Good News

We got to talk to several of the students via Skype on Saturday. They took the TOEFL on Friday. Three of the students who were planning to go to EuNC scored high enough to qualify, so Carla, Flor, and Rrrrrrrrrubi (as Emilia would say since she loves to roll her Rs and occasionally other letters) will be starting there in the fall.

Home

We got home yesterday afternoon after spending a couple of days with my parents in South Bend. We were pretty much able to adjust back to the time difference while we were there.

I apologize for the lack of posts after July 9. The internet provider's service got very erratic, and it was nearly impossible to get any pages to load on the first try, so posting became very frustrating. I'll try to post some of the events from out last couple of weeks in Europe over the next few days and weeks.

Thanks for reading and for the many prayers on our behalf.

Great News!

We received test scores back for the first attempt at the TOEFL. We were very pleasantly surprised by the results. The students need to score 450 to be admitted to EuNC. We have been told that often a jump of 50 points can be attributed to just being familiar with the way the test is formatted.

Scores are reported in about a 30 point range. The low score in Wildna's range was above 450. The top of Carla's range was 450. The top of Flor's range was 430. The top of Haydee's range was 360. Carla, Flor, and Haydee all have until the end of August to continue to improve.

We are all celebrating their progress, but the students need your continued prayers to keep on improving.

Universals - Part 4

I guess my mind has been focusing recently on many of the things that we've found that we share with the people we are meeting in Portugal. I discovered another universal this morning.

Each morning, we join together and share a devotional thought or perhaps a testimony and then we pray together. This morning there were a large number of prayer requests (I'll list a few of them at the bottom of the entry, so you can include them on your prayer lists). Anyway, we each took a request and prayed for it. There were prayers offered in Spanish, English, and French.

We pray in confidence knowing that God hears our prayers no matter which language we language we use to vocalize our prayers.

~ Students as we prepare to give them the TOEFL for the first time this week (they'll be able to take it twice)
~ Several students who are attempting to learn English on their own because they were unable to come to Portugal this summer
~ The other volunteers who are traveling this weekend

Universals - Part 3

I have always considered one of the most unifying aspects of Christianity is knowing that all around the world on any Sunday believers are united through the Eucharist.  We come to one table from all over.  This morning we took communion in the Lisbon Church of the Nazarene.  

I've never taken the bread and the cup and been instructed as to why we eat and drink in any language other than English.  While I have no idea what the minister was saying, I am thankful that I can be united with you and millions of other believers through Christ's death and resurrection.  The unity inherent in communion has taken on a whole new meaning for me. 

A Bit About Money

Kyle and Jayme have been attending Portuguese classes in the mornings.  They have mentioned several times how much they would prefer an immersion-type experience like we are creating here as opposed to the 2 hours of class they have a few times a week.  Out of curiosity, they checked into a similar Portuguese immersion program where they would live with a Portuguese family and have about 4 hours of classes taught by a member of the family each day.  The program would cost approximately 5000 euros a month per person ($7800 per month per person with the current exchange rate).

Thanks to your generosity we are able to provide the same type of experience for our students. They are paying between 30 and 40 euros per week ($200-$230 per month), which does not even cover the cost of their food.

I also wanted to pass along a story that was shared with us from someone who contributed to the program and our expenses through the church.  We were overwhelmed to hear the story and thought you would enjoying hearing about God's miraculous ways of working through other people's lives, too.

"OK...so we were planning a nice evening out to celebrate our 10th anniversary on May 23.

When I mentioned our plans of a dinner cruise in Chicago to my morning show co-host, Johnny, he suggested I try to get complimentary tickets in exchange for doing a 'review' for the show. I thought it was a long-shot (we're talking Navy Pier, Chicago and only a week to make it happen), but decided to make a couple of calls.

I decided if we could get the tickets for free (~$150), then we would give that same money away. I guess God liked that idea, because from there on out, the arrangements were a breeze. Somebody actually called me back, and with out ANY red tape, gave me the go-ahead. We just picked a date and went!

That's it - that's our story! I've been praying for you."       

Universals - Part 2

On Saturday night, Kyle, Jayme, Wildna, Haydee, the girls, Heather, and I went to Torres Vedras for, what I think translates to, "The Rural Fair." It was surprising to see how similar it was to the county fairs I've been to at home. There were hot dog stands, treats that smelled a lot like elephant ears, cotton candy, and the rip-off you'll never really win that big screen tv for knocking the cans down with a pitched ball games.

There were displays from all the tractor dealers in the area though the tractors were only the small ones. Neither the roads nor fields are big enough for the BIG tractors. There were the rides, too. Emilia and Audra both got to ride in a boat on a merry-go-round. Emilia has told us that Disneyland will be like the fair several times over the past few days. I hope she isn't disappointed. ;)

While it was nice to see and smell some familiar things, I think I prefer the beach both here and at home.

Universals - Part 1

Over the weekend, we discovered a couple of universals. Here's the first. On the way home from church on Sunday, we stopped in Ericeira for a picnic lunch. After lunch, Emilia and Audra played at the playground that overlooks the ocean. While they were playing, Emilia met a girls who was about the same age. I watched them playing together and calling out instructions in two completely different languages. I wondered how long it would last until either one or both of them just gave up.

