Thanks for your prayers!

After adding a few last entries I will be rounding out our blog and adding pictures and other stuff to some of the entries. I will leave the blog up for a month or so before taking it down at the end of August. I realize we lost some days in there somewhere- sorry I don't know how to account for that (international date line, or forgetting to blog a day or maybe time stood still). Enjoy the additions and pictures as they come and don't forget we will be giving a presentation at church in August (I think).

Thanks for following, this is our end...but the story has really just begun for many in north Africa and Spain.

Blessings,
Thom T.

Day 15

Journal reflections of our trip
I have time to catch up. I have time to rethink. I have time to reflect. I have time to read War and Peace! I am stuck in the Barcelona airport with the usual suspects until our flight leaves at 6:00am… it is now midnight. When it is midnight in the Barcelona airport it means two things: the only food source (a baguette sandwich place) is closing and all the benches with broken arms and good for sleeping on are gone. That wouldn’t be so bad anywhere else in the world but here it is because- like everywhere else in Spain- tile flooring. So it appears we will kill time tonight reading the wonderful letters you have sent to us to sustain us and reflecting on our time as we have had to say goodbye to Ray and Zenia tonight. Yesterday we had to say goodbye to Josep and that was tough enough, but now we are orphaned again until we return to your care.

Finally after 13 hours on KLM and Northwest Airlines and a few customs stops, we arrived home. I was not able to keep my "Frog Skinned" melon seeds through customs, so I will have to return to Spain to enjoy it.

Day 14

Journal Ephesians 5:15-21
Today is a travel day. Josep let me drive about 3 hours while he slept. Now, you should know that I am not a courteous or attentive driver to begin with- no apology mind you just stating a fact. As it turned out I only got in trouble once, OK twice. Once at a round about when for some reason the car next to me would not let me cut him off- how rude- he must have been French, and second when attempting to enter a motorway I found out that you actually stop rather than speed up to enter in front of the already moving traffic. I decided that those were dumb rules and did not apply to me. So in short none of it was my fault and Josep assured me of this as he got back into the drivers seat. Our first half was taken up with duties at the EXPO which was altogether a different experience than our previous days. We learned to be humble, deferring everything to our hosts, the Spaniard Christians who were putting on the exhibit and had been there since the opening and would be there until the end of August. It is hard to not be in charge after spending days in face to face encounters and gaining a sense of confidence about our mission. However, the Spaniards were courteous and allowed us to sit and pray for them and to fold pamphlets to be distributed. Again, humbling and yet healthy. We are amazed at what God has taught us so far. Some things we were expecting and many we had know way of knowing until we got here. I am in love with the men I have come with and would jump in front of a small train for any of them they are truly my brothers.

Day 11

Journal 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
The lady on the right is Gloria and she is a believer we came across just as she was praying for some comfort from God. She has a small church in the city next to her beauty supply store and needed encouragement from the Lord and we showed up. What a sense of humor God has. Boy am I tired. For those following us, this blog has also acted as my journal of things I remember, but I also have a responsibility to you and the team to record things in a not so selfiish way so that all can enjoy it. But when I say I am tired I pretty much speak for us all. While the others are out taking some photos (and sneaking in a large meal without me I suspect) I have chosen to stay behind and rest and write and talk with my wife via Skype. Today we were able to get to the Expo in good time and we worked the afternoon shift and did what we have been doing there: passing out materials and talking with people. Today was church and we got to worship with the people whose church we are in. Ray interpreted for us and we sang their songs and everything. The church holds about 500 but there was only about 150 total due to the Expo, heat, vacations, etc. Not much different from Barton.
Josep woke up sick, but Larry's Zicam came to the rescue and now Josep is trying to find a way to prove that a Catalan man invented Zicam. The guy never lets up!
Most of the team is ready to come home now but we still have a few days left- mostly of travel. tomorrow after the morning shift at the Expo we will drive 5 hours back to Palamos and Ray's house. We will be there relaxing on Tuesday and then leave for Barcelona early Tuesday eve. We agreed to let Ray drop us off at midnight so that he could drive back home at a decent hour. We will sleep in the airport and catch our early flight back Wednesday. Wow. Travel prayers are in order and blog posts will be shorter- unless crazy things happen, which is possible with us- just keep praying and we will be home soon with all the details.

