This week we took a short trip up to Chicago to touch base with friends and coworkers at International Teams headquarters and talk to some potential future teammates. As always it was very good to catch up with people and being at IT always reminds me of the bigger picture of what God is doing around the world. Lori and I will be talking about Spain briefly this weekend at our home church First Presbyterian Church in Lancaster. We are heading back to Spain on Thursday and definitely appreciate your prayers for the twenty some hour trip that we will be taking with the girls.

Freedom- from religion? Or - to believe?

I just came across this article which explains some of the differences between Europe and the USA and how we view religion. I thought that they really captured a the significant differences and did a good job of explaining how our different histories have led us to where we are today.

Happy Thanksgiving!

To see some Thanksgiving pics go here. We also have some other albums here, here and here.

A Walk in the Park

Today was a beautiful day in Santiago. It was cool and crisp. Lori was working at the cafe this afternoon so the girls and I went to a nearby park to collect some leaves and enjoy the fresh air. This park used to be a monastery. They don't make granite playhouses like they used to 300 years ago. :)

Why are we here?

Tonight I am speaking a GBU. It is a Bible Study for university students in Spain. I am going to talk a little bit about International Teams and the kind of work they do all around the world. Then we are going to do a Lectio Divina on Isaiah 61. I love this passage! It is what Jesus read outloud in the synagogue at the at the beginning of his ministry. It made some people so mad that they tried to kill him. My challenge for the students and myself is how can I take part in fulfilling Isaiah 61 where I am? Also, if God is challenging me to some specific ministry or place what am I doing about it? I often wonder what the world would look like if Christians all around the world lived out their life daily with a sense of their life being about ministry. When we pray "Thy Kingdom come" do we really mean it and seek it today? Do we really see our selves as anointed by the Spirit of the Sovereign? Do we see our selves as healers and rennovators of the ancient ruins in peoples lives around us? Do we see ourselves displaying the splendor of the Lord? What would that look like, the "splendor of the Lord"? Will we hear our calling as priests and ministers of God no matter our vocation or station in Life?

November News 2005

Recent Visitors- We just spent a few days with visitors from IT. Barthe Companjen and Rick Knox stopped by on a journey throughout Spain as they look at future ministry opportunities for IT. Tim Barnes posted a few entries about his time here with us that you can read at his blog On The Global Edge. Todd In France- Todd works with International Teams in France. Lori and I have been reading his blogs lately to get an insider's view of why there is unrest and what is happening. We have found this really insightful and learned things that we would not learn just watching the news. Cafe News- It has been fun starting to meet some of the new students who frequent the cafe with new school year. In our very limited space we added a Laptop Zone last week. This allows us to free up some of our table space and provide electricity for our laptop users. We put it in the front window so our laptop users have a great view while they are doing their work. We also just put in a new art exposition by local artist Estrela Rua. Video Project- Gary Brunson is a freelance video producer from Texas. He has come for a few weeks to donate his skills to helping the team capture the atmosphere of SdC and the Cafe. This will be a great way for us to show what is happening here to prospective team mates and interns. Future Teammates- We are praying for future teammates, especially those who have a background in Spanish and Managerial skills. If you fit that description and have been feeling a nudge towards cross-cultural ministry send me an e-mail at matt.swain@iteams.org. Family News- We have some new photos posted on our family album page and If you have not had a chance to see what Lori has been writing about lately you can visit her page here. There is also a link to it in the right column. --->

Interesting Article

Here is an article describing the refugee situation in Spain. This is a little about International Teams and and basic facts about refugees. The following quote on the IT sight made me wonder how we think about and treat refugees. "Refugees in the Bible include Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Joseph, and Jesus."

IT Websight

Lori and I are so proud to be part of IT and love to see all of the ways that they are serving people and embodying the Gospel around the world. When we went through training and stayed at the headquarters in Elgin, IL one of my favorite things about that time was meeting people from all around the world and hearing their stories. If you would like to see a glimpse of some of the things that God is doing through IT, then I invite you to take a virtual trip around the world via internet. International Teams just totally refurbished their web sight and you can check it our here.

Seasons Change

We have been enjoying an extended summer until today. We have had months of beautiful sunshine and cool evenings. However, I think that that has come to an end today with the dark rain clouds of winter. The kind of dark wet days that make you want to curl up on the couch with a good book and a cup of tea. Anyway, with the change of the seasons I have been thinking about the changes this new year will bring in the seasons of the ministry here.