It was fascinating to watch them ride the teeter-totter together. Then, leave the teeter-totter and in synchronized motion move on to the swings and, finally, to the slides. Not only were they going from place to place together, but they were also teaching each other tricks. Emilia rode the teeter-totter on her knees and then her feet and the other girl followed. On the swings, the other girl twisted the chains to spin around. Emilia followed. Then, Emilia laid down on the swing and pushed herself with her feet. The other girl followed. They were laughing and smiling the whole time. Amazingly, they even continued talking to each other the whole time. While they didn't understand each other's words, they understood each other.

Lord, teach me to understand even when the words don't make sense.

Emilia: The Photographer

We've given Emilia a camera to use while we are here.  We have to limit her a bit or she will take hundreds of photos each day.  Here are some of my favorites that she has taken.

The Basilica at the National Palace in Mafra

The sidewalk in a plaza in Mafra (characteristic of most sidewalks in older sections of cities and towns here in Portugal)

Her beloved snails on a tree near Kyle and Jayme's house.

The view of the houses behind the vacant lot next to Kyle and Jayme's house

The view looking out of the window from her bed

Friday's Excursion - Lisbon

On Friday, we went to Lisbon. We parked along the main street in the old part of town and spent most of the day wandering in and out of shops as we made our way to the waterfront. Lisbon has a long and fascinating history that is an interesting read if you have the time and interest. Of particular note is the earthquake of 1755, which destroyed most of the city. Because of the earthquake, the city feels much more modern than you would expect for a place that dates back to the Romans and the 3rd century B.C.

The girls were fascinated by the statues, fountains, and sidewalks that were in the plazas along our walk. They were, however, most captivated by the pigeons. In one of the plazas, Emilia decided to try to take a picture of a group of pigeons. As she approached, they took flight at just about eye level. Most of the Portuguese men are much shorter than I am, so I was hoping the pigeons noticed that they needed to elevate a little more quickly than normal to clear my head. I have to admit that I flinched and ducked a couple of times. We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe, and Audra got out of her seat several times to chase, what she called, the "chickens." Emilia also pointed out every time a pigeon walked under my chair. Her mother immediately picked up her feet and ate most of her meal with her feet up.

The day was by far the hottest since we have been here. We saw signs that said it was 35. I think that's around 95. The sun is also much more intense than at home and the buildings and sidewalks seem to reflect a lot of the heat and brightness. Emilia, Heather, and Jayme got to wet their legs in the spray from a hose that a construction worker left on a little longer than he was supposed to for them.

In addition to the shops, restaurants, pastelarias, and street vendors, we also visited Castle of Sao Jorge. The castle was the site of an important victory in the 12th century defeat of the Moors, in which Lisbon was reclaimed. The fortification sits on top of one of the hills in Lisbon and the streets wind and climb steeply to the castle. Emilia enjoyed seeing a castle that had a moat though the moat was just filled with grass. I think she was a little disappointed that there were no dragons waiting to capture the unsuspecting. Audra enjoyed climbing and looking out from the castle's towers.
The girls also enjoyed riding the trolley car to get up and down the base of the hill to the castle. They resemble the cable cars in San Francisco except they run on electricity. Actually of the cities I have visited, I would say that San Francisco and Lisbon are very similar in all but temperature.

A good day and an interesting city to explore...

Meet Our Students

Here are paragraphs that each of our students wrote earlier this week introducing themselves. I think you'll agree that they are making great progress. I'll add some pictures to this post later.

Florentina
My name is Florentina, and I am eighteen years old. I live in Madrid, Spain, but I’m from Romania. I moved to Spain three years ago because my mother needed to work. I have a sister and a brother. My sister’s name is Elena, and she is 21 years old. My brother’s name is Ioneut, and he is 19 years old. My mother’s name is Camelia, and she is 38 years old. My father is in Romania. I enjoy when I am staying with my mother, my boyfriend, and my friends. I like to go to the cinema, to walk in the park, and to go to church. I want to study in the EuNC and after I want to be a missionary.

Carla
My name is Carla Audrea Labala Vidaurne. I’m 18 years old. I moved to Madrid seven years ago. I have lived in Madrid for 7 years, but I’m from Santa Cruz, Bolivia. I moved to Spain because my parents needed work. My father’s name is Arnoldo, and my mother’s name is Yenny. I have two brothers, the oldest is 20 years old, and his name is Jose Luis. I have a dog, she is four years old and her name is Hancha. I like to go to the cinema, stay with my friends, learn languages, but I only know Spanish, and I’m learning English. In the future, I want to learn to speak French, German, and Japanese, and I want to go to the University in Switzerland.

Haydee
My name is Haydee Eusebio. I am forty years old. I am from Peru, but I have lived in Barcelona, Spain, for nine years. I have an older sister and a younger sister. I also have three older brothers and a younger brother. I enjoy playing sports, writing, singing and dancing. I want to go to Houston, have two children, and I want to be a missionary, I love you, God.