Day 10

Journal Hebrews 12:1-12
Today we got to sleep in and go to breakfast. OK, here’s the deal, we hade to look high and low for a place that was open before 10am, these Spaniards start late, stop for siesta between 1-5 arbitrarily for two hours or so, and then work until 6 or 7pm. Anyone with a little initiative could come here and start a business and clean up (I’m convinced). I digress, so we find a place that is open and our able guide and translator Josep, who plays the perfect Sancho Panza to Ray’s Don Quiote, orders some meat looking thing and some pastries and some bubbling hot “café con leche” which is coffee as thick as molasses with a touch of milk to make it look brown and not completely black. Josep is true Catalonian and can speak in either Catalan or regular Spanish, but his Catalan commands respect even from the most boorish coffee baristas. So half way into this managerie we are downing the meat and all the grease in which it was fried. Picture triangle pieces of bacon about 1/4'” thick with lots of grissel and running with its own grease (that looks like about 10-40 weight motor oil coming out of my old Ford pick up after 10,000 miles too many). Only then does Josep tell us that the meat is fried pig’s ears! I knew I tasted wax.
So now we are on our way to the Expo in 80 degree weather having shot down blistering coffee to get the taste of pig ears out of our mouth and we’ve got donut schmootz hanging on our “ministry beards” that we grew to impress the muslims. I could swear I saw Josep smiling.
The Expo was an incredible place. I do not think it an exaggeration to say that it is a couple miles in length and has the appearance of a small town in and of itself. 158 countries have pavilions (read that “buildings”) here so we walked aimlessly through the exhibit pavilions looking for two things- a line shorter than a mile and some futuristic cars. We never found either- not even at the bathroom (the line, I mean). So after some quick pictures we headed for our place of service.
We meet a hard working and well trained group of Spaniards who were escorting people through the pavilion and showing them a 5 minute presentation in video of “Christ the Living Water” (water is the theme of the expo). We got to stuff materials together, hand them out, usher in the theater and generally do what we were told by the approximately 100 people who thought they were the boss. There is a simple beauty in just doing what you are told. There were over 5,000 people (yes 5 thousand) who came through the exhibit today the second highest day of the expo so far. Spaniards, French, Arabic, Brits, and a variety of others- each of them covered by your prayers and ours. They expect 6-7 million people to come to the expo before the end of August and many will have come through the Agua Viva pavilion were we are working. Can you even imagine how crowded it is. Like Disney on its best day. We are pumped for tomorrow and will be in church before heading to the Expo. We are hoping to avoid fried ears of any kind. Pray for us!

Day 9

Journal Isaiah 40:28-31
Today we got out once in the morning and once on the evening. We drove to various barrios in the city (Zaragoza) and meet people in the streets. This was very rewarding as many people were glad to take the information. You must understand the context to know how grateful they are. These are mostly people from Sub-Saharan Africa. They are black, not olive skinned like north Africans. They are considered the bottom of the totem pole as far as the Spanish culture is concerned- the last to get jobs, the last to get gov.’t help, the last to get educations, etc. They are amazed that we will “give” them anything. The packet contains a New Testament in Arabic, but many of them speak Spanish, or French as well. It also contains a novel, a CD called the “Jesus Film”, and some childrens literature. It is quite a bundle, but they carry it off proudly as if to show others that someone cares for them.
In the evening we went to a park where a missions team from Brazil was putting on a concert and ministering to the residents of the area. Most of these are Spaniards, but we now have an eye for picking out the few muslims among them. It gives us a great sense of satisfaction to be able to converse with them (alittle anyway) and to show them that not all Christians are on a “crusade” and some just want to share their faith. Many have responsed to our sincere efforts, but only because God has softened their hearts and ours. I am discovering how foolish it is to think that I can do anything apart from God’s good grace. I will continue to make an effort to stick to his plan and not mine.
PS- I am so thankful for Skype and how it allows me to see my family over the internet, what a blessing for our whole team.

Day 8

Day 8
Journal 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13
We are encouraged by your emails and comments on the blog, please continue them!