The student life is returning to SdC and the tourists are fading away with the summer weather. As the students return I would like to ask you to be praying for our team and the café. Santiago has around 40,000 students and that I know of only two small Bible studies for University Students. One is Catholic and the other Evangelical, each with around 30 students. That is literally a drop in the bucket in comparison with the size of the University here.

I would ask that you pray for our team and the students that we meet. Pray that we would meet students with whom God is already stirring something in their heart. Pray that God will give us a voice into the Christian student groups here to challenge them in what it means to live their faith outside the comfortable walls of the Christian circles of friends that they have. Please pray that God will foster and bless our relationships with the small remnant of Christian leaders who are working here in Galicia (our province) and help us to encourage, bless, and challenge them.

Also, pray that God will give our team wisdom as we wade through cultural and historical religious mine fields. Pray that God would guide us in the best way to plant and water in this place. Just as the apostle Paul stated, ^“6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. ⁷So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. ⁹For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.” 1 Corinthians 3:6-9

We thank you so much for your prayers for our family and for this ministry!

Back Online

Hey, thanks for your patience, everyone. Sorry about the internet fiasco and slow communication. We are now back online. It has been a great fall here in SdC with the students returning back to school. Santiago has morphed from a tourist town back into a college town. I always prefer the town with students more. Something about the students bring a vibrancy and life to the SdC. I had the privilege two weeks ago of going to Holland and visiting one of my good friends Marcel. We met in Santiago when he worked a Christian hostel for the group Oasis Trails. It was good hanging out with him and meeting his family. The were very hospitable and I felt like I received an insiders look at Holland. I was very impressed by their bicycling culture, something you almost have to see to understand. Besides visiting a lot of the tourist things like the VanGogh Museum and the Church tower in Utrecht, we also got visit a hostel ministry and a cafe ministry that reach out to youth in Amsterdam. It was great to see what they are doing in the midst of that beautiful country.

Internet Down

Hey everyone, I just wanted to let you know that our internet has been down for about a week. All week wanadoo has been telling us it should be working tomorrow. So, if we are slow in responding to e-mails, that is the reason. Hopefully it will be resolved "tomorrow". :) Blessings, Matt

Happenings

We have had a very fulfilling end of summer living here in Santiago. We have had prospective new IT international workers come and visit our team. We have two new interns that will be spending about 5 and 1/2 weeks with us. Our new teammates the Baileys are settling into their new apartment here and life in SdC. Jacob Bailey has been taking an intensive Spanish course which bringing back a flood of memories to me of arriving in SdC 4 and 1/2 years ago and trying to comprehend and communicate with those around me. When I called him the other day his words came out in a mix of Spanish and English. I remember learning Spanish making it hard for me to spell in English (not that I was a great speller to begin with). Abigail has started back to her preschool and her Spanish is returning rapidly. Isa is talking like crazy (in English). It this age when Abigail was quiet it meant that she was getting into something that she shouldn't. When Isa is being quiet it most often means we find her in a bed or on a chair reading a book (she must get that from Lori). I have been taking photos around the city some of which will be serving as inspiration for upcoming projects in Art Club and I continue working on some music. Yesterday I went to a conference on evangelism at a church in A Coruna. It was so good being with other Christians and learning about some of the things God is doing in the Church in Galicia. Please continue praying for the church in Galicia. Pray that God will bless our relationships with Christian leaders who are already here and that he will raise up new leaders out of this generation.

Castro de Barona

Yesterday we drove the girls through the mist and fog of a typical drizzly Galician day. We made our way to the coast to this ancient Castro. It is on a tiny peninsula with jagged rocks on each side. It was discovered in 1933 but had been used by the ancient inhabitants of Spain. In the 1st century a.d. it appears that the Romans had inhabited it. In the rain and drizzle and crashing waves Lori asked, "Who would ever want to live in the cold dark wet place?" I said that it would be a good excuse to drink more cafe con leche.

Summer News

Summer Interns We got back from the states a few weeks and as soon as we touched down in Spain we hit the ground running. First, we got to meet our summer interns who are here helping us in the cafe and in the ministry in general. We have been having a blast getting to know them and see them challenged in what it means to minister cross-culturally. Honeymoon in Spain We were privileged to have two different sets of honeymooners come and visit us in the last two weeks. Lori's cousin Matt Smith and his wife Kay passed through SdC on a tour of Spain and Portugal and we all had a blast hanging out and seeing the sights of SdC. This week Matt's college roommate Peter Marshall Came with his wife Stacy. It was awesome catching up on old times and telling college stories. New Cafe Adventures Also a good friend of ours, Belle, came through with a group of four friends. The are thinking of starting a cafe similar to TN either in Europe or in the USA. The have been cafe hopping around Europe to get ideas for their cafe and learn from the mistakes of others. New Teammates This Thursday our new teammates arrived in SdC. Jacob and Tanya Bailey and their two children Caleb and Hannah. The girls are having a blast with their new friends as they are staying at our house while they search for a new apartment. We are excited to have them here with us and pray God's blessings on their life and ministry here in SdC,

The Swains

To see photos from our trip go here.