Wildna
My name is Wildna. I’m nineteen. I live in Bobigny, France My parents are from Haiti. I came from France to go to Portugal to learn English. I live with my parents and my two brothers. I have two younger brothers. Their names are Benjamin and Edwil. Benjamin is twelve years old. He likes to play piano and guitar very much. Edwil is four years old. He is so cute. I like to play piano and sing very much. I like to take care of children. That’s the reason why I teach the Bible’s lesson in my church to children.

Photo Credit: Emilia

Friday's Excursion - Mafra and Ericeira

On Friday, we took our weekly excursion. We went to Mafra. In Mafra, we visited Palacio Nacional de Mafra. It was the first castle we went inside during our trip. My favorite room was the library. It was shaped like a cross and nearly a football field long. The bookshelves were built into the two outer walls. There was also a balcony with bookshelves on the outer wall. All of the books dated back to at least when the castle was built in the early 1700s. Heather enjoyed the Basilica that sits in between the north and south (or his and hers) towers of the castle. Parts of the castle also served as a monastery. Emilia liked the ceilings in the castle best. They were all painted with murals commissioned to commemorate various births. Audra's favorite room was the trophy room. Everything in the room was made from various animal parts. I had a brief flashback to living with Mike Kraemer and the assorted animal parts that adorned our apartment in college. Couches, chandeliers, tables, and, of course, wall decor made from elk, deer, and boar. Audra liked attempting to imitate the boar heads that were mounted with their tongues sticking out of the sides of their mouths.

After visiting the castle, the girls and I decided to have lunch. We went to a place called Fradinho, which is a bakery. I wanted more pastries. We all had multiple rounds of pastries and brought some of their specialties called Fradinhos, or little friars, back to Himmelwrights. The Fradinho is a mixture of almonds ground up with egg yolk and sugar and butter and then baked in a tort like shell.

I also had a cup of coffee. Really, it's espresso served in a little mug. I think I have now officially sprouted hair on my chest.

After Mafra, we went to Ericeria. Ericeria is a coastal/resort village, and we heard our first English outside of the house since being here (we had a snack at a cafe and the people eating next to us were from England). Friday was a little cold, so we didn't go down to the beach though Carla and Flor both went swimming. We found a playground and the girls got in a little swinging and sliding. It's got to be neat swinging and at the top of your swing being able to look down a cliff and see the ocean. We ended up back in Ericeira on Sunday, but that's another story - one I'm not sure I want to own up to yet.

By the way, we have given Emilia one of the cameras we brought, so she can capture things that are interesting to her. The pictures with people are ones that she took.

We Love Gelato

The girls (Heather, Emilia, Audra, Haydee, and Carla) and I took a break between classes today and went to the beach in Santa Cruz. After some time at the beach, we walked over to a gelato shop. Actually, it's half gelato and half bakery. I was torn as we walked in, but those who know my work history know of my love for ice cream.

Gelato is not quite as sweet as ice cream and the texture is about halfway between soft serve and hand dipped ice cream. You can get all sorts of interesting flavors. We've been their twice, and I'm focusing on the fruit flavors right now. Audra loves the strawberry (marango) and Emilia has become partial to lemon (limao). I had a strange combination of lemon and chocolate today. I'd never seen anything like it before, so I had to give it a try. It was delicious. I'm eyeing the kiwi next time we go. Heather tried something called cookie that was really like vanilla with a chocolate swirl. The tiramisu she had last time was better.

Anyway, we love gelato.

Progress

I think teaching has gone well the last couple of days. We've been discussing clothing and have managed to dress Emilia up in Kyle's clothes. Since he's gone, we figured his clothes were fair game. Haydee and Carla also both finished reading their second books of the summer. We've been asking them to read children's books aloud to us one evening a week. Words that end in s, t, and d seem to be the most difficult. Both are improving greatly and are getting better using English. We'd like to see both of them take some more risks using their English throughout the day, but I can understand their reluctance. Each time we're out and I have to use my limited Portuguese vocabulary - still about four phrases (ola, bom dia, obrigado, and um) - I hope that the person I'm speaking with will rescue me by switching to English especially if numbers or instructions are involved.

We have our second test tomorrow night. Also, Carla and I are going to attempt to find the bus station to pick up our third student, Florentina. She is also from Madrid, but I believe she was born in Romania.

An Interesting Discovery

We had to do stock-up grocery shopping today, so we went to the European equivalent to Aldi (Lidl), though they carry higher quality stuff than Aldi. We also went to farmer's market in Torres Vedras to get produce.

Anyway, we found the Portuguese equivalent to the Goldfish cracker. Only they have a different shape. You be the judge.

Update from Madrid and Further Prayer Requests

Kyle and Jayme got to Madrid, and they had all their paperwork. Unfortunately, they'll have to go back in October to have their fingerprints taken and turn in all the paperwork. They did, however, get an official paper saying that they are in the process of residency renovation.

Additionally, they have heard that the volunteers who are scheduled to come after us are having some difficulty in raising the funds they need. Please keep them in your prayers.

Finally, this morning for devotions we read the story of Abraham and Sarah being told that they are going to have a child and Sarah understandably responding with laughter. God, however, reminds them that with Him all things are possible. These were good words for us this morning especially as some of the challenges in learning English are starting to mount. I could sense both Haydee and Carla's spirits being lifted as we prayed this morning. I was also reminded that the teaching and the environment we are creating here are nothing without God working in and through them. Please prayer especially for our students that they would as Psalm 121 says recognize and lean on the strength that comes from the Lord who created the heavens and the earth and the mountains.

