The Spain trip in the rearview mirror

It's been three weeks and a day since the Spain music mission team returned from our trip across the Atlantic. Upon reflection and conversations with people I've come in contact with since then, I think it's important to share a few thoughts on the journey.

I've been asked by many friends and family the same question, "How was the trip?"

At first I stumbled through an answer with a standard, "It was remarkable," and that usually did the trick. But, to leave it at that does our experience an injustice in my opinion.

As a trip, yes, it was an unbelievable time in Spain. The beauty of the land, people, and food was truly exquisite. As a music mission trip, it was the sort of experience that lingers and if we are listening to God, can shift words and actions as we move forward.

For us to have played a small role in God accomplishing his purposes in the life of the church in San Sebastián and its congregation is still an amazing thought to me. Taking a group of musicians and singers (even though each of us are flawed people) and allowing us to serve the living God through our music tells me we did what we were called to do. For a brief moment in time, we were fulfilling our short-term purposes.

Not everything was as expected and the group had to work through a variety of challenges brought on by internal as well as external influences. Looking back, it is obvious that we had a group of prayer warriors interceding on our behalf and covering us as we went. We are truly loved and richly blessed to have such support networks in our lives.

We've all seen this written on a car's side mirrors: "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear." Getting perspective on this trip means allowing the experience stay close to our hearts.
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Overheard on the trip

This post is primarily for the team's amusement while we wait during our travels home:

• "Hey do you think there's koi in that pond?"
• "You're going to try to park the car in *that* space?!"
• "You have chosen wisely/poorly."
• "Do you think they speak English?"
• "All I want is sausage biscuit from McDonald's."
• "Who has the right-of-way in the roundabout?"
• "Does this coffee come in large?"
• "Where's Thomas?"
• "He's very protective of his tongue."
• "Is that a fat joke?!"
• "Hey Rod, do you cut your own hair?"
• "…brown chicken brown cow…"
• "What's pescado del diá?" [pause] "it's fish of the day." [pause] "sounds good"
• "That's not grease it's meat juice."
• "Hey look, it's an old lady in a Wookie suit."
• "No really, where's Thomas?"
• [in a British accent] "left at the roundabout then straight on…at the earliest convenience, make a U-turn."
• "Those fries are *really* yellow."
• "Lo Siento."
• "How y'all doin'?"
• "Where's Heidy?"
• "Wait, I grew up poor?!"
• "Right of weight."
• "Barukh attah Adonai eloheinu…"
• "What are we doing today?"
• "No one told me 6:30. I heard 7."
• "Get in the van!"
• "Burro burro burro burro …"
• "Sean-babe."
• "Let's go home."

See y'all back home.
- RE

Saturday coming home

The team is packed and ready to go home:

6:00 am (Spain time) - at the airport and we beat the American Airlines employees, but we are first in line when they open.

8:40 am - at the gate ready to bored…er board the airplane. Team members doing final Spain souvenir runs and debating on coffee or sleep on the trans-Atlantic flight to Miami.

3:45 pm (Miami time) arrived after nine hour flight and going through customs for re-entry into the U.S.

5:05 pm (Miami time) getting ready for next and final flight of this trip back to DFW.

We are weary travelers as our bodies think it's after 10:00 pm in Spain. Whew!

Thanks to everyone who came by the blog and especially for the thoughts and prayers. The team is ready to be home.
- RE

Friday youth camp concert

The team just completed the music portion of this trip by performing at a Christian youth camp. The retreat was held at the Pino Reales (Royal Pines) camp in a picturesque part of Madrid's hills and lush valleys.

We had some interesting challenges with this concert due to the fact that we were guests using the camp's audio equipment. Regardless of some of the difficulties, the youth audience were attentive and responsive to the music and lyrics. It was a blessing to play for such an enthusiastic group. The heat was palpable on stage and the energy received from the kids was great.

At last our time has come to wrap things up from Spain. We are on our way to a late dinner (to which we've grown quite accustomed this week) then back to out hotel for quick sleep before we journey home tomorrow.

Hasta luego mis amigos.
- RE

Friday road trip back to Madrid

We made it back to Madrid and are now on our way to the site of our last concert. The team will perform at an area retreat camp.

This is just a quick post to update you on today's events. Mostly car/van riding and a couple rest stops and lunch. More later from the retreat site.

I will say though that the drive is very pretty getting to the camp. (The last picture doesn't do it justice.)
- RE

Thursday final concert in San Sebastian

Prayers answered: Scott was able to put together a transformer that worked perfectly. (it's the plastic container in the hand pictured)

Tonight we played our last concert for Iglesia Evangelica. We had a wonderful gathering of praise and joyful noises with their congregation. Many of the attendees have been a part of the audience at our various stops in and around San Sebastián. A few of them were even singing along…in English!

Afterward the team was treated to a homemade dinner and warm fellowship with those that stayed. Our team was also invited to join their church's music team for group photos and even some English and Spanish conversations.

We exchanges hugs and loaded up the van and car and headed back to the hotel for the final night in San Sebastián.

It has been wonderful to see the work that this church is doing and the strides and in-roads they are making with the communities here. Our prayers of encouragement, discernment, and safety need to be with them.

Tomorrow we leave for Madrid for one final concert before our departure on Saturday. We have taken tons of photos and we'll figure out a way to share them soon with each other and for the readers of this blog.
- RE

Wednesday Cultural Center performance

We just wrapped up another free concert this time in another area and city but still within the scope and remarkable reach of Iglesia Evangelical (our host church here in Spain.)

