Camp Over

From last night: We finished the last day of English Camp today. It is amazing how the kids can steal your heart. They really are no different than American kids, they just don't speak English. Tonight we were with the kids again along with their parents at the closing ceremonies. It was a joy to talk with them in broken Spanish (broken is much too strong of a term in this case) and broken English. I think I learned more Spanish tonight than I have the whole trip!  I would love to stay here longer, get to know the people better and become better at Spanish, but alas, it is not to be at this time. 

Last night we all went to different camper's families' houses for dinner. What a privilege to be hosted by a Spanish family and see what their home is like! Anna (a worker on the full time team here) and I were invited by one of the families to their home. The son in this family was in my class and has dreams of becoming a bullfighter like his cousin. He put on a show for us with his twin sister who played the bull. (She also was at the camp.) We had a very traditional Spanish meal - Spanish tortillas, which is like quiche with potatoes, eggs, and onions, tomato/tuna sandwiches and a traditional Spanish drink made of vegetables - Elias tells me it's basically cold tomato soup. (gespacho?)Their house was very nice, kind of an upper middle class Spanish row home. 

In the morning, Aaron, the pastor of Reconciliatioń, reminded us that the fruit that comes from our time here might not be picked for many years, but that The Lord makes it grow even while we are sleeping, and we don't even know how he does it. Ours is to sow the seeds, His is to make the seeds grow. It is sad to see the week come to an end because the fellowship that we enjoy with the other team members and even the kids is so sweet. This time in some ways is an inkling of heaven, where we will enjoy perfect fellowship, not only with brothers and sisters from every tribe and nation, but with The Lord Himself, and that forever. It has reminded me, how so many of the things that I value, are not that valuable, and freed me in some senses (again) from having to pursue them. I can so easily get myself wrapped up in the pursuit of petty things. Lord have mercy! And He does. Tomorrow, some of us will do a little shopping, while others of us have various day trips/hikes planned. Later, we'll all meet with whole team at the church for kind of a closing time. It will be hard to leave. Sunday morning, one of the workers on the permanent team, will drive us Ritters to Motril to catch the ferry to Al H, while the rest of the team travels home. What a great time it has been here in Granada. Thank you so much for your prayers. The Lord answered many of them graciously and abundantly and we have in so many ways been the recipients of those answered prayers. Please continue to pray for the work here.

 Steve