Chapter 6: Ora et Labora

The idea of our journey started when we were dreaming together about our future and what we want to do with our lives. One thing is sure, we want to work and live for God. We decided to travel around Europe to meet the different missionaries we know, for they are people that dedicate their life to work for Gods kingdom. After the different work-away projects we had in France and Spain, we finally arrived at the first pair of missionaries, Wilfred (Guillermo) and Marisa. For 15 years, they live in Spain where they helped building evangelical church communities in Onda and later in l’Alcora.

We were welcomed very kindly in the warm home of Andresa, a Brazilian mom, and her two kids, Andrés and Estaban. With Estaban we played many games, all in Spanish off course. Andrés on the other hand watches many videos on his tablet, where he has his own world, but he also shared some interesting videos with us. It was nice to be part of this family for the time we were there. 

To share some of the Dutch culture we baked pannenkoeken, and another day we were enjoying the Spanish sun together when we invited people over for a barbecue.

The first Sunday we went to church where we had the privilege to witness the baptism of one of the new members of the church. Each Sunday we had two services, one in Onda and one in l’Alcora, so after one Sunday we got to meet a lot of new people. Some of them kindly invited us for dinner. The following week we got to eat with the pastors of the different churches and other amazing people. This made us feel very welcome.

After the first service a lady, Silvia, asked us to pray for her. It was very good to pray together, it meant much for us that she expressed her confidence in us by asking for prayer, and it meant much for her that we could listen to her story and bring her struggles before God.
The next day she invited us to come to her house in the countryside to eat and pray together. It was her dream that this house could one day be a sanctuary for Christians, who come together and share their faith, joy and dreams. That day we already fulfilled part of this dream, we sang, prayed and ate, and so a new chapter in the Tales of Gods Kingdom was written.

Next to eating and talking with people we also worked a bit. Marisa does voluntary work at Provida, a organisation that helps women who are pregnant or have children but have a difficult time to provide for their needs. So we helped with wrapping Christmas presents (which are by the way often given during the feast of Three Kings (6th of January) here in Spain), and with sorting out shoes for the small children.

We also helped with an out reach project in Bennicassim (a village at the beach, were a lot of elderly people from the North-west of Europe come). Together with missionaries form Germany, Armenia and Latin-America we shared the stories of Christmas and of our Journey with God with the people in the streets.

Our time in Onda and l’Alcora ended with two Christmas celebrations. In Onda we had a Christmas service where Gideon joined the worship team by playing cajon and piano. The children prepared a wonderful Christmas musical, where they played the different characters of the Christmas story, alternated by some songs. After the service we had a great diner together.

Christmas Eve we celebrated in l’Alcora with a lot of people who couldn’t be with their family on Christmas – like us. We shared diner together and played some games. When the clock stroke twelve at midnight we sang Christmas songs and experienced in each other the family that we miss.

Regarding missionary work, we experienced that community is an important factor, which we also experienced in many of the other encounters we had during our journey. It was inspiring to see the care that people feel for each other, and to see how others feel Gods care in prayer. We saw Gods blessing flow out when we prayed and when people welcomed us. For us this shows Gods presence, His kingdom here on earth.