Plant your seeds early in the morning and keep working in the field until dark. Who knows? Your work might pay off, and your seeds might produce. (Ecclesiastes 11:6)
August – it’s a different mindset in Europe! For most Europeans the August vacation month means just getting out of the cities and heading for the coast or the mountains; many shops and restaurants are either closed down entirely for the month or with dramatically shortened hours so that people don’t have to be out & about or working during the hottest parts of the day.
Our state, Catalonia, with beautiful beaches and the Pyrenees mountain range, continues to be the preferred destination for international travelers to Spain, 7.4 million of whom visited between January and June! Barcelona is the fifth most visited city in Europe (ranks 12th worldwide). Raval, the inner city neighborhood of Barcelona where we live, is bursting at the seams with tourists and night-time activities.
We’ve opted for the August mindset of staying put and staying focused! The TogetherRaval group, now 2 months old, is meeting every Tuesday evening in our apartment. This past month we’ve focused on praying for each other and for our neighborhood, sensing that this is the basis for becoming a truly missional community. Thanks for praying with us.
Praise Report:
The TogetherRaval group created a WhatsApp (a mobile messaging app) group; we send nightly reminders to prayer for each other
Mid-July prayer walk in Raval was good; another one is scheduled for August 18
4 friends from Montornés (our former church plant) joined the Aug.1st personal evangelism outing-we divided into groups & spread out to various points – each group had engaging conversations
Refreshing and encouraging visits from friends (from the USA)
Prayer Requests:
A seeker has joined the TogetherRaval group – pray for her to become a committed Jesus follower
That our hearts would be filled with love and compassion for each other & for our neighborhood
Physical safety as tourism and night-time antics continue
God’s direction as we invite others to join the group and look for a rental building in the fall
"Talking to men for God is a great thing, but talking to God for men is greater still." E.M. Bounds
