Candidate Seminar

Tax ramifications and government red tape for living in a foreign country are just not my particular field of expertise.  For the last week and half Lorena and I have saturated our minds in the Baptist Mid-Missions candidate seminar in Cleveland, Ohio.  We have been exposed to more legal documents than a mind should  be allowed to assimilate.  Both of us were missionary children, and we never would have guessed the massive amount of information our parents needed to know before moving to their respective mission fields.  It would be close to impossible for us to keep track of at minimum 10% of what our mission agency cares for us.  

With us during our training are Scott and Juli Fulks, our teammates.  Every evening after eight hours of candidate school, we have either prayed together, laughed together, or sorted through hours of video footage and images for a our dvd presentation.   Both Scott and Juli have encouraged us so much.  Almost every idea, pondering, vision, or insight is bounced off of them.  We could not have asked God for more fitting teammates.

To add to our excitement during our time here, we met a third couple now decided to go to Spain.  Jonathan and Hannah Romaine have exciting testimonies of God's grace.  We are thrilled to work on the same mission field as the Romaines and see His undeserving goodness in all our lives.

Old & New Spain

Did you know that 40% of Spanish men admit to having solicited a prostitute (La Vanguardia TV)?  According to the Menéame, 50 million Euros are spent every day on prostitution.  77% of Spanish adolescents, the upcoming generation, approve of homosexuality (El Mundo).  In approximately thirty to thirty-five years Spain has moved from a country emphasizing monogamy to a country emphasizing sexual liberty. 

Sin only becomes more obvious and more radical with every successive generation.  An older generation simply chose to conceal their sin while a new generation is more than indifferent.  They now accept and embrace sexual sin.  Only the grace of God can take a man or a woman ravaged by sin, fully pursuing their sinful passions, and make them a new creation in Christ.  "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:1-5

Isn’t this where we all once were before Christ?