Update on St. John's Day

Well, I was wrong about our town not having a bonfire. When I took Biscuit for her walk this morning, I passed in front of the city hall as I usually do and there were the remains of a bonfire and thousands of firecrackers. Since they were shooting them off from about 9:30 p.m. until about 1:30 a.m., I'm not surprised there were that many. Needless to say, since the city hall is right next door to my apartment building, I didn't get much sleep last night.

Sant Joan Day

Tomorrow is St. John's Day (Sant Joan is Catalan for St. John) and this afternoon they started setting off firecrackers. They've been going off for an hour. Not sure when they will stop, but I'll be lucky if I can get my dog to go outside tonight.

The holiday is in honor of John the Baptist. The book of Luke says that John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus so they celebrate his birth six months before Christmas. It's the first holiday of the summer and they use it welcome in the new season. If you want to read more about it, you can go here. Our town is too small to have any parades or a bonfire, but I'm sure the firecrackers will continue through the night.

I decided to go grocery shopping today and you could certainly tell that tomorrow is a holiday. Perhaps that, and the fact that the truck strike is over and the shelves are full again, brought lots of folks out to shop.

Gas and Food Shortages

There is a truck strike going on over here over soaring fuel costs. You can read more about it here. Kathy, Kristi and I went to the market today because we had heard there was a shortage of some products and we thought we probably shouldn't wait for the weekend. It was obvious that something was going on as many of the shelves were bare. There was hardly any produce. The milk aisle was also quite bare. We had to go to another store to find eggs and apples. Kathy said one of the store employees told her that the meat that was in the display case was all there was. We stocked up on staples and wondered how long this strike would last.

We certainly take a lot for granted, don't we? And it reminded me once again, that our trust should be in the Lord and not man.

Meet Kristi

Kristi is a 20 year old from Michigan who is spending the summer in Spain on a vision trip to investigate the possibility of future ministry here. She will be staying with me for three weeks as she helps out at the FIEIDE office and possibly at church. She will then go to the General Assembly of the FIEIDE, followed by a two week evangelistic trip to Benicarló (a coastal town in the province of Valencia) and then to Albania and Kosovo for a 19-day mission trip with others from the FIEIDE. She will spend her last couple of weeks in northern Spain, exploring possibilities there. I'm sure she would appreciate your prayers as she pursues God's will for her future ministry.

Contrasting Worldviews

My friend and teammate, Kathy, recently pointed out an article in the January 2008 issue of EMQ (Evangelical Missions Quarterly). It was titled, "Contrasting Worldviews and Their Implications for Missions in Spain." It has some very interesting points to make and I thought I would share some of them with you to give you a better idea of what it's like to be a missionary in Spain. It opened my eyes to some things I was not aware of, even though I've been here three and half years.

The first major difference one encounters as a missionary entering Spain is the change in identity. North Americans and many Northern Europeans are accustomed to defining themselves as individuals. A mature adult, in this worldview, knows who he or she is based on his or her internal worth. He or she does not depend on others' evaluations to determine his or her worth...In the Spaniard's worldview, however, the individual's identity lies within the group of which he or she forms a part. Thus, identity is determined by one's family, birthplace, neighborhood, group of friends, colleagues and church.

A second aspect of the identity question is the concept of being versus doing. We North Americans get our value, identity and worth to a very large degree from what we do...Our achievements give us personal worth. The Spaniard defines him or herself in terms of being, and his or her being is closely related to his or her group identity. In fact, for the Spaniard, the two are virtually inseparable.

A third important area in which the Spanish worldview differs has to do with the perception of the world in which we live. North Americans are taught from birth that we can control our world and affect our circumstances. We believe we can achieve anything if we just put our mind to it and are willing to work hard...For Spaniards, the individual has very little ability to control his or her environment and all resources are limited. This belief breeds a kind of fatalism. One cannot change anything, so why even try?

How does a missionary come to grips with these problems and find a way to function effectively? Here are a few suggestion:

1. Pay careful attention to the being-versus-doing and the individual-versus-group aspects of society. The missionary must be willing to arrive, pick a place to live and a church to work with and settle down for a long stretch of what will appear to be "nothing." During this time...the emphasis must be on learning the language, gaining trust, listening to people, being who we are and proving ourselves to be part of the group.

2. Learn how to deal with criticisms, attacks and confrontations. When we perceive ourselves to have been sinned against, we must deal with the occurrence the same way we would any other offense. Making excuses or saying we must just "get over it" does not really help. We have been sinned against and must choose to forgive that person, whether or not he or she repents.

3. Do not copy everything you see the Spaniards do in an effort to acculturate. That would be like eating the meat sacrificed to idols: we would be sinning against our own conscience...For most missionaries, learning when to speak up and when to be silent will be a long, slow process...We must remember that we are here to see change for the progress of God's kingdom...Nevertheless, I must be here a long time to earn the right to model something different, and that on a totally different time schedule than my own.