Back In Spain

We are now back in Spain and still trying to get over the jet lag. Our flights all went well. Eventhough we flew through London the day after the attacks there we did not encounter any problems. There is a six hour difference between Spain and Ohio. So we want to sleep and eat at all the wrong times. We had a wonderful visit with friends and family while we were in the States. We came home to meet the 6 American interns who are here helping us out for a few weeks. We also got to met the Striblings new baby boy William Samuel Stribling.

Trip to USA

We just wanted to let you know that we will be leaving SdC and traveling to the USA this weekend. Please pray for our travels. With a one and three year old it can be a long and exhausting trip, so please pray that God gives us strength and that it is overall uneventful. Lori's brother Eric is getting married and so we will be home most of the month of June. If you need to get in touch with us, we will be staying with Lori's mom in Lancaster, I will also be checking my e-mail frequently.

Ode to STARWARS

After 28 years the saga of my generation is complete (unless someone picks up chapters VII, VIII, IX). We'll see. In the meantime I made this to celebrate.

SdC Happenings

Jehovahjireh- The Lord provides We just wanted to share that we have 9 of the 12 new pledges we need this year. We want to say a special thank you to those of you who have pledged for the first time. We are constantly reminded of our faithful God. To read more, visit our support page. New Art Exhibit We just hung some new pictures at the café for a new exhibit. If you would like to see the exhibit, you can see it here. To see past exhibits, go here. Travel Book Two nights ago Troy, Scott, Brian and I were sitting in a café having our weekly team/café meeting. Troy looked out the window and said, "Hey, that's Rick Steves from the PBS travel show." Scott and I concurred, and Brian ran outside to give him a card from the Terra Nova. He told Brian that he had heard of the café and wanted to find us before he left SdC. The next day while I was working he came in and had a coffee. We talked about Santiago and various sights he had seen. Before he took off he asked if it would be OK to put Terra Nova in his new travel book. I said, "That would be great." Interns Wanted Are you interested in a cross-cultural ministry experience? We are looking for people interested in spend 1-3 months with us this fall and winter. If you have questions e-mail me at matt.swain@iteams.org Spain and Culture Following are some articles that talk about a new law that paves the way for homosexual marriage and adoption rights in Spain. To read more go here, here or here.

Spain from a satellite photo.

Life in General!

Café Life! We just celebrated our one year anniversary of the café opening on April 5th. It is amazing to me how much has changed in one year within the café. Last year at this time we were struggling to make some of the most basic Spanish coffees and now we are able to whip them up with an almost mechanical fluidity. When someone orders something like a "descafinado de maquina con leche doble largo de café con dos azucarillos"(double shot decaf espresso with milk and two sugars) we can almost have it made before they finish ordering. We have also made a ton of new friends from visiting interns, employees, local workers and students. There is always a buzz of life in the café and a sense of community. It is also often full of young people with laptops as they check their e-mail and international students are often heard talking in their native tongue with friends and family around the world over a free internet phone service.  

Coffee Talk "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect..." 1 Peter 3:15 If God is good why does he allow tsunamis to happen or natural disasters in general? Why would God create a world with pain, and suffering, and things like cancer? The Old Testament is full of so many bizarre laws and stories. How are you supposed to know what is relevant for today? Why did God make the Israelites sacrifice lambs and bulls? That seems pretty weird. Why does it matter if you pray if God already knows everything already anyway? I am a pretty good person so why is it that God and Christians are so concerned with sin? These are just some of the topics a friend of mine brought up when we were out to coffee the other day. I really appreciated his questions and we had a great discussion. I think these questions are great not just for my friend who is looking for God, but they really remind me of the beautiful God that we serve as I step back and see the big picture of Christianity. It helps me understand my own faith better as I articulate my beliefs and translate them into words and ideas that my friend can understand. Lori and I would like to ask you to pray for this friend of ours as he is seeking God (and God is seeking him). Also, please pray that God would provide more conversations like this for both us and for you as well. We are his witnesses! If we claim to be a Christian we are called to make disciples no matter where we live in the world and no matter what our occupation.  