We are in Zaragosa and today we got up early and started out to two different places in the city. The places we go to are populated by the North Africans and are very poor as they are the ones at the bottom of the economy. They are a very grateful people to anyone who wants to help them and they are very receptive of the Gospel. We are resting in the middle day when the tempurature reaches 90 degrees and we will go out again in the evening to work I na park with the Brazilian team. They are a worship team and they will play while we talk with the crowd about Jesus and share our testimonies and tracts. Pray that the people will consider the important decisions we will ask them to make. We are only planting seeds but it is so important that they see our sincerity and our love of God. Pray for our health as we are all getting tired at this point in the trip and napping appeals to us all, but there is work to be done. I will try to upload some more pictures tonight and add them to this entry or yesterdays.
Blessings!

Day 7

Journal Ephesians 4:29-32
Today was a travel day. I will upload some photos later but just so you know if you are following a map at home we went quite a bit inland today. We left Colonge/Palomos area and drove to Zaragoza. It was about a 5 hour trip. Not much to say other than we slept a lot and it was very hot. We had a blessing from the Lord in that the van we used and was in the shop came back in time for our trip to Zaragosa, so a few got to ride in the comfort of a new van with a primo air conditioner and sound system. Yet, others (Larry V. and Thom T.) had to suffer for Jesus and ride in a two door Suzuki car with all the materials for distribution. Oh well, another jewel in our crowns. When we arrived we made more packets and walked the city (a portion) for about an hour. It was about 95 degrees out at 7pm-wow! Lunch was huge so no dinner tonight it is too hot. We continue to drink lots of water, pray for our health- we are, and so far we are all good- we only have tired feet and sweaty brows and that's not so bad.
We did find out that we will be aloud to be inside the expo and won’t have to pay for it as we are listed as helpers, there was some question about this but it was settled shortly after got here. Otherwise it would cost us 25 Euros each. We will be assisting other teams from around the world, doing evangelism in the parks and plazas around Zaragosa. The city is large and very populated, not quite Portland size but close. Tommorrow we will work with a Brazilian worship team in a local park. Approaching people while they play music. Pray for the success of this approach, and pray that we may carry our weight as we become a part of something much bigger than ourselves. Oh yeah- I have got to find my son a gift this week- time slips away. We are blessed by you all praying for us and your continued care and thoughts for our families. More pictures later also. Bye for now.

Day 6

Journal Colossians 3:12-17
Day Six
Today we went to three towns in the area to distribute materials. We went to Llagostera, Cassa de Selva, and Salt. One of my favorite things we do each day is to pray while we approach each town (don’t worry our eyes are open while we drive). Ray and Josep would usually start but it would lead to ten or fifteen minutes of prayer and I would usually start singing a praise chorus. We had made up 160 packets the night before and upon arriving at the first town of Llagostera divided into two teams but could find very few Muslim people in the streets or on the Plazas. We only gave away about 31 packets of information.
The teams reunited at the car and I began to pray really hard as we drove to Cassa de Selva for fear we would not be able to give away very much information and today would be very long. In C. de S. we walked through many apartment buildings and gave away many of the packets. The conversations we started were rewarding as well. In these towns there are many Sub Saharan Muslims. They come from Nigeria, Mauritania, Ghana, and other countries that are totally Muslim (and Christianity are not allowed) and speak French as well as Spanish. They sometimes wear typical African dress, especially the women (bright wraps and head dresses). They are unfortunately looked down upon by the Moroccan Muslims and they occupy the lowest place in social standing- but this is an opportunity. They are very grateful to be given a “gift” from us. Pray for these people they need the Lord and they need Him now! Our hope is that they receive these things and are encouraged by them and then seek Jesus as a result. Because their country is so oppressive they do not know much about Christianity and are very open to it because of the hope it provides.
Next we went to the town of Salt. We still had over 100 packets to give away and I personally did not think we had the stamina to do it. We had never given away that many or talked with that many people before. However, after praying and parking the car we began to give out information and strike up conversations immediately. There were people everywhere who wanted to know more about what we were doing and how they could get a package. After having one man turn me down another walked by and said he would take it- just that fast! We were able to distribute all of our printed information in under an hour and a half. I was stunned. I believe your prayers are the reason. Please continue to pray for us. God in His goodness has allowed us here and now we are seeing real fruit from our labors. None of us is having difficulty with approaching the people and the language barrier is becoming less of a problem.
Tomorrow we travel to Zaragoza so posting reports like this may be difficult but I will try to find Internet access. Pray for our time at the world expo. That we may be able to present the gospel to English speakers and others who are there. Living water is what they need…and I believe this team can show them they way to it!

