Back to back and B2b

PCYM finished on Friday, and that evening I travelled to Amsterdam to visit some friends who were part of this year's LDC in Spain. These two South American ladies work in the city with street people and prostitutes, so this was an opportunity for me to see their ministry and take some time to catch up with their news.

Then on Saturday I was up bright and early to head for Amsterdam airport and catch my flights back to Madrid and Málaga. The first flight was delayed by more than an hour, and I thought I wouldn't make my connection in Madrid, but fortunately - because my knee injury is playing up again - they met me at the plane and rushed me in a wheelchair from one boarding gate to the other. So I reached my second flight just in time and arrived back in Spain yesterday at dinner time.

The B2b staff had already begun meeting to pray and plan for the two-week young leaders' course that we are running here in Alhaurín. (No, B2b doesn't stand for "back to back." I wouldn't normally have planned to work with two training schools so close together, but it just happened that B2b was scheduled to begin immediately after our third PCYM block came to an end.) B2b stands for, "Be the leader that God wants you to be," and it's a foundational, inspirational course for young leaders aged around 18 - 25.

So last night we went out for "tapas" (Spanish snacks like calamari, baby octopus, roast potatoes, chorizo, chicken pieces...) and ice cream with our B2b staff team of nine people. The students are all arriving this afternoon and the course actually starts with a late afternoon welcome and orientation time.

Now that the hot summer days have arrived here in Spain, our Sunday evening church service only begins at 7.00 instead of at 6.00. This allows people to make the most of their family time on Sunday - going to the beach, or whatever - before coming together as a congregation to worship the Lord. After two weeks in the Netherlands, I'm looking forward to singing worship songs in Spanish again. Three new believers are being baptised tonight and so it will be a time of testimony and celebration.