Hail to the Chef

I've written quite a bit about travels and classes but haven't mentioned much about Heather's work around the house. One of her responsibilities is to manage the house. She assigns chores and does the cooking. Needless to say, we are eating very well.

There are a few small differences in cooking that add up to lots of extra time in the kitchen. We don't have access to nearly the number of processed foods that we do in the US. For example, the canned soups that are part of many recipes aren't available - no cream of mushroom, no beef or chicken broth. Also, pre-made or frozen bread dough is not available, so stromboli or pizza involves making bread, too. Making everything from scratch is obviously better health-wise, but that also involves much more time to prepare and more ingredients which means more attempts at translating labels from Portuguese.

Additionally, the settings for stoves and ovens are different. Obviously, temperatures are in Celsius (an easy adjustment for her), but the appliances also don't use as much natural gas. It takes much longer to cook on both the stove and in the oven. She's found that you just about double cooking and baking times. Europeans generally do not bake, so cookies have been a big hit.

She's done a fantastic job adjusting and carrying on in spite of the challenges. Somehow, she still manages to be a great mother and wife as well as participating in teaching. Being here has made me much more aware of all that she does in her various roles.

Hail to the Chef!

A Group Photo from Obidos

Here's a group photo from our excursion to Obidos. From left to right: Jayme, Carla (sitting), Emilia, Heather, Audra, Andy, and Haydee. Kyle got to take the picture, so he didn't have to be in it. Maybe I should volunteer to take the pictures, too.

Excursion - Torres Verdes and Obidos

On Fridays, we go on excursions as a group. First, we went to Torres Vedras to visit the market and to walk the streets of the old city and visit shops. In the market, you could buy everything from illegal copies of movies to fresh produce to fresh seafood to snails much like the ones the girls play with everyday. We stopped in a bakery/coffee shop for a snack and had some awesome tarts. Apparently, Portugal is known for its pasteries. We ate lunch at the mall food court. Burger King for Kyle, Haydee, and Carla, McDonald's for Emilia and Audra, Pizza Hut for me, and some pasta place for Heather and Jayme.

From Torres Vedras, we headed north to Obidos. Some of what we've been told includes tales of towns being in the area since the 4th century and changing hands several times. In the early 13th century, the Portuguese queen loved the city and its walls so much that her husband the king gave it to her as a gift.

The city sits on top of a hill and is surrounded by a wall. The city used to be a coastal town, but the bay filled in. There is a long aqueduct running into the city. First, we walked the walls about half way around the city. Most of us stuck pretty close to the outside wall as the inside of the wall just dropped off into the city. Emilia enjoyed pretending she was the princess of the castle and pretending she was an archer looking through the arrow loops in the wall. The streets within the town were cobblestone and very narrow and winding. They were what I envisioned quaint European village streets to look like.

I think next week we are planning to visit Ericeira, a coastal village, and Mafra, home to a palace built in the early 18th century.

Answered Prayer

I doubt news reached the U.S. from searching that I have done on CNN.com and New York Times.com, but truck drivers in Spain went on strike this week. They were striking for minimum rates for each route they drive to help protect them from rising fuel costs. In Portugal, diesel is 1.40 euros per liter. There are a little less than 4 liters per gallon (~3.785 liters). That's 5.299 euros per gallon. The exchange rate has been about 1 euro = $1.54. If my math is right, that's $8.16 per gallon. Diesel is the cheapest in Europe. I think regular unleaded was 1.68 euros, which is $9.79 per gallon.

When truck drivers strike, they basically park their trucks and block the highways. Also, when they strike, goods obviously cannot be moved from place to place. The only country Portugal shares a border with is Spain, so anything that needs to come into to Portugal comes through Spain. Truck drivers striking in Spain effectively shuts down both countries. Truck drivers in Portugal also joined the strike.

On Tuesday, we noticed extra long lines at all the gas stations and wondered what was going on. Some of the lines were literally hours long. All of the gas stations sold out of both diesel and gasoline. You could still buy premium in a few places. There was also some panic buying at grocery stores as people tried to get those items like produce that aren't shelf stable. As a side note, milk is a shelf stable product in Europe. The strike was resolved late on Wednesday night/early on Thursday morning. We were able to find a BP with diesel on the way to our group excursion on Friday morning though we waited for about 30 minutes.

We were particularly concerned because of needing to get Kyle and Jayme to Lisbon on Saturday and several flights were canceled earlier in the week.

Thankfully, the deal was reached and goods and fuel are available in most areas of the country.

Prayer Request

Tomorrow (Saturday), Kyle and Jayme travel to Madrid and California. They are traveling to Spain to work through finalizing their residency paperwork. This is an incredibly stressful and long process that involves many lines for many hours at many different government agencies sometimes to get as little as a piece of paper. Additionally, everything is conducted in Spanish and all papers and documents have to be translated and notarized in Spanish. They said tonight that they have been working through the process since the fall of 2006. If things don't go well next week, they will essentially be in Europe as tourists since their visas will be expiring.