PS- The van is fixed praise the Lord. Transport to Zaragosa is confirmed.

Day 4

Journal Matthew 20:17-28
Day four short but sweet.
Today we were scheduled for a half day off so the morning time was spent at the auto parks. Today we were able to slow down a bit because the traffic was much less than the previous weekend days. The packet distribution was less as a result. A funny thing happened today also. We were able work with Omar, a Moracan Muslim convert from Ray’s church who has a great zeal for evangelism among gthe muslim people. Since I am the only one who speaks any Spanish and Omar knows no English I volunteered to work with him. When we arrived to meet Omar at an auto park I walked with him only once and he told Ray he would not work with me because I am too “American looking” and the other Muslims may think he is working for me. So he chose Larry for his beard and apparent north African appearance. Larry Verdoorn? North African? Anyway, we all had a good laugh and Larry stayed with Omar.
Only a small number of packets were given out today, but the effect is the same on us. We are humbled how God can use us and at the same time excited that the material will get to North Africa.
The second half of the day was spent in Polomos as tourists. We walked the length of the bay and port and spent some time in the shops around the town. They were having some type of celebration in town and there were vendors and live music. We ate at a restaurant that was set up on the boardwalk on the bay. It was wonderful to have the time together, but we all miss our families tremendously. We came home and talked until the late night and caught up on our journals then got to sleep in, as tomorrow is also a half day.

Posting to this blog isn't daily

Sorry but the first three days were posted at the same time (this is about church time at Barton on Sunday morning and 7pm here). That is because I have limited access to an internet cafe in town and little time to get here. More posts to come and more photos as well. We love you all and covet your prayers they are working! Priase God He is doing great things through the team and their interactions with the people we meet.

Day Three

Journal Romans 12:3-8
Day three success with materials.
I’m sure my sentence structure is loopy, bear with me but most entries are coming at 11:00pm or later.
Today was an unusual day in many ways. First of all it was about 95 degrees which made it tough to last all day on the asphalt and concrete of the auto parks. People were receptive though and almost 100 packets were distributed—that’s about a third of the people we approached- praise God. Secondly, we determined that having someone pray for you, only feet away, is a great strength and it is a great weapon against the enemy. None of us feels confident in our presentation, in fact, our language is so bad we think the Muslim people may be taking the packet because we are so funny—but with the help of Ray and Josep and for whatever the reason we are happy the work is being done by the Holy Spirit.
Some of the interesting things today included: stumbling upon a Muslim man and son while they were praying to Mecca, realizing that we may never see those effected by this material on this side of heaven, talking with some who have received the packets from other distribution centers up and down the coast.

Car Problems

Journal Ephesians 6:10-20
Day two car problems.
Many people accepted our materials at the Agua Viva auto park and our time spent there was good because we were able to work with Josep, who helped us and gave us confidence. Rays’s group was on their way from one place to another to distribute materials and their borrowed car stopped cold and had to be towed. This was unusual because it was a two year old car. Their day was a rough one but materials still got out and we could praise God for that. The evening was spent putting more packets together for tomorrow.

Day One is Travel

Journal John 15:1-6
Day one is travel time. We are finally off to Spain and our flight takes us via Amsterdam. Our time at the airport was great with the addition of Kenny V. and all the wives. As we boarded the plane the seriousness of the mission was upon us. We all prayed for the Lord’s protection and were rewarded with an uneventful flight and a smooth connection in Amsterdam. All of us sat together with the exception of Rick N. who sat next to a very nice lawyer for the U.N. whom he found out lives with his wife on weekends in Portland and his job during the week in The Hague, Netherlands. We arrived in Barcelona at about 2:15pm Barcelona time and met Ray and Josep who would guide us through the week. Our two hour journey to Ray and Zenia’s home was good and after a short nap and meal together we drove to Ray’s office and put together packtets for the distribution ministry. We also got to hear from Omar, a young man who comes from a Muslim background who came to Christ and has not looked back. Unfortunately later, we locked ourselves out of the apartment and Ray had to ask the neighbor permission to jump from his balcony to ours and open the door from the inside, but we still had to remove the door as the lock was stuck. Sleep was very good the first night after 26 hours of awake time. Ministry tomorrow!