Adventures in Spanish

Sue left yesterday for Africa, and will be gone for three weeks, so I'll be in the house myself for a while. An opportunity, or so I thought, to reach out to the neighbours and keep improving my Spanish. But today I ended up speaking a lot more Spanish than I'd ever imagined...

It all began yesterday when I was on my way home, and I decided to undertake a valiant rescue of a neighbourhood cat that had been cornered by a dog. The rescue itself was accomplished very successfully but, when the dog was gone and the cat jumped out of my arms again, its back paw left a little scratch on my forearm. The scratch was so small you could barely see it, so I was rather surprised to discover that it bled for ages, and then it seemed swollen when I woke up this morning. The pharmacist recommended that I go to "urgencias" at the local health centre to have a doctor check whether I needed an antibiotic to prevent further infection.

So off I went to the "centro de salud" where my Spanish got a bit of a workout, as I explained that I'd been scratched by a cat and now it looked swollen - my arm, that is, not the cat! (Note to Spanish students: don't mix up araña (spider) and araño (scratched) or you could end up misleading the doctor as to the source of your injury!!) Anyway, the end of the story is that I did get a course of antibiotics for the next seven days, and also a tetanus injection, as it had been ten years since my last one.

Back in the Farmacia to pick up my prescription, I suddenly realised that I was having a strange reaction to the tetanus vaccination: I felt strangely dizzy and shivery - as if I was going to faint. When I got home - where I'd planned a day of computer work for upcoming projects - I sat down to get my balance back, and promptly fell asleep.

I was awakened from my slumber by the doorbell ringing, and there stood a lady with a young boy, whom she introduced by the very unSpanish sounding name of Leroy. She immediately began to assure me that she was not a "ladrona" (thief) - which was all a bit mysterious at first, as I'd fallen asleep with my mind full of antibiotics and tetanus injections and rescued cats. It turned out she was a next door neighbour I had never met, and she had locked her keys inside her house. She wanted to cut through my kitchen and climb over the wall to get into her own house through the kitchen door!! This led to another Spanish conversation on the benefits of locking the kitchen door or otherwise... Now that I see how easy it is to break in from next door, I'll make sure my kitchen door is always kept locked!

Speaking of locks, my next Spanish adventure is going to be explaining to a locksmith that I can't get into my loo! I had some visitors from Scotland yesterday, which was fun, but after they'd gone I discovered that the toilet door downstairs had somehow got locked from the inside. So I'm going to have to find a way of getting it fixed. Hopefully we won't find one of the Scottish guests when we finally open it up again!

My Spanish also got some practice at the police station on Monday, when I went into Málaga to register for Spanish residency and to open a bank account. I'm so used to the constant struggle to renew visas in South Africa, that I asked the official how long my residency was valid for, and was surprised to be told "por siempre." (This means for ever - a phrase that's very familiar, as we sing a worship song on Sunday evenings at church that says God is faithful "por siempre.") It's one of the benefits of being part of the European community, I suppose. I was amazed how relatively easy the residence procedure was. Thanks for your prayers.

Tomorrow morning I have a ladies Bible study in Spanish, and on Friday I have a bilingual English-Spanish youth group. Rather more useful Spanish language, perhaps, than cats and scratches and thieves and mysteriously locked toilets.

Well, that's enough blogging for today; it's not too comfortable typing with a stiff arm!!! Watch this space for more Spanish adventures in November.

One week and counting...

I've been in Spain for a whole week now. It's been a time for settling in and getting things organised in our new home, as well as a time for renewing relationships with missionary friends and church friends here in the Malaga-Alhaurin-Torremolinos area. I'm thrilled to be able to report that we managed to get a telephone installed on only my fifth day here. This is no doubt a wonderful answer to prayer, as we know plenty of other people who had to wait six months or more before finally getting phone and internet installed at their house! I still need to look into legal and logistical things - like registering for Spanish residency and opening a Spanish bank account, so it would be great if you could join me in praying that this goes smoothly. 

Your empty containers are being filled

Remember I asked you for the "empty containers" of your prayers about my financial situation in moving to Spain? (See this post from August.) Well, God is good and your prayers are already being answered. In a rather sudden and unexpected turn of events, a friend is also going to be moving to Spain now, and the two of us will be sharing a house together. This means that, even without a major increase in my income, my expenses will be greatly reduced because a second person will be sharing the costs of rent and electricity with me. We've found a little terraced house in Alhaurin de la Torre and have signed an eleven month lease on that. Keep reading for more news of our life and ministry in Spain.

From Hawaii to Scotland to Spain

Thanks for your prayers during the weeks I spent in Hawaii, and especially for my meetings at the University of the Nations campus in Kona. Before returning to Scotland, I was able to enjoy a week's holiday in Waikiki, with sunshine, surfing, and visits to historic locations like Pearl Harbour. Back in Europe again, the countdown has begun and I will be moving to Spain next Sunday, 5th October. 

