The Reign in Spain

Rebecca's Impact

   It never ceases to amaze us how deeply an entire community can be impacted by a single person in 6 weeks' time.  The community, of course, is ours.  And the person is the young lady who gave her summer in service to the Lord, and to us: Rebecca Davenport.

    Five months after her departure, we are still greeted at the fruit stand, "Hi.  Where's Rebecca?  How is she doing?"  Or at the candy shop "Hey, any news from Rebecca?  When is she coming back?"  Yes, the shopkeepers at Rivas Centro all agree that the mall was a much happier place when Rebecca was around to greet them and make small talk while gently nudging them towards a personal relationship with Jesus.  And those are people she barely knew!

    Not an English class goes by without the teenage girls who helped with the summer program asking if there's been any news from Rebecca, or asking me to look over an e-mail they wrote her so they can send it.  They keep talking about the trip they dream of taking to Kentucky to visit Rebecca in her parents' new home they moved into this summer in her absence.  They, too, remember how Jesus was at the forefront of her conversations and they miss their long chats about life with her.

    The summer program kids (pictured below) were probably the most blessed by Rebecca's presence.   Several of them now participate in our homework club.  Just the other day one of the Moroccan children was doing mulitplication drills when he lowered his pencil, raised his head, and said in a nostalgic voice, "I sure do miss Rebecca!"  Then next day the children who had known her got together and made her a card to say how much they love her and miss her. 

   And I haven't even mentioned the lives she touched during our short week in Portugal, helping to bring one of the neigborhood's most notorious drug addicts to the feet of Jesus! 

   All of this to say that it is possible to make a deep impact on the lives of those you come in contact with, even for a short while.  Rebecca broke down barriers in this community (especially between the Christian and Moroccan community) and set an example for us to follow.  We know that we are better missionaries for having been challenged by Rebecca's example, and we hope that you, too, could learn a thing or two about being a light amidst darkness by reading this account of how one zealous college freshman set out to change this neighborhood for Christ--and did!

   This week please pray as we are anticipating a major transition in the weeks and months ahead.  More details to follow shortly.  Pray that the Lord would grant us peace and that all of the pieces would fall in place for a smooth and positive transition.

                             Blessings,

  Carrie (Caty) and Michael Hamley

Our Daily Bread

       Two Saturdays ago was the first time I (Carrie) had been out of the house to run errands since the miscarriage.  I dreaded the thought of braving the cold and having to interact with other people when all I wanted was to stay in bed with the covers over my head.  But alas, there was work to be done, and it required shopping for supplies.

    On my way home I was bee-lining for the appartment, eager to warm up and curl up with something warm to drink.  I was less than a block away and I began to feel relieved that my mission had been accomplished, and now I could clean and tidy up for a few hours before my friend Bronwen was to arrive.

    Just as my apartment building was in sight, an African man began to follow me and talk to me.  There aren't many Africans in the neighborhood--I only knew of one, and Michael as well as several church members had had some bad dealings with him.  Since this man fit the description I had been given, I decided to walk away.  But he just kept following me and trying to converse with me in English.  I decided to change my destination because I didn't want him to discover where I lived.  Just as I approached the door of my friend's apartment, I realized that I was being extremely rude, and I should at least hear the man out.  If he turned out to be the same man giving me the same sob story to try and get sypmathy and a sum of money from me, I would call his bluff and leave.

    After a brief introduction (very reluctant to give him my real name and place of employment) I mentioned our church in Rivas.  The man's eyes lit up.  Dan-Morgan had come from his native Ghana nearly 8 months ago, had a good job at a bread factory, but had been looking for a place to worship locally to no avail.  It became very obvious to me that he knew the Bible well and was honestly seeking fellowship with other Christians, whether he could speak their language or not.  (He still doesn't speak much Spanish.)  He told me that as I walked by, God told him to talk to me.  When he saw I obviously wasn't in the mood, he was struggling with God as to whether he should keep trying.  His persistence paid off.

   Dan-Morgan is the third English speaker to join the church in one week.  And many others are bilingual.  We had been talking about possibly starting an English-speaking Bible study for about a month now, and it would appear as if God is confirming that desire. 

   The coolest part about this story is that God is using Dan-Morgan to bless us in a special way.  Every day after leaving work at 10 am (he works the night shift), he stops past our apartment on his way home (across the street from us) to drop off fresh-baked bread.  Since we are helping him to be fed spiritually, he wants to help feed us physically.  When God promised to provide our daily bread, He wasn't kidding!

    This week pray for Dan-Morgan, as well as a Filipino family who have started to attend church and speak little Spanish.  Pray for how we might be able to minister to them and others like them without compromising our mission to reach the Spaniards for Christ.  Also pray as we begin seeking out new financial commitments for 2009.  Our personal missions budget has been increased nearly $12,000 for the coming year!

    Thank you for consistently being there for us and for taking the time to read our updates.

             God Bless,

     Carrie (Caty) and Michael Hamley