We visited a local evangelical, protestant church in Almunecar this Sunday and last.  The church has historical ties to Holland, and may have been planted or supported by Dutch believers.  We could have walked 30 minutes but chose to drive… in retrospect, that was the best choice since the kiddos were very tired after the service.

Christian vacation/tour groups from Holland joined in with the local members for the worship services both Sundays.  Songs, scripture reading, and prayer were all conducted in Dutch and Spanish.  I always feel a deep joy when I’m able to participate in this kind of cross-cultural spiritual communion.  It underscores how all Christian believers are united in a single, global family, saved and loved by the one true Savior.

I was able to translate/absorb 90% of the prayers and the sermon/lesson.  The teachings were from Numbers 13-14, recounting how Israel sent 12 spies into the promised land but were discouraged and misled by the bad/unfaithful report of 10 spies.  Caleb and Joshua agreed with the facts of the report (the land was fertile but contained giants and fortified cities) but believed God’s promises and urged the people to have faith and take the land as God had promised.  The encouragement and admonition for believers today is to “live by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7) — to trust in God’s goodness, the commandments and promises of His word, the Bible, and to have joy and faith in all circumstances.

The kids were able to join with other kids from the church in a side room.  The first week, they learned about the conversion of Saul/Paul (Saulo/Pablo).  This was taught mostly in English with a craft.  The second Sunday’s kid lesson was about Tabitha/Dorcas, her faithful, tireless work, and resurrection.

Unfortunately, Cora wouldn’t be still/quiet long enough in either the main hall or the kids’ room.  Laura ended up taking her to the kids room the first Sunday, missing the teaching.  I took Cora for a walk the second Sunday, missing the teaching.  We need to figure out how to make this work so we can both join in the service together, if possible.  (Please pray for this!)

On the Thursday between Sundays, we met the pastor and a couple from the church for tapas.  Due to a long, hot walk with all the kiddos — combined with crossed communications and other mixups — our family members were all tired and semi-irritable that day.  In the end, despite our exhaustion, we all enjoyed the fellowship and getting to know one another better.