The place we performed was called Casa de la Cultura in the city of Tolosa. It was another indoor concert. Flyers and posters were distributed announcing the free performance. We had a bit of a glitch with a transformer that forced Scott (electric guitarist) to stop playing near the end.

{Prayer request: we need to be able to fix/replace that transformer so Scott can get back in the musical action.}

Thankfully, the last songs were slower and the team adapted to the new challenge. The singers and Steve finished up the music portion on their own.

Lastly, Manny provided another eloquent and powerful Gospel presentation illustrated through stories of broken and saved people with whom those in attendance could relate.

Afterward we were told that five people had accepted Jesus as their Savior there at the Cultural Center. I cannot put into words how good it feels to play even a small role in this process.

- RE

Wednesday walking

Today's agenda included time before lunch to walk around the area on our own. Some of us shopped, some hung out near the water, and others took in the culture through more photos. But mostly we walked which was greatly appreciated since the weather is magnificent.

We are resting before an evening performance at the Cultural Center.
- RE

Tuesday Radio Interviews Video Highlights

Here are some videos from Tuesday's radio interviews:

Rehearsal


Song from Interview No. 1


Song from Interview No. 2

Tuesday radio interview numero dos

Tonight members of the team were invited to participate in another radio interview. This time it was for a smaller Christian radio station that was transmitting via computer from a small room above a furniture store. The operation was modest, but the work and reach is remarkable. The show was a full hour and the singers and bass player, Robert, each shared their testimony as Manny wove the story of the gospel between songs.

It has been truly great to hear each other's stories and testimonies. God has impacted each of is in different ways and we are coming closer as a team as we walk these experiences together.

Thank you for your prayers, support and love as we continue our work. This place is wonderful and the people are and will continue to be in good hands as the local church grows in reach for the lost, seekers, and faithful.

"What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should be lost." (Matthew 18:12-14)
- RE

Tuesday radio interview numero uno

Earlier we had a phenomenal experience and opportunity with a radio station. According to our hosts, this was the secular radio station. This was a strategic move for the church here to have our team talk and play on their behalf.

It is our prayer that the listeners who heard the interview and songs were able to connect to us as people who were connected by our faith. We also hope that of they haven't already, they would take the steps towards a relationship with Jesus.

We will have another opportunity this evening to share with another radio station.

More to come...
- RE

Monday outdoor performance

From Rod: "How good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity…for there the Lord has commanded the blessing…"(Psalm 133:1-3, AMP) 
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This evening we had another opportunity to play outdoors. We performed in an area that was appropriately named, "Muzik Plaza." Apparently, many of the businesses were closed today here so there was not much in the way of foot traffic. We played to a modest crowd of passersby and shop/pub owners and staff. From what we heard from the Igelsia Evangelica team, they passed out information pamphlets to approximately 200 people.

The biggest obstacle tonight was the cold temperature. We did manage to get through all of the songs in our set with minimal musical interruptions.

Our host, Manny, provided translations for testimonials and preaching the Gospel. Overall, it was a unique experience and provided an opportunity for the local church to be seen in the community and make in-roads with the people.

Tomorrow we have two radio interviews. More to come.
- RE

Monday trip into France

Our gracious host, Manny Fernandez, provided an opportunity to cross over into France earlier today.

San Sebastian is about 30 minutes away from the coastal city of Biarritz, France (pictured here). The team was treated to a quick trip to see a few scenic views and have a quiet lunch in a quaint pizzeria. (Yes we had pizza and lasagna in France. But we did have French bread to keep the cultural balance in check.)

In all seriousness, the short drive and picturesque scenes provided what are sure to be great photos as we all snapped our cameras.

This evening we are back outdoors at a different pavilion (hopefully not as exciting as last night's short performance.)
- RE

An interesting day in San Sebastian

Today was an interesting day in San Sebastian. After the church service we were informed we would play at an outdoor pavilion.

The first issue that came to mind was the cool evening temperatures and its effect on voices and instrumentation. What we didn't anticipate was the relatively common political march and subsequent speech that was also scheduled…for the same pavilion.

We arrived and set-up with the understanding that the organizers of the political march and speech would need the stage at a specific time. The team prepared to play and was ready to perform just as the group staged their peaceful demonstration.

The intriguing thing about this performance was that in essence it was for approximately four to five thousand before they marched. When we finally were able to play a few songs, it was for a modest crowd who stayed behind while the protesters marched.

While it would have been great from a musician's standpoint to play for thousands, we understood the need for our brevity. We provided a brief example for our host church to demonstrate to the local municipal government that the Evangelical church can and will cooperate for the people here. It was more important to play a small roll in helping secure the church's standing in the city. For that, we are proud to have witnessed the protest, from a safe distance.

Tomorrow we travel to France.
- RE

Sunday Service

After a restful night, it was time for our first scheduled performance. We played during the Sunday church service at Iglesia Evangelica de Gros for approx 110 worshipers. (Gros is the name of the neighborhood.)

This was an interesting experience as we had a limited amount of rehearsal before the service began. Thankfully our hosts were patient with us and seemed to truly enjoy the songs and explanations.

We also learned that later this evening we will play outdoors in a pavilion. The weather and temperature is a concern so please pray for the instrumentation and voices as well as good health.

More information coming soon. Please feel free to leave any comments or prayers you may have and they will be shared with the team.

Muchisimas gracias!
- RE