They are also attending denominational meetings in California. They are hoping to be able to work to partner the Western Mediterranean Region with Yuba City Church of the Nazarene. Obviously, this next week is a big week for them, so it seems a little petty to mention, but we are also going to be here without them and with only about 3 expressions of Portuguese between us.

The First English Test

We gave the first test of the summer to Carla and Haydee last night, and they both did very well. The test covered lots of vocabulary including numbers, days of the week, months of the year, and body parts (Spanish uses the words for one body part for others. For example, in Spanish the word(s) for toe nails literally translates to something like "nails of the fingers of the fingers of the feet.") as well as conjugating regular verbs in present tense, conjugating "to be" and "to have" in present tense, and using "a" and "an."

A Story from Haydee

Each morning after breakfast, we have a time of devotions and prayer. Kyle has been using Emilia's children's Bible, and we also use the stories as a way to each more vocabulary. We read the story together. Then, Kyle shares a thought, and we close with prayer.

Anyway, Haydee has been sending text messages (in English) of the devotional thoughts to her best friend back home in Barcelona. She is using the text messages to help her friend practice her English. On Thursday, the devotional thought Haydee sent home was "The Lord will provide."

Haydee's best friend read the message. Her husband came a few hours later and was pretty discouraged because he hasn't had a job for some time, and he was particularly upset. She shared the message with Haydee with him, and they both felt better knowing they could place their trust in God as Provider. Two hours later, they got a phone call, and he was offered a job at IKEA, which is a few blocks from their home.

This story is exciting for us on many different levels. First, God does provide. Second, Haydee who when we arrived spoke no English is sending messages home in English. Haydee also told Jayme the story in English. Third, as I wrote a few weeks ago, I am again challenged to continue to tell stories and join conversations.

A New Student and the Neighborhood

Our second student, Carla, arrived from Madrid yesterday. She's 18 and recently finished high school. She has had English classes in school and is way ahead of Haydee, who came knowing no English. Carla is able to speak some though not confidently, understand conversations, and write. Earlier today, Carla said that after being here for only one day she has started thinking in English.

Haydee is making incredible progress. This evening at dinner we talked about our families. She was able to describe her parents, brothers and sisters, and nieces and nephews.

Kyle and Jayme live about 45 minutes from Lisbon, but we are definitely out away from much of anything. In the town they live in, there are a few cafes and a convenience store, so there are not too many places to escape, especially for the students. I think it will be good for them to stay immersed in English and being secluded definitely helps with immersion.

We are getting used to the neighborhood and the surrounding area. We took the 10 minute drive to the nearest grocery store today by ourselves. We successfully managed to get a cart (you put a .50 euro coin to unchain it), find most of the items on our list, order hamburger at the meat counter (um kilo), pay (though we forgot to weigh and print bar codes for our produce), and return the cart (collecting our .50 euro coin when we hooked it back to the other carts). Emilia and Audra were curious about the seafood counter. We saw octopus, salmon steaks, eel looking things, and various other kinds of fish.

We also went to a mall in Torres Verdes (~20 minutes and 6 roundabouts from Kyle and Jayme's). The roundabout can definitely be a harrowing experience. 1, 2, or 3 lanes of traffic and I've seen as many as 6 different roads coming together with no stop signs. Everyone seems to know the order. We haven't been honked at yet. While we were at the mall, Portugal was playing the Czech Republic in their second group game of Euro 2008. When the first goal of the game was scored, cheers echoed through the mall. Before we left for home, we stopped by the Burger King in the food court to get a Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Lite. It was three stands closer than McDonald's and just past the Pizza Hut Express. I thought it was strange that people on one half of the food court were sitting on one side of the tables and people on the other side were sitting on the other side of the tables. Then, I noticed the TVs around the outside wall and saw that almost everyone in the mall (workers included) had stopped to watch the game. When we got home, Kyle and I watched the end of the game. When Portugal scored their second and third goals of the game, we could hear horns honking from around the neighborhood. I don't think there's a comparable team in the U.S. to most other countries love for their national soccer teams.

Kyle and Jayme

We've had the chance to talk with Kyle and Jayme over the past couple days and have found out more about the program we are participating in this summer. One of the challenges for the church in Europe is developing leaders for local churches. There are many places where churches could be planted, but there are not many people to lead and pastor those churches.

One of the projects they are involved in is the Caleb Project. The Caleb Project uses leaders who have been trained in South America to plant churches in Europe. There are currently 5 people in Spain and 3 in Italy, who have been sent by the church in South America as missionary/church planters to Europe.

The goal of the English Immersion Experience is to get students to European Nazarene College to be able to study and become church leaders. There are not many students at EuNC. I believe 12 last semester. Learning English well enough to be able to attend school to get training is a huge obstacle for many, so the EIE program can add a significant number to those able to train to become future church leaders. The next step then is for students who have graduated from EuNC to receive further training to be able to teach and train the next classes of leaders in their native languages eliminating the additional burden of learning English in order to get the training necessary to be ordained.

I'll add some more at different times about other challenges in Europe. Please keep us and particularly the students and Kyle and Jayme in your prayers.