To the nations...

This may be my last post for a while. I leave for Hawaii this morning, where I have some meetings for my work with the University of the Nations. (More information is in my August newsletter.) It may be a few weeks until I have internet access again. Thanks again for your prayers..

The second widow: a story of empty containers

Last week I told you that I had been reading the stories of two widows. The second widow's story is found in 2 Kings 4: 1 - 6. This one only has “a small jar of oil” when the story begins, but the prophet Elisha tells her to go around and borrow as many empty containers as possible from her friends and neighbours. So the woman goes around everyone she knows and gathers as many jugs and jars as she can. Then she starts to pour from her little jar of oil, and the oil miraculously just keeps flowing and flowing. I can imagine that this woman’s friends were just as excited as she was to hear about this miracle and to know that they had been part of making it possible.

As I prayed about this story, I realised that I had been feeling embarrassed to keep on asking people to pray about my financial situation - about the fact that I still don't have sufficient monthly income to cover my living costs and ministry costs when I move to Spain next month. I think I sometimes fear that speaking about finances would offend people – that they would think I want them to feel sorry for me, or that they would feel manipulated and think I’m “hinting” that I need money. But this isn’t the case at all. I haven’t felt that God is telling me to ask anyone for money, but I have felt that I’ve to keep asking for prayer. I am very dependent on people’s prayers in this time of stepping into something new, something that is just much “too big” for me financially. In the story of the second widow, she didn’t ask her neighbours to give her the oil that she needed to live on. What she actually did was to ask them for “empty containers,” and then it was God who filled the containers for her. I felt God showed me that people’s prayers are like the “empty containers” that those neighbours gave to the woman in the story. In the NIV translation, Elisha specifically tells the widow, “Don’t ask for just a few; ask for as many as you can” - because when the containers ran out, the oil ran out too.

As I read this story, I felt God put on my heart that I am not just to ask once or twice for prayer, but I am to keep on asking for as many “empty containers” as possible; I am not to feel embarrassed about asking people to pray for my financial needs - because I’m not asking them for oil, I’m asking for their empty containers - and these people will share in the miracle: the blessing of seeing answered prayer when God fills the containers.

I’m sure that the people who gave containers to this widow had their faith boosted by seeing God do a miracle and knowing that their containers had been part of it. If you are one of the people who has committed to partner with me in prayer, I'd like to say a really big thank you for that. I promise that I'll let you know the exciting story of how your empty containers get filled up by God.

The first widow: a story of flour and oil

No, the flour and oil in this story aren't in a recipe for making pancakes; they're in a recipe for an adventure in trusting God! In a recent Quiet Time, I was doing a study on the financial principles and promises that we find in the Bible, and I came across the stories of two different widows: one in 1 Kings chapter 17 and the other in 2 Kings chapter 4.

In the story of the first widow, in 1 Kings 17, this lady was facing some real needs, but I saw that she stepped out with the little that she already had (some flour and oil) even though it wasn’t nearly enough... and God caused that supply to keep flowing. When the prophet Elijah asked the widow for something to eat, she didn’t say, “Sorry, I can’t help you. I don’t have enough to live on myself.” She just stepped out with that little bit of flour and oil that she already had, and God did a miracle: her flour and oil simply never ran out, but continued flowing and were always enough.

In a sense, this was what God often did for us during the years I lived in South Africa. If you had looked at our bank statements, and seen on paper what our monthly income was, you’d never have believed it was possible for people to live on that amount and to pay the rent and electricity, run a car, buy food, etc… but the supply kept flowing, and somehow it was always enough.

I realised I’d been feeling lately as if my life was “on hold” - knowing that I couldn’t step out to rent a flat in Spain if I didn’t have even a reasonable percentage of the money needed to pay for it and furnish it. (I’ve lived my whole life with the principle of never getting into debt.) But I also knew that I couldn’t wait indefinitely and so, when I read this widow’s story, I felt challenged to “step out” with the resources that I already have - even if my “flour and oil” isn’t nearly enough yet - and to trust that God will keep the flow coming. It doesn’t sound a particularly responsible thing to do, but - as I’ve discovered over the past decades - steps of faith often don’t look the slightest bit responsible on the surface.

And so I’ve stepped out now and booked my plane ticket to Malaga: I will be moving down to Spain on Sunday 5th October. I don't yet know where I will live, or how I will pay for it, but I know that God's saying it's time now to take a new step of faith.

What about you? Are you facing any situations at the moment that just seem "too big" for you? At times when our "flour and oil" seem totally inadequate for the task ahead, that's when we need to remember that God is always bigger than any challenge we might face, and sometimes He asks us just to step out in simple trust and faith.