Family Life Lori and I have been working through a ProTools manual in our free time. ProTools is a home recording gadget that I got for Christmas. It has hardware and software that allows you to set up a virtual recording studio in your house. Lori is technologically savvy and has the discipline to go through the manual chapter by chapter (Something that I find amazing about her. I just keep clicking away at the computer until something works or I get frustrated) . I enjoy seeing all of the pretty colors come up on the computer screen when I play my guitar. Well, hopefully in a few months we will have some music to go with my songs. The girls are doing well and Lori has been keeping a blog about them here.  

Spain Life One major cultural difference that we have noticed living in Spain is the age that people move out of their parents' house. In the States most of my friends were itching to get out of the house by late high school and parents, while loving their children, wanted to see them become independent and responsible adults. In Spain, most young people I meet have no real plans to leave home and don't really think about it until they begin to approach thirty. Some just never move out. To them we are weird. To us they are weird. Well, for "young" ( 25-34 year olds) Spaniards who want to leave home sooner a big reason that they stay at home is simply because it is hard to find work. Some new options may be available for the adventurous "young" Spaniards in the near future.  

Tech Life I use the internet service Gmail which is powered by Google. They just increased the amount of Space that they give their users to over two Gigs (and counting). The idea is that you never have to delete an e-mail unless you really want to. It is passed out by invitation only, so if you are interested in setting up an account e-mail me and I will invite you (until I run out of invitations). Contact me at my permanent e-mail address: matt.swain@iteams.org

Back in Spain!

After 4 days, ten airplanes, and countless hours spent roaming terminal K in the Chicago O'Hare airport I am now back with Lori and the girls in Spain. Had a blast during my time in the states, it was very refreshing to catch up with so many friends and get to share what we see happening here in Spain. The hardest part of my trip was being away from the girls. When I got home we spent the weekend picnicking and enjoying a lot of time together. Lori and I feel so blessed when we think about the awesome friends that God has blessed us with all across the USA. Thank you so much for your prayers during my trip and for the ministry here in SdC!

Prayer Request

Matt will be traveling around the states from February 28 to March 9 visiting friends. Please pray for safety in his travels and pray for Lori as she will be at home with the girls by herself during those ten days. We are so thankful for your prayers! Sincerely, Matt and Lori

February Update

Great News! As you probably already know, this year Lori and I need to raise $800 for our monthly support to make up for the exchange between the dollar and the Euro. We are happy to say that we have already received two pledges of the twelve that we need to get us to our goal. We have received one new pledge for $100 a month and one new pledge for $50 a month. We want to thank you for praying with us! Art Club I have really been enjoying art club. We have been picking different themes each month and it has been a great time to get to know some other artists and students. I really love how the art work is coming out and look forward to our upcoming projects and themes. I have published several online galleries so that you can see a little of what we have been up to. You can go here or here. Family Life Lori has been keeping a blog of what the girls are up to. I have so much fun reading it and seeing the fun and interesting things that she has captured in print. Check it out here.

Happy Brithday

Guess who turned 1 on February 11. To see photos of Isa's party visit our family album.

T.N. T-Shirts

T-shirts with the cafe design are now available. If you are interested visit the TN Gear page. Proceeds go to the cafe.