New Experiences Abound

This morning we went to church in Lisbon. The church is in a store front but is rather large. The sanctuary is on the main floor and children's church is in the basement. Kyle told us that it is the largest church in the country. In fact, all of the churches in Portugal (~14 in all) are coming together in October in Lisbon to celebrate 100 years of the Church of the Nazarene. The church was a mixture of people both young and old and somewhere in between. From what we've gathered most of the members of the Church of the Nazarene in Europe are not native Europeans; they are immigrants from South America or Africa. It was good to be in church even if we couldn't understand the sermon or the words to the songs. The passion and love for Christ that our brothers and sisters in Portugal share is infectious.

Both Emilia and Audra reacted to the Portuguese greeting of a cheek to cheek touch to each cheek with a kissing sound. Emilia was quite surprised and a little shy. I guess she's already developed her own concept of personal space. During Sunday School, Audra and I did a little wandering in the front of the church and a little boy wearing a Portuguese national team football jersey (Portugal beat Turkey 2-0 in their opening match of Euro 2008 on Saturday) came up to her and said, "Dai" (short for "Bom Dia" or good day) and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She was surprised, but then her eyes tried to find him in the crowd. Audra's father noticed and worried that this was only the beginning of a fascination with boys.

This afternoon we went to the beach again though we didn't go to Santa Cruz. I drove the Seat (pronounced "say-ott") 7 passenger, standard transmission, turbo diesel mini-van though it's probably smaller than the Intrepid at home. Kyle led us in his car and then left us to enjoy the beach and hopefully find our way home. The roads (trails) leading down to the beach were pretty steep and winding. The beach was pretty secluded (save the girls, Haydee, the overweight topless woman, her husband, and I). We stayed until the tide started to come in and covered most of the sand. We loaded up the van and headed back to Kyle and Jayme's. Let's just say it took two tries to get back up the washed out, pretty heavily rutted road. If we go back to that beach, (and I think it's a pretty big if) I'll take a picture.

We've also had the chance to talk with both of our parents through Skype, which is a great internet conferencing program. You can do voice, video, and IM-style chatting. It's also free to use between folks who have the program.

Tomorrow, we start our regular schedule of teaching, and two more students are arriving this week.

A Good Night's Sleep and the Beach

All four of us had a good night's sleep and seem to have adjusted to Portugal time. We took our first trip to the beach. The temperature is in the mid-70s and the Atlantic is cold, but it didn't keep the girls from putting their feet in the ocean for the first time.

Haydee found it hard to believe that this trip to the ocean was only Heather's third, but when we explained the nearest ocean was probably the 14 hour drive or so to the Carolina coast from our house, it made more sense. I guess growing up in Kansas would add an extra 10 hours to the trip.
The girls enjoyed digging in the sand and finding shells. Audra got to pet a whole gob of clam that were attached to a rock. We had a picnic and came back to Kyle and Jayme's.

This afternoon, Emilia and Haydee have been working on learning the days of the week, making plural nouns, and the ordinal numbers (1st, 24th, 98th). I think we are headed back into Santa Cruz this evening to go grocery shopping and to eat.

We are here

Thanks for your prayers as we traveled.

Our flight arrived from Newark this morning around 9:30 Lisbon time. We were delayed about an hour on the runway because of rain. The girls did phenomenally well on the trip. They both slept for most of the night and are in bed now. Emilia actually dozed off at the dinner table.

Kyle and Jayme were waiting for us after we passed through customs and picked up our luggage. Emilia showed her wings (the plastic king they pass out on airplanes) at customs, and they just waved us through after scanning our passports. I think the wings are really what got us through so quickly.

Heather and I are both pretty exhausted, but it has been good to spend the day talking with Kyle and Jayme. We took short naps this afternoon and are trying to make it to a normal bedtime to help with the adjustment.

We have met the first student, Haydee. She is originally from Peru but most recently lived in Barcelona. She plans to begin classes in the fall at EuNC. She and Emilia have already played some games and colored together. The house is full of 100 of her post-it-notes. Classes are supposed to begin on Monday.

We also had a chance to take a quick walk around the neighborhood this afternoon. The girls discovered that snails are quite common here (maybe like roly-polys at home) except the snails are easier to spot. I think they've already adopted a few as pets though I don't think they've managed to sneak any into the house yet. I'll try to get a picture of the girls and their gastropod friends posted at some point.

1 Flight Down

We made it to the airport in South Bend. After a tearful good-bye to Grandma and Papa (mostly Emilia and Grandma), we made it through security and on to the plane (a prop plane with 9 rows). Row 9 has five seats and goes across the back of the plane. We had seats A-D. We took off, read books, watched Scooby Doo on the iPod, had juice and pretzels, spilled juice, and landed in Cleveland. The Cleveland Airport has a Little Tikes playhouse in concourse D and really wide hallways. They'll be great for running around until our next flight.

I had a chance to talk to the man who got assigned to seat 9E. He is on his 16th trip to the National Institute of Health. He has a rare form of a disease. I didn't catch the exact name, but it ended in -oma and only like 200 people in the country have it. He is part of one of their experimental treatment programs. I'll be keeping him in my prayers as we travel.

