Arista en Abril

Worshipping, Going, and Living
arista's april update





Pictures T to B: Flamenco music, Singing worship songs at Crystal's going away party, Granada English practice day-eating lunch in the shade.

Time goes by...This last month has been packed with time with the youth. We've become more of a family with the extended time we've spent together. Immediately after Semana Santa, we spent four days in Huesca at Misión Posible, a bi-yearly conference that brings the young people in Spain together. The theme this year was, "Emerge", so the youth have muchas ganas (very eager) to be salt and light to their community. My favorite part of the conference were the times of worship and prayer. Also, I have been spending time with my friend R. She recently had a great conversation about following Christ and being saved by faith. She likes the idea! I hope to meet up with her again this week and be an encouragement to her.

Cali...Last Wednesday, the Lohrenz's, my roomie and ministry partner, and I left Úbeda a little after 5AM to drive her to the airport in Madrid. It was hard to say goodbye. Sharing this time here together was planned, orchestrated, and completely blessed by the Lord. Instead of being sad for her going, I'll rejoice for what's coming. She's beginning Physical Therapy school and will hopefully be back overseas in the years to come.

A recent invitation...Last week, I was invited to come speak to an English class at the local high school. The topic was to speak about my culture and my home in Texas. Afterwards, the teacher asked me to return the next day to share with all of the other English classes! I was able to share a little about my church, my friends, and everyday life in Texas. In one class, they even wanted to know some country dances! I found out later from some friends, that the whole grade was talking about, "la chica de tejas".

It's amazing to think that an hour of speaking English, coincidentally introduced me to over 1oo new jovenes. I will probably pass some of the students on the street, see them in the grocery store, run by them at the park, etc. With cultural greetings the way they are, when you see someone familiar outside, you stop and visit.

Sad but true...My time is coming to a close in Spain. Six months have flown by! I have a little over a month left in Úbeda. I leave for Texas the 11th of June. Over this next month, I would like to begin to process, journal, and pray through some of the things I've learned here. But for now, there's work to be done and I'm excited about finishing strong!

Summary of prayer points:

• Please be praying for the debriefing process.
• Please praise the Lord for the blessing and encouragement my roommate and minsitry partner has been to me.
• There is still time to meet people and plant seeds in their lives. Please be praying for opportunities and boldness.
  

Con cariño,
Arista

La Crises

I'll be the first to admit, I'm not the brightest bulb in the box--I recently learned why a birthday suit is called a "birthday suit"--but, never the less, a minimal amount of research has enlightened me.

In addition to the lack of brightness previously mentioned, I also have a distaste for numbers and math. However, when I saw this article title (below), I thought, "That sounds really high."

So, Why have I lost you with my ramblings and what am I talking about (My dad is probably thinking this...)??? Let me explain, Spain is experiencing a very difficult economic crises (kind of like the rest of the world) and more and more people are losing their jobs. In a socialist state, like this one, when people are unemployed the state must then provide support to those people, i.e. welfare. A bigger problem begins to emerge when the state is suffering from inflation and low consumer spending. Taking that into consideration, here is a brief glimpse of the problem.

Spain's unemployment rate recently soared to 17.4%. For a point of reference (taken from the United States Department of Labor website) the unemployment rate in the US is at 8.5%. Stats were always hard for me to see as people, or things, instead of a number. Kind of like gambling, when someone gambles with a chip (that represents money) you don't see it as literal money, you see it as a chip on the table and not a bill. Anyway, back to the unemployment rate, this is where I got curious..I took the population of Spain (40,525,002) and multiplied it by .174, and this is what I got: 7,051,350.

That means that seven million, fifty-one thousand, three-hundred and fifty people are without jobs. Seven million, fifty-one thousand, three-hundred and fifty people have to find a new way to feed their families. Seven million, fifty-one thousand, three-hundred and fifty people have to find a way to pay next months rent. Seven million, fifty-one thousand, three hundred and fifty people have an opportunity to learn about the one true God who says that He loves to provide for His children. God's instruction booklet for life says, The Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord gives grace and glory; no good thing does He withold from those who walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, how blessed is the man who trusts in You! Psalm 84:11-12

*Please pray that these circumstances would be used by God, to bring people in Spain closer to Him.