The Body of Christ

New Life A few weeks ago we visited a new church in a city an hour north of us. The Pastor has stopped into the cafe on several occasions and invited us to visit. The church is located on the edge of A Coruña, in a converted warehouse. The had a full band and overall a nice contemporary service, but that is not what impressed me even though it was stylistically lightyears beyond anything else I have seen here. What really impressed me was something that I have not witnessed in the other evangelical churches that I have visited in Spain. They had a time of prayer at the beginning of the service where they prayed for other churches in A Coruña and Galicia. They prayed that God would facilitate new churches being started in Santiago dC and various other cities through out the region. They prayed for the Catholic church as well and especially for a nearby priest who is starting an Alpha course at his church. This outward focus was very different from the typically introverted churches that I have experienced. I praise God for New Life and the way in which they are seeking to live up to their name and for the example they are. Ecumenical Mass I was invited to an Ecumenical Mass this week. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. First, I am very excited that the Catholic church is reaching out to evangelicals, in a land where Roman Catholics often view Evangelical churches s as cults. Evangelicals also remember being oppressed by a dictatorship in which the R.C. church was too closely aligned to the power and money of the government. Anytime I see people from either group break down the walls of division that have been built up over the centuries I am very encouraged. I say I have mixed feelings because while it was an ecumenical mass, I was one of only three evangelicals there. I don´t know if that's because evangelicals were not invited or because they did not want to come. So, it was great that the R. Catholic Church is reaching out, but I think there is way more potential for true followers of Christ to worship and work together for the Kingdom. I still left being overall encouraged and praising God at the first bloom I see in the winter of animosity. Pray for the Church Please remember to pray for the church in Santiago dC and in Spain in both your personal and corporate prayer times. While 98% percent of Spaniards would claim Roman Catholicism, the vast majority are not practicing Catholics. Last year in the Spanish Newspaper "El Pais" it said that the average age of practicing Catholics in Spain is 65 years old. Just this week I read the following article "Spanish Youth Survey shows 50% decrease in believers over 4 years". Business as Mission The following is an excerpt from Wheaton College's alumni magazine explaining the important role of business as mission. It caught my eye because it is a great example of Christians living their life as ministry, especially in the business world. It also gives some insight into the philosophy behind a cafe business as a place of ministry. To read more, it is on page 16 in the online Wheaton Alumni Magazine. "Business is the most underutilized institution in society in promoting Christian values of justice, stewardship, human dignity, and peace," says Dr. Norm Ewert, associate professor of business/ economics, and the facilitator of the business-as-mission work group on campus. The work group exists to identify ways in which Christians in business may holistically serve people’s needs in a way that demonstrates the reality of God. Dr. Ewert explains, "Pastors and missionaries preach on Sundays, but they don't have regular contact with great numbers of people. Businessmen and women, on the other hand, deal with customers and employees on a daily basis..."

King's Day

Today is King's Day in Spain. It is the third and last in the winter Holiday season here (Christmas, New year, and King's day). Last night the my sister Rebecca (who is visiting for her winter break) and I took Isa and Abi to watch the King's day parade (Lori was working at the cafe). The Kings throw handfuls of candy into the crowds of people and last night little kids across Spain went to sleep dreaming about toys that the Kings were going to bring. This is the Spanish way to celebrate epiphany, when the kings (or wise men) visited Jesus and gave him extravagant gifts. Some families in Spain give gifts on Christmas and not on King's day, some on King's day and not on Christmas, and a lot give gifts on both to start and end the holiday season with giving. Today everything in town is closed (except for maybe one pharmacy that never shuts down). We are going to celebrate over a meal with some Spanish friends of ours. And then next week, life returns to normal as the holidays fall behind us. Happy King's Day!

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).

Prayer Requests

We invite you to join us in prayer for some specific things here in Spain as we move into a new school year! New Activities -For our team as we prepare for our first school year with the Cafe. We are starting an art club, a literature club and a hiking club, so pray that God gives us wisdom each thing that we try and uses these things to connect us with young people.

English School

-Lori is teaching English to 3,4, and 5 year olds at Abigail's school. Pray that she is able to find various ways to teach students and that God might use her to touch the lives of parents, students and other teachers.

Family Life

-For our families as we have all been much busier now that the cafe is operational. Pray that we will be not only be good waiters, managers, and pastors, but that we will also be good spouses, parents and friends. Team Members -For our team members Matthew and Anita Hanlon and their four children. They moved back to the USA in July and are in the process of readjusting to life there. Please thank God with us for the answered prayer of Matthew's new job. He is teaching English as a second language for their county schools.

Prayer Meeting -For an ecumentical prayer meeting that a local Catholic priest and I are trying to get off the ground with both Evangelical and Roman Catholic students. In Santiago there is currently not much interaction between these two groups. Pray that through the unity of the "Body" those who do not claim Christianity or who are not practicing their faith will be drawn to God. Spain Life -For our team mates and interns and our relationships here in Santiago. Pray that Christ shines through us in all that we do and say in every area of our lives.

September Highlights

Web Updates Since last I wrote, I have made more updates on the web page than I can tell you about here. I invite you to explore and find some of the new items. We have added more photos and I have added quite a few new links that I have found interesting. To visit our web click on SWAINLIFE.ORG

Visitors Our summer was absolutely packed and we were blessed to have several visitors during that time. Lori’s Mother came to stay with us during the month of August and we had a so much fun together exploring the city and seeing different parts of Galicia. Janice was excited to meet Isabel for the first time. When she was getting ready to leave Abigail said that she wanted to go with Abuela (Spanish for Grandma) on the airplane to America. I think that Abigail’s highlight was seeing “Ollie the Octopus” (I’m not sure who named him that, but it stuck) at the Aquarium. Also in August Tim and Liz Barnes and their two children Zach and Heather came to visit us. They came with two friends Ana and Christy who are school teachers in the Chicago area. Everyone helped us out in the café and Liz did several jewelry making workshops. Those of you who went to the Art Sale at First Pres last year probably saw some of the things that she donated towards the café. If you would like to see more of her work click here.

