Christmas Joys

Planning, preparing, prayers; buying, baking, parties, friends and family; cold, rain, clouds, fireplace; games, music, movies and soccer. Among these highlights, was a special church service - the first Christmas service in the Camarma Church. We asked church members to participate with special music or testimonies, and to invite friends to celebrate with us. It was a wonderful celebration, with more than 80 in attendance! There was great participation, offering a variety of music, dramatic readings and group singing. After the service, most everyone stayed for a Christmas dinner. We had invested many hours in preparation, so it was gratifying to be able to share the special time with so many new people! Please pray that God would continue to draw these visitors to himself, and that they would hunger for a relationship with Him. We have some regular visitors who sincerely enjoy being a part of our church. Pray that they would grow in their understanding of the gospel and what it means to them. A new inquirers class has been started. Pray that it would be well attended and communicate clearly to these seekers. (Only 1 lady attended the first week.)

ECA Echoes and Mar Rojo update

ECA has recently posted their most recent newsletter, ECA Echoes, on their website. Here is an excerpt from Scot's editorial, updating on where things stand with the Mar Rojo restaurant that is wanting to change to a sex club. "It has now been four weeks since the planned opening of the new Red Sea venture – and I give praise to the Lord that thus far the doors have remained closed. Will they remain closed? Time will tell.
In the meantime, the empty restaurant at the end of our street serves as a prominent visual reminder to pray for Sr. Juan and Oscar, and to give thanks to the Lord for His hand of deliverance thus far in this matter." For the rest of the story, and an overview of life at ECA so far this year, Check out the news in the ECA ECHOES. (Aaron taught me how to make it so you can click on the word and link to the PDF file of that publication. I am really climbing up in the technology world!!)

ECA Accreditation Update

As most of you are aware, the last several years ECA has been pressing forward through the accreditation process. It has been a long awaited journey as seeds were sown many years ago by previous board members and administrations - and in these last 3+ years we have picked up the pace working towards this week. Brian Calderwood and Beth Almack are to be specifically commended for their countless hours of help and service throughout this process.
It is with joy that I report to you that just yesterday, Thursday, Nov. 19, we completed the final phase of this part of the accreditation process, as the 4 members of the ACSI accreditation team concluded their 4 day visit of the school. All were experienced school administrators (two from Europe, two from the USA), and they spent many hours asking questions, meeting with different groups and individuals (they tallied that they had spoken with 83 different people, trying to get a feel for the culture of ECA), pouring over course outlines and documentation, visiting teachers in classrooms, and drafting their final report. The culmination of their time was a general meeting where each team member shared some encouraging words of affirmation as well as a brief presentation of their findings. This briefing included a list of 4 commendations and 4 recommendations which will form the basis of our self-improvement plan for the future. Soon we will receive a copy of the team's full report which will also be forwarded to the ACSI Accrediting Commission. Then the Commission will convene in February (I understand they only meet twice a year) to determine our accreditation status.
Needless to say, having this busy final week behind us is a relief to everyone...and although the team did a great job of trying to put everyone at ease, we obviously felt some anxiety. But overall it went EXTREMELY well. Although the road has been long and challenging, the process of self-examination and working to meet standards has been very good for our school.

Fall in Spain is celebrated with town fiestas. Here, David joins the fiesta in the annual Running of the Bull(s). As you can see, Camarma's version is a bit less crazy than you might have seen on TV in the famous Pamplona version. But folks still seem to enjoy an adrenaline rush.

October 2009: This school year is going strong at home, at school, and in our new church. Today, I want to highlight our church. After meeting for only a little over a year, we are thrilled to see the church growing, with a group of 40 - 50 attending on Sundays. The church consists of a dynamic group of people committed to serving and blessing one another and our community. Some of our upcoming outreach events include a Reformation Concert and a Thanksgiving outreach dinner for our community. Some regular ministries include a prison ministry and a ministry of providing food to people in our community who are out of work and not receiving government help.

July 2009: For those who have not yet been able to see our ministry presentation, you can now view it here! It is a 9 minute movie that will give you a glimpse into our work here over our last term.