Following in His Footsteps...

Mid May saw me driving a 550 km round trip across the mountains of southern Spain to the little town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, on the Atlantic coastline of Cádiz province. There we were running a short, discipleship focused youth camp for young people from the provinces of Cádiz, Málaga and Granada.

Around 50 teenagers and preteens came to the camp, and we were about a dozen staff, including the team who cooked the meals for us. Our theme was “Following in His Footsteps,” and we were considering how young people in the 21st Century can live godly lives in an ungodly and sometimes hostile society.

KKI Spain is in a re-pioneering phase and many of these teenagers were quite young in their faith. On the Saturday morning, I spoke briefly (in Spanish, of course) about how to spend personal time with God and deepen our friendship with Him.

Also on Saturday, we went out for a time of open air outreach with people from five churches in Sanlúcar. It was their annual “day of the Bible,” when they go out into the streets of their town to challenge people to read the Bible and discover what it truly teaches. Songs and testimonies formed the main part of the programme, and our young people had also prepared a flash-mob style hip hop dance to express the joy of knowing Jesus.

It was a long drive from Málaga to Cádiz, and my arthritic back doesn't cope too well with driving for more than an hour at a time, so I set off very early on the Friday morning and made the journey into a road trip where I stopped for a break at a couple of places along the way.

One place that I'd wanted to visit for a long time is the quaint little town of Setenil de las Bodegas. Its claim to fame is that the overhanging rock completely covers the streets in some places, and some of the houses in those streets are actually cave dwellings.

Our next stop, once we'd entered Cádiz province, was the town of Arcos de la Frontera, perched high upon the rock, with stunning views of the surrounding countryside and the nearby lake.

By mid afternoon, we arrived at our destination. Sanlúcar is a town on the Atlantic coastline of Cádiz province and is famous for its horse races along the beach. The busy camp programme meant that we didn't have time to visit the town, but our hosting church was right in the historic old town and so my car was parked overnight near the old Castillo de Santiago and our open air outreach was at a point where a historic old street in the town had been merged into a pedestrian shopping street.

The camp's theme of following in Jesus' footsteps was thought provoking for the teenagers, as it prompted them to think of the ways our modern world would squeeze them into its mould. We considered how Daniel and his friends (Shadrach, Meschach and Abednego) who were all teenage boys at the beginning of the Old Testament book that bears Daniel's name chose not to defile themselves by following the ways of Babylonian society, and made the courageous decision to obey GOD, rather than giving in to the different pressures that assailed them from people and from circumstances.

That gave plenty of food for thought to me too, as my own recent Bible reading in the Old Testament (in the book of 1st Samuel) had been challenging me a lot about what it means to choose obedience to God even when doing what He's asking of you seems impossible and you face all kinds of pressures from people and from circumstances. I haven't been blogging here this year, as those who've been praying for me and and asking for news have been receiving my updates in other ways. But God has been speaking clearly and loudly in recent weeks, and I think it would be helpful for me to document some of that in future blog posts.

Soon it was time to make the long drive back to Málaga again. The trip was through varied and often stunning scenery and it reminded me how blessed and how grateful I am to be able to live and serve God here in the beautiful southern part of Spain.

We again interrupted our trip with a few stops to stretch our legs - first of all by taking short walks by the side of the lakes in Arcos and Bornos, and finally by visiting the medieval castle and museum in the little mountain top town of Olvera. It was an interesting old castle, with absolutely breathtaking views of the olive groves and the surrounding countryside, as well as the famous church in the old town.

Maiki had been really good all weekend - lying peacefully on her bed in the church while 50 teenagers and preteens milled noisily around her and rehearsed their hip hop dance right next to her. On the open air outreach in the streets, she was a real star, enduring petting and hugging as well as performing tricks for every second child that passed by.  So our last stop on the homeward journey was at the El Chorro lakes, where she was rewarded by going for a swim and a run before we headed back to Alhaurín again. It had been a busy, fruitful and fun weekend.