In South Bend

We've packed and traveled to my parents' in South Bend. We fly out tomorrow morning at 10:35 am. After stops in Cleveland and Newark, we fly to Lisbon at around 8:30 pm. We'll arrive in Lisbon around 8:30 am (Lisbon time) on Thursday morning. There's a six hour time difference between Lisbon and home, so we'll be starting our Thursday at 2:30 am Kankakee time.

We also received an email with Jayme and Kyle's website. The address is http://web.mac.com/kyleandjayme/online_newsletter/Welcome.html.

Maybe an airport post from Cleveland or Newark tomorrow.

National Lampoon's European Vacation awaits watching once the girls go to bed.

Double Blessing

Yesterday, we experienced blessings via unexpected sources - the pharmacy and the post office.

In the morning, Heather and the girls made a trip to Target to get those stuff kinds of things that you need to get before going on a trip. She also needed to get two months worth of her medications. She went to the pharmacy expecting to pay regular non-insurance price for both of them since she was getting extra and getting them out of the ordinary sequence. Pharmacies seem to be the place where we have issues with customer service the most, so we've tried out most of the pharmacies in town. To make a long story short, the pharmacist offered to give Heather a two month supply of her medications and hold off on processing the first month until Monday, when insurance would expect to see it processed, and wait until after we get back in July to have us come in and pay for the second month.

In the afternoon, Emilia and I went to the post office to see what we should do about our mail. We went up to the counter and asked the postal clerk about her recommendations. She pulled out a yellow form and said that they can hold mail for 30 days, but for anything more she would need a supervisor's permission. Then, she gave us a kind of you aren't going to make me ask are you. Just then, Sheldon Jones (Heather sings with him on the worship team and I play with him in a basketball league at church) walked by and said, "Hi, Andy." I returned his greeting, and the postal clerk asked him about holding our mail. He was the supervisor, and our mail is being held for the entire time we're gone.

One of the ideas that has often intrigued me is that of the double blessing - the birthright blessing and the Abrahamic blessing, or the blessing given to Abraham that his descendants would be a source of blessing for all nations on earth. According to my understanding, the double blessing would have been passed from Abraham to Isaac and then Isaac to Jacob.

Through this experience so far, we feel like we have been doubly blessed. We have been given the opportunity to go through the prayerful support and the contributions of many - pharmacists and post office supervisors included. We also carry the responsibility of passing on the blessings we have been given with students who will go places and do things we would never be able to do.

Today's Prayer

As I was trying to finish up some work before we leave for Portugal (I fear there may be more work than days and hours), I came across the following prayer that has been attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas. Sometimes, I have found that I don't always have the words I need to express my prayers. These days seem to be one of those times. Here's my prayer for today.

THE PRAYER FOR GUIDANCE
St. Thomas Aquinas

O creator past all telling, you have appointed from the treasures of your wisdom the hierarchies of angels, disposing them in wondrous order above the bright heavens, and have so beautifully set out all parts of the universe. You we call the true fount of wisdom and the noble origin of all things. Be pleased to shed on the darkness of mind in which I was born, the twofold beam of your light and warmth to dispel my ignorance and sin.

You make eloquent the tongues of children. Then instruct my speech and touch my lips with graciousness. Make me keen to understand, quick to learn, able to remember; make me delicate to interpret and ready to speak. Guide my going in and going forward, lead home my going forth. You are true God and true man, and live for ever and ever. Amen

Departure Draws Near

I had a realization of how close leaving for Portugal is. We've been keeping an eye on the weather, so we know what to expect. When I checked the 10 day forecast this afternoon, the weather in Lisbon for our arrival is listed - High 74/23, Low 61/16.

We also got an email from Kyle and Jayme late last week - most of the students are starting out with little or no experience with English, the girls need to bring their own mac and cheese, and cooking and cleaning schedules are coming together.

Thanks for the many prayers said on our behalf and the words of encouragement you have sent.

The Staples Delivery Guy

As I was working in my office at school, Sara, our department secretary, had to run out and pick up our new Spanish honor society's charter. It was being framed to hang next to the English honor society charter in the department. She ordinarily signs for deliveries, but since I was the only one there, I got to sign for a couple of packages.

The delivery guy asked about summer school and why they're weren't more people around. I told him that most of the classes are in the morning, and that we only have one more week in the first of two 4 week summer school sessions. He asked what I was teaching, and I told him a literature class. He asked what we were reading. When I told him we were working through poetry right now, his eyes lit up, and he went on to tell me about poetry's influence on his life. He quoted the first few lines of Robert Frost's Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening and related it to his father's death. I told him we had just read some Frost in class this morning.

Then, he went on to tell me about reading Hermann Hesse while he was in school and asked who I enjoyed reading. I mentioned that recently I had been interested in Billy Collins's work. (If you're interested in checking out Billy Collins, several of his poems have been animated as part of his goal as U.S. Poet Laureate of getting poetry into the lives of young readers. They can be found on YouTube. Forgetfulness is one that I enjoy and have used in classes.)

Finally, he asked me if I had read Dostoevsky or Tolstoy. I've read some of both and a collection of Tolstoy is actually sitting with a bookmark in it on the floor near my nightstand. He mentioned Dostoevsky's The Idiot and explained how the impact of those around Prince Myshkin pushing him into madness has always stuck with him. Some could use what happens to Myshkin as a way of justifying withdrawing from society especially if we hope to retain our goodness and innocence.