If you would like to read a short article, see the text below:

Spain's Unemployment Rate Hits 17.4%
"Spain's unemployment rate hit 17.4% at the end of March, figures have shown, with the jobless total now having doubled over the past 12 months. In the past year, two million people have lost their jobs taking the total out of work to just over four million.

The Bank of Spain recently predicted the jobless rate would reach 19.4% in 2010, as the recession took hold. "It is a terrible figure," Octavio Granado, secretary of state for social security told state television. He said the first quarter of any year was traditionally bad for employment in Spain. Mr Granado also said that 2009 was expected to be the worst part of the economic downturn."So we are in the epicentre of the crisis. We are in the eye of the perfect storm," he said.

The National Statistics Institute said Spain's jobless rate at the end of the first quarter was up 3.45 percentage points from the end of 2008. The BBC's Steve Kingstone in Madrid says the country has become used to grim unemployment data, but Friday's figures are especially shocking.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero will hope that the government's 70bn-euro ($92bn; £63bn) stimulus package will now create new jobs - above all in public works projects due to begin this month, our correspondent says. But critics say deeper reforms of the labour market are needed - to eliminate red tape, and reduce the costs of hiring and firing permanent staff, he adds."

*taken from the BBC News Business Section.

Misión Posible :: Emerge

Hmm...how do I begin to describe last week's nationwide youth conference, also known as Misión Posible!This past week (Thursday evening-Sunday morning) more than 1,400 Christians from different places, backgrounds, churches, etc. travelled to Huesca, Spain, to come together to worship, pray, be taught, encouraged, challenged, and sent back out! I'll give it to you in pictures...

We left Úbeda around 8AM last Wednesday, there were sixteen of us all together. From Úbeda to Huesca, it is about an eight hour drive.

Misión Posible is a conference that occurs every two years to bring the young Christians in Spain together. The next conference will be in Huesca, in 2011.

One of the neat things about MP, is that it's designed to help connect people with new churches, friends, and resources. In a country where 4 in every 1,000 people are Christians, it is a great encouragement to build relationships with other Christians. And while you may be the only 21 year old Christian in your city, you may not be the only one in your province.

Praying together...


These girls were my some of my roommates at MP, they're from Málaga!

Over 1,400 people came to Misión Posible. In the final plenary session, people were asked to come forward and put a mark on the city where they're from.
There are some amazing spiritual movements going on in Spain. Praise Him!
However, there are still more than 377 cities and towns in Spain without a church/evangelical testimony.

Wouldn't you like to know...

Wouldn't you like to know...…this is a list of interesting tid-bits from living in Spanish culture. The list may include, but is not limited to: food, people, expressions, daily living, language blunders, etc.

• …In Spain, when a man is introduced to a woman, the tradition response is “Encontada”, which means, “I’m enchanted.” Doesn’t that sound so nice? I think so.
• …In the last few days, several people have commented on my Andalucían accent.
• …Last Thursday morning, as Crystal and I were standing in a very crowded and very hot commuter train on our way into the Atocha train station, Crystal blacked out/fainted. It’s a good thing I was there to save her! Just kidding! She’s feeling much better ☺
• …When you go to the grocery store, you’re not supposed to touch the produce with your hands. The correct order of operations is to put on the plastic gloves available and then select your fruit/veggie of choice and then hand it to the produce attendant to have it weighed and stickered.
• …I love the words, ama de casa, it is the Spanish word for “housewife”. It translates literally as, “love of home”.
• …Almost all cities/towns in Spain have a patron saint.
• …The Spanish word constipado, doesn’t mean to be constipated. It means to have a cold.
• …There are no words to the national anthem of Spain.
• …The government of Spain is a parliamentary monarchy; there is a King who represents the nation and there is a Prime Minister who runs the government. An interesting thing about the government, at any time, the people can hold a new election and vote for a new ruling party and prime minister. Typically, elections occur every four years, however; there is no term limit for the prime minister.
• …Spanish benedictions are long. When you’re saying goodbye, whether in person or on the phone, it is normal for someone to say, “Vale, vanga, un beso, hasta lluego”.
• …In English, we have a couple words for the word “walk”. In Spanish, there are lots. For example, dar una vuelta, pasear, caminar, andar, etc. are all words to describe what kind of walk one would like to take.
  

Today in history...

April 2, 1513: Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León sets foot on Florida becoming the first European known to do so.

thanks wikipedia!