March Update

I know it's almost April, but I'm finally able to catch up with some of the postings I've been wanting to do. Here is a copy of my March update.

The past few weeks have been full of activity - school excursions, a two-day trip to Madrid to be trained for my new job as Treasurer of the Spain field, a weekend visit to Salamanca to visit our teammates there, working on one of the courses for the next semester of our online school (EET - Escuela Evangélica de Teología), and of course, language school. I’m trying very hard to get ahead in my work for EET since I will be in South Africa next week for the WorldVenture Leadership Conference. I will be traveling with two other families from our field and we are really looking forward to the time to be together, to learn from those who will share at the conference, and to be refreshed and renewed by the Lord. I will report on the conference in my update next month.

This month’s quote:

“Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:1–2 NKJV).

The writer of Hebrews could have been a jogger, for he speaks of a runner and a forerunner. The forerunner is Jesus, the “author and finisher of our faith.” He is the author—that is to say he wrote the book on salvation. And he is the finisher—he not only charted the map, he blazed the trail. He is the forerunner, and we are the runners. And we runners are urged to keep our eyes on Jesus.

I’m a runner. More mornings than not I drag myself out of bed and onto the street. I don’t run fast. And compared to marathoners, I don’t run far. But I run...As the sun is rising, I am running. And as I am running, my body is groaning. It doesn’t want to cooperate. My knee hurts. My hip is stiff. My ankles complain...Things hurt. And as things hurt, I’ve learned that I have three options. Go home. Meditate on my hurts until I start imagining I’m having chest pains. Or I can keep running and watch the sun come up. My trail has just enough easterly bend to give me a front-row seat for God’s morning miracle. If I watch God’s world go from dark to golden, guess what? The same happens to my attitude. The pain passes and the joints loosen, and before I know it, the run is half over and life ain’t half bad. Everything improves as I fix my eyes on the sun.

Wasn’t that the counsel of the Hebrew epistle—“looking unto Jesus”? Hope is a look away. Now, what were you looking at?

--Max Lucado, Traveling Light

Praises:

1. My internet connection has been repaired, although I don’t know how. When the repairman left, I thought he said he was coming back. He didn’t, but two days later my internet was working. Thanks for praying!
2. I am enjoying language school very much. Continue to pray for opportunities to share my faith.
3. I have received half of what is needed to cover my expenses for the Leadership Conference.
4. Katie is doing well. We enjoy riding back and forth to language school, although we are in different classes. She is enjoying the time she spends with her host family and they are enjoying her.

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for the students and the professors of EET as the next quarter begins in April. Jon will be teaching a course on systematic theology this quarter and I know he would appreciate your prayers.
2. Pray that those of us who are attending the Leadership Conference will be refreshed and renewed and will have sweet times with the Lord and with each other.
3. Pray that Jon and Kathy will be able to get the necessary paperwork to apply for Nacho’s visa for their upcoming home assignment.

Segovia

I promised you some pictures from our school excursion to Segovia. At long last, here they are.

You can see it was a cold, snowy day from this overlook on the road into Segovia. The castle and the cathedral are visible from here.











Here is Katie in front of the acqueduct. It is about 2,000 years old, spans 728 meters and has 166 arches. Probably the most amazing thing about this magnificent structure is that it is held together without any binding agent or cement of any kind.









This is the castle of Segovia. Called the Alcázar (the arab word for castle), it was orginally a Roman castle and later a refuge for the Moors. In 1862 a fire destroyed a great part of the castle and the restoration was completed in 1890.








This is the view of the castle from the road into town. Makes you think of fairy tales, doesn't it? It was from here that Isabel left to be proclaimed Queen in 1414.
















The Cathedral of Segovia is the last built in the Gothic style in Spain. Work was begun in 1515, four years after the original cathedral was destroyed in a war. 200 years and several architects later, it was completed.