As the Staples Delivery Guy was explaining how writing is his way of withdrawing from the influence of those around him, I decided to ask him if he had ever done anything to get his writing out there for other people to read. He kind of bristled at the idea of letting people into the intimacy that we often feel with our own writing - a struggle I can understand.

I am also reminded of something Rob Bell relayed during a session at Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Writing that I attended in the mid-April. In reference to his writing, speaking, and even during interactions with friends and neighbors, he said, "I want to be the one who starts the conversation rather than always trying to have the last word." I need to work on getting the words out - whether they are written, spoken, or communicated through my actions - to start conversations.

Passport Photos

As I was leaving campus this afternoon, Dr. McGuire was just pulling into the parking lot. She also makes a point to ask me about the girls and greet them when we are at English Department events. She asked me about passports and if we had gotten them yet. I told her the story of getting our passport photos. She said I ought to be sure to write the story down with Portugal memories, so I figured sharing it here would be good.

We decided to get our passport photos taken at Walgreens. We marched back to the photo section and asked if we could get passport photos taken. The lady working grabbed her camera and pulled down a white screen on the wall next to the dairy case. Emilia wasn't so sure she wanted to get her picture taken, so we let her decide the order for getting pictures taken.

I walked over to screen, turned around, and had my picture taken.

Heather walked over to the screen, turned around, and had her picture taken.

I put Audra down on the floor. She walked over to the screen, pivoted around on her left foot and smiled. After our shock at her perfect caricature of how to get a government photo taken, the picture lady said, "Uhh, she has to be higher the screen doesn't come down any more, and it has to come down past her shoulders." Though Walgreens sells just about everything, I haven't seen instant toddler growth pills.

After sensing our confusion, the picture lady said, "Why don't you hold her up? But you can't be in the picture."

Heather and I looked at each other, and I took a seat on the floor in front of the white screen. Audra gave me her "Dad, this isn't how it works look." I grabbed her by the knees and held her up over my head as I sat in front of the screen. Audra was so puzzled by why she was being held this way and just stared down at me. Finally, as my arms were starting to tremble, Audra looked over at Heather and the picture lady was ready and got the two shots we needed.

Fortunately, Emilia's turn was pretty uneventful though the picture lady did have to take extra shots after Emilia decided to test out a few of her poses.

Post-Sleepover Thoughts

Emilia had her first successful sleepover at our house last night. Surprisingly, asleep by 10. Not so surprisingly, up by 6. We did all those typical sleepover things - ate pizza and ice cream, told crazy stories and built castles out of cardboard boxes - I'm not exactly sure what the girls did. Of course, Audra tried to keep up and the older girls graciously let her tag along.

Heather and I have talked a lot about what the girls will gain this summer. We've joked about them getting to have an answer for that inevitable beginning of the school year question, "What did you do this summer?" Watching Emilia and her friend, Jae, makes me wonder what the girls might miss this summer.

People's reactions to hearing the news that we're going to Portugal have ranged from "What?!?" to "What a great opportunity for you and the girls" to "Awesome!" A couple of days ago at Ellis Johnson's dedication I was talking to Ellis's grandpa, and he'd heard we were traveling this summer. I told him the story about Kyle and Jayme's e-mail and just how quickly everything seemed to happen. He said, "If you had more time to think about going, you probably wouldn't." His response surprised me, but in light of the successful sleepover makes a lot of sense.

Often, when we have to time to think about doing things, we focus on the reasons why we shouldn't rather than looking at "the why we shoulds." In spite of successful sleepovers, we're still excited for June 4 to come. We know there are things we will miss here, but we also want to be the kind of people who look to live in the "shoulds." I'm also reminded of the adjustments that the girls (and their parents) will be making as we leave the familiarity of home.

Getting Started

Heather and I have both been spending the end of this week trying to get grades finalized. Olivet graduation ceremonies start this evening and then we can turn our attention to the beginning of summer and our coming trip to Portugal.

We are in the process of getting letters sent out to friends and family explaining briefly how we ended up deciding to go and how you support us during our time in Portugal. Writing letters and asking for help has always been a difficult thing for me to do, especially if money is involved. I guess it goes back to stories my dad would tell about when he would come home from college and his parents would ask him if he had money to get back to school, and as long as his pockets could jingle, he had money.

Anyway, both Heather and I have gotten specific questions about what exactly we will be doing. Here's what we know. We will be staying with Jayme and Kyle Himmelwright in Sao Pedro da Cadeira.


View Larger Map

During the course of the summer, we will be creating an English Immersion Experience for students who have expressed interest in studying at European Nazarene College (the instruction at ENC is in English). I think Jayme has planned for 2 instructional times during the day: one in the morning and one at night. As of the last official word we've gotten, we will be working with 6 individuals (from Spain, France, and Italy) and 1 family of 3 (they're from Barcelona and have a 4 year old son, so Emilia's been working on learning Spanish). We will all be living and learning together in the Himmelwright's home.

We are excited for the opportunity to go and be a part of the work God's doing in Western Europe.