Finally!!!!

Much apologies to any followers of this blog, as it has been MUCH neglected over the past few months. Summer was an unbelievably crazy time, and the blog was just the thing that had to go. Since we had other means of communicating with people back home, we decided that until things settled down, that the blog could hold off for a while. So now that things have returned to some sort of semblance of normal (ha, right!), the blog resumes!

So much has happened since I wrote last, so I'll try to give you the summary version of the highlights. Our visitor, Jesse, left after being here for about a month, and really enjoyed his time here. We enjoyed showing him around and teaching him about what ministry in Spain looks like. He plans to return sometime for help with different summer ministries around the country. One of the things that we were able to do with him was help out with Elementary Camp that was for the students of the missionary school near us, Evangelical Christian Academy. It is mostly missionary kids who attend, but there are a few Spaniards who attend as well. A small school, it was fun to spend time with the 19 elementary students who came!

Us with Jesse waiting for a train

A couple of weeks after Jesse left, we had visitors from England! My good friend, Rebecca, (who was also one of my roommates in college) came for a weekend with her fiance, Duncan. We had never met Duncan before, so it was great to spend time together! We toured around Madrid, took them to see our church on Sunday, and just spent time together, usually over food. :)

Us with Rebecca and Duncan, waiting for a train (a common occurrence, apparently!)

A week or two after they left, we got the great news that we are expecting a child! We are so excited to share that on February 24, 2012, we will be welcoming into our family a little baby! We don't know as of yet if it's a boy or a girl. We are expecting to find out at our scheduled ultrasound on September 30th. We can't wait! I then spent several weeks doing what I could, but also spending a lot of time growing this little baby while resting. A friend told me she read once that during the first trimester, you exert as much energy as if you were mountain climbing! Some women don't feel so tired, but I sure experienced it! My energy is definitely returning, for which I am very grateful! We will be returning to the States before my due date, so we will be close to family during that time.

Our little one, at around 13 weeks here.

In July, the main event was an English Camp put on by our church, the Christian Community of Camarma. It took place over the weekend of the 15th-17th. Around 60 people attended the camp! We taught them English over the weekend (usually by age group) through games, lessons, songs, and discussions. It was a blast, and many hope to repeat the camp next year. Several even joined us on Sunday morning for our church service, which was held entirely in English specifically for the camp. It was presented as optional, but almost the whole camp attended! The weekend ended with an evangelistic group who came to Camarma and put on a "Country Festival" in the town plaza. It was so fun to hear country music, see line dancing, and watch games, face painting, etc. It was a fun event!

English Camp

The beginning of August was spent in the lovely land of England celebrating the wedding of Rebecca and Duncan, who visited us in June. We were able to spend a whole week there, participating in the wedding festivities, dinners, decorating, and the rehearsal/dinner and wedding itself. I, Kimberly, was a bridesmaid in the wedding. We had a wonderful time being able to see friends again! The wedding was absolutely gorgeous, as was the lovely bride. It was also a nice respite from the heat in Madrid, as temperatures in England were quite chilly!

The happy Groom and Bride!

I left the wedding to return to Madrid by myself for a couple of days while Micah traveled to London to meet up with our college friend, Travis. He had plans to come visit us in Madrid this summer. His purpose was to visit us and also as a sort of vision trip for his church, who has supported us this year. He wanted to see what possibilities for future short-term ministry their church might be able to offer. We found cheaper tickets through London, so Micah went to meet him, and they spent a day and a half in London before coming to Madrid. The week he was here with us was the hottest week of the summer! Dry, desert-like heat mixed with no air-conditioning made for quite the week! It can drain it right out of you! But we still had a great time, and Travis was able to see quite a bit of Madrid and ministries around the city. It was especially good for Micah to have Travis here and he is one of his closest friends from college--they really enjoyed their time catching up!

Micah with Travis

The last few weeks have mostly been involved with church activities. We've been doing a lot with the youth ages 11-18, spending time with them weekly with youth group activities. We've had so much fun getting to know them. Pray with us that God would raise up people in the church who have a burden for discipling the youth of their church! We've also done some with worship at the church.

This past weekend, we went to a church vision retreat about an hour away from where we live. It was nice to get away with about 40 church members over the weekend. We also had the opportunity to go with a few people from the retreat to a Hillsong Live concert in Madrid. It was amazing. I'll write more about this past weekend in another post, since this one is so long! Thank you for bearing with us and not deserting us during these months of silence! :) We truly appreciate your care for us and our journey here!