Café Volunteers We have been absolutely blessed to have volunteers come and help us from the time that we opened the café in April. We just want to say a special thank you to Nathan and Steve who were here with us for part of July and August. After hiking the Camino from France to Santiago, they spent a month slaving away in the kitchen making all kinds of culinary delights for throngs of hungry and weary tourists. Not to be outdone, Justyna took a fifty-eight hour bus trip from Poland to come and help us for the month of August. We just want thank each of those who sacrificed time, energy and resources to help us with the ministry here.

TEAMLIFE We are proud to announce that our teammates Troy and Jen Hellmann just gave birth to their third child this week. His name is Elijah Thomas Hellmann, born 9:14am September 14, 2004. The whole family is doing well and we ask for prayers for their whole family as they will be traveling back to Spain in about three weeks!

Swain Home Isa is sitting up and crawling and wants to test every thing that she finds by putting it in her mouth and chewing on it. Some might just call it babble but she has been saying “Da da da da” quite frequently now (which always ensures a big hug and kiss from Dad). Abigail has started preschool this week during the mornings and she absolutely loves it. She has been waking up WAY too early because she is so excited to get their and then is sad when it is time to leave school at the end of the morning. She can’t wait to see her friend Madeline each morning and “Teacher Isabel”. We are so excited for her to be immersed in Spanish language and culture all morning. Before long we will be asking her the right way to say things in Spanish. To see photos of the first day click here.

New School Year A few students have come back to SdC in September to take exams and quite a few came to the café to study, relax and hang out with friends. We are so happy that the café has an atmosphere that is attractive to students. This fall we are preparing several activities in the café that we are looking forward to. We are going to begin an art club, a hiking club, and a book club to start with. Please pray for us and the friends that we make! Pray that God gives us wisdom and that we follow where he leads us!

A Sad Goodbye

Our Good Friends the Hanlons A New Adventure In July our long term team mates Matt Hanlon and his wife Anita returned to the States with their four children. It was a tearful day for our entire team. Matt and Anita were part of our team even before we were certain about which city in Spain we were going to move to. I remember our first trip to the Iberian Peninsula together, driving from one city to the next praying about where God would have us go. The excitement and sense of adventure as we embarked on that journey together is still very real to me. Matt and Anita are not only great friends but have been an integral part of this team during the past years as they daily lived Christ and were an example to us. One story about them stands out to me. When they were enrolling their girls in school, they met with the director and talked with her about the school. Several months later she was talking to Matthew and she said, “When I first met you I knew you followed Jesus. I could tell from your countenance.” That same spirit followed them and shone through them in each of their relationships as they lived a life of ministry. They spent the majority of their time in Spain investing in the lives of the people that they met. It is my hope that our team continues to follow their example during our time here. Our prayers are with them as they begin a new adventure in Virginia. .

Saint James Day Celebration

(A look behind the scenes at Terra Nova) So I received a call on my cell phone from Scott asking me to pick up straws and yogurt for the milkshakes. About three minutes later he called back and asked me to pick up some ice as well. It was about six o’clock, an hour before I was to work at the café on the biggest night of the year in Santiago de Compostela (the city of Saint James). As I left my house and walked down the ancient cobble stone streets, anticipation of the night began to build. It was the Holy Year celebration of St. James day the patron saint of Spain. The road by my house follows the last portion of the Camino of Santiago and as I passed the Porto do Camino (Camino Entrance) I heard the police helicopter fly over had that has been keeping constant watch over the city throughout the week.

The sun was beating down on me and I was willing myself not to sweat too much before I arrived at work. I stopped by the small grocery store/ bar where they sell ice in the old city and picked up five bags. I brought what we affectionately call a “rolley cart” to help me carry the yogurt and bags of ice through the throngs of people in the city. The route I take to work leads me through two of the plazas by the cathedral and though I was walking I started to wonder if I was going to make it on time. There were so many people that it reminded me of trying to drive though traffic after the fair lets out. I heard people speaking languages from all around the world, some which sounded familiar and others which I could not place. Some were dressed up for the night’s festivities and parties and others looked liked they just spent forty days hiking though the wilderness (which they probably had).

When I arrived at Terra Nova, Scott said that they had already been hit by several waves of clients and had already sold through the amount of food and drinks that we would sell by the end of a normal day. There was energy and excitement in the air as we prepared for the night. We began checking all of our stocks of drinks and filled all of the fridges so we would have what we needed throughout the evening. John (our intern) and Stephen (a volunteer for the month) were in the kitchen making preparations for milkshakes, fruit-plates, and sandwiches.

As the time approached when the fireworks were about to start more and more people started coming in. Being a block and a half from the Cathedral our plaza has one of the best views of the face of the cathedral without actually being in the Cathedral plaza. Just as Scott and I began to get overwhelmed with the amount of orders and dishes that were piling up on the bar Victor showed up. He just started working with us on the weekends and was a little bit nervous to be working. I smiled at him and said, “Hey bud, after we make through tonight everything else will be easy.” He looked back at me with a nervous laugh and said, “Yeah, you are probably right.”

There was such a constant stream of people during the next hours that the hours blurred together and we lost all track of time. Finally things started to slow down as the fireworks were about to start. We closed the kitchen and restocked the fridges to the brim.

Then we started to hear explosions and went out into the plaza with our families to enjoy the fireworks. Stephen, who had been in the back looked liked he had walked through a sprinkler because he was drenched in sweat. Around midnight the fireworks started to reach the finale and we made our way back into the café. There was hardly a soul in the café but we could see thousands of people outside who were watching the fireworks. One of our regulars was looking across the bar at me and he said, “Matthew, this is the calm before the second rush of buffalos.” Boy was he right!

Within ten seconds the café went from being relatively empty to having a wall of people at the counter shouting orders across to Scott, Victor and I. Troy came in also to give us a hand because of the insanity. There was a line to the women’s’ bathroom that snaked through the café. We began to serve tag-team style with Scott and Victor braving their way to the tables and then calling out the orders to Troy and I. Troy and I did our best to keep up with the constant flow of dirty dishes and the orders that we received from the people at the bar.

Stephen tried to relieve us in the front as much as possible by taking empty coke bottles to the back and washing dishes in the kitchen. This kept up for quite a while and at one point I started to wonder how long this intensity would last ( and how long we would last, and how long the drinks and ice would last). Finally between 2:30 or 3 things started to slow down to what we are used to during normal working hours. We started to regain control of the café and catch up with dishes. We cleaned what we could and at 4:30 we closed our doors to go home. I remember walking home with Nathan and he said to me, “I am so glad that I was here tonight. This was definitely a highlight experience during my time in Spain.” This was definitely a night to remember.

The Many Faces of Terra Nova

The Café has been open for about two and a half months and I cannot believe the number of faces that have passed through in such a short amount of time. Ruben , a Spanish friend of ours has been amazing to our team as he has given us both help as a waiter an in giving us pointers in how to serve people better as waiters. He is a college student and is starting his own graphic design business. This coming fall he will be leaving Santiago to study art in a design school in A Coruña. He has a promising future in design and has already been designing web pages and literature for various businesses. To see his latest web development click here. We opened the café with the help of our four winter interns Carver, Chad, Christina and Erin. They did a lot of the grunt work to help us get the doors open in about a week. They have since returned to the west coast in the USA to their normal lives, but we really enjoyed having them here with us and know that they made opening a way easier transition than it could have been. A few days before the interns left us Beth came to volunteer in the café for a month. Beth is from Wales and had very little to no Spanish when she arrived, but a great desire to serve people. She would be the one in the back slaving away over milkshakes and sandwiches while the rest of us were taking coffee orders out front. One day we asked her to redo the chalkboard sign out front and discovered that she was quite an artist. So, her last to weeks with us she totally changed the inside of the café by beautifying the chalk writing on the menu above the bar and by turning one wall into a collage of “Terra Nova”. ( I will try to post some photos soon) Shortly after Beth took off we were joined by seven summer team students (six from Texas and one from Oregon). They have been helping us in every aspect of the work here in Santiago and learning what it means to live Life as Ministry. Some of them have been keeping track of their experiences during their time in Santiago and if you would like to see what they have to say click here or here. Well, I have recently added some exhibits to the Gallery of our website and invite you to peruse them here. The current exhibit is by Estrela Rua who is an artist from Galicia. Her artwork depicts various scenes of Galician country-side. The photos only grasp a portion of the beauty of her work. To see them better you’ll have to come visit us in Santiago and stop in for a coffee. We can't wait to see you!

Life is Ministry

Our daughter Abigail just turned two recently and is starting to learn how to use prepositions. However, sometimes she gets them wrong and it entirely changes what she means. For example, at night when it is time to read a bed time story sometimes she says “I want you lay down for me” but what she really means is “I want you to lay down with me (and read me a bedtime story).” Sometimes she will mosey into the kitchen and look up with wide, serious, innocent eyes and say “Can I want a cookie?” Meanwhile I know that she really does want a cookie and is just asking if she can have one. From the beginning of time God has sought to have a relationship with humanity. God’s desire has been for a close relationship, but it seems that humanity always wants to keep him at arms length (if not further). When God was setting up the brand new nation of Israel he declared to them that they would be a Kingdom of Priests as you can read in the following passage. Exodus 19 3 Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, "This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 'You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you [1] will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' It is amazing that just nine chapters later that God calls out Aaron and Levites to come and serve as priests. What happened? They were going to be a kingdom of priests but they ended up becoming a kingdom with priests instead. Did God (like Abigail) accidentally mess up his prepositions? Did one of the Hebrew scribes hear him incorrectly? No, God wanted people to come directly to him, but they were not ready to do that. They preferred to have a mediator, someone who went to God on their behalf. They wanted someone else to have the job of spiritual work so that they could go on living their lives as they pleased. However, God did not forget what he said about building a kingdom of priests. In the New Testament, Peter reminds us again of God’s desire for his people to be a kingdom of priests - a kingdom of people that have direct access to God and come directly before him. 1 Peter 2 ”9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us”. Often it is easy to think that the work of ministry belongs only to those who work in ministry full time. However, this is contrary to everything that God has worked for throughout history. Yes, we need pastors, teachers, preachers, missionaries, etc. God definitely calls some people to specific tasks, but to what end? Paul says, “11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:11 Why does Paul say that there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers? To prepare God's people for works of service, to prepare God’s people to do ministry. If we call ourselves Christians, then we are privileged to be called to a life of ministry. Not just during times when it is convenient for us or only during times when the church does a special outreach event. Our lives are to be lived with a sense of purpose and mission each day! We need to connect with Christ daily and walk with him and allow him to be part of every area of our life. We all need to reflect the light of Christ and not just expect those with Christian job titles to do the work. And those of us with Christian job titles need to equip, empower and teach those in our care to do the work of Christ and not cause them to depend on us to do it all. So, no matter where you are in the world and no matter what your vocation is, if you call yourself a follower of Christ I pray that you will live your life as ministry. I pray that you will seek and hear God’s voice daily and do his work wherever you are. I pray that you will be encouraged and blessed as you see God’s hands mold your life and as you follow him on your pilgrimage journey. Life is Ministry!

See the Cafe!

Cafe with View of Cathedral in the background.

For over a week I have wanted to write this and today I finally had a chance to breathe a little. Café Terra Nova opened last Monday, April 5 2004 with the arrival of Semana Santa. I worked with my team mate Scott during the first morning shift and it was difficult not to be overly giddy when our first customers walked through the door. We spent the week familiarizing ourselves with our stock, the cash register and learning the plethora of ways that one can order a coffee in Spanish and Gallego. This week the training on tourist clients settled down a little as workers and students in the city returned. I have been very pleased to see how the café has already brought many of our friends and how we have met so many new people in the community. In a week we are already beginning to see “regulars”. We have hired our first Spanish worker, a friend of ours from GBU. He has experience in waiting restaurants and Cafés in Spain. This Thursday night we are going to continue the discussion over Rembrandt’s Return of the Prodigal Son in the café. We have been very pleased with the overall responses and comments that we have heard about the café. People like the way we have decorated, the styles of music that we play and in the afternoons they especially enjoy sitting in the area that is like a small living room. We have a small terrace in front with potted flowers on the window sills. As you walk in the front door we have two small olive tree topiaries. From inside our 10 ft high windows cover the front of the café with a view of a plaza, Alameda Park, and Gallego hillsides that face the cathedral. We have our first exposition of local art on display. In the living room section we have a red sofa and love seat. Behind the living room area we have a section of wall space where we want to put three internet stations with flat screen monitors, so that with a morning coffee one can send out an e-mail or check out some web news. This will also be an area where we can advertise upcoming events in the café. To see photos of the café go to the click here. Please praise the Lord with us for his faithfulness! Also, please continue to pray for us as we learn how operate this café. Please pray for our families as we attempt to balance our schedules. Please pray that God will grant us unique insight for ways to share his love and truth. Please pray that God will bless our witness as we have a more visible presence in the community.