Gracias Jesus

Jeep Girl here...

After a delicious tapas meal with the Carranos and all of my traveling companions, it was time to say goodbye to Penny and the gang. I noticed that the Carranos had arrived on foot and wondered where the car was, but I was sure it would appear when it was time to go. Alas, it did not. They fully intended on walking me and my month's worth (or 5) of luggage 20 mins away to my apartment! I realize I sound a lot more like a spoiled little American Princess right now than an adventure seeking Jeepgirl, but I am Jeepgirl not Walkinggirl. (Or something more clever that I'll come up with later while I'm laying in bed tonight) Apparently, no one has cars here because the parking is so hard to find. So, when they say something is close, that could mean you will be walking for 25 mins in 90 degree heat carrying a bag that weighs more than 50 pounds and is missing 2 of it's wheels! I did NOT like those numbers, so I said a desperate prayer and by some sort of miracle they opted to take a 

Taxi!

Upon arriving at the apartment, I found I would be living in a very old but very charming third floor apartment. It had been recently renovated and I was ecstatic to find that I would have my own room, and a real bed. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I walked down the long narrow hallway to the front of the apartment where the open living area was. I was greeted by a scalloped red brick ceiling accented with rustic wood beams, a modern white marble kitchen and the pièce de résistance! Tall windows opening to a small but adequate and romantic balcony! It was just as I had envisioned in my heart. Jesus knows and cares about even the smallest desires of our hearts. I felt immediately inspired, and I couldn’t wait to pick up the guitar in the corner, seemingly waiting for me. I knew that I would spend significant time here and that He would meet me. I knew He was going to speak to me here, and that this was a place He had lovingly prepared for me. I knew that I would carry this place in my heart for all my life, and in times of sorrow or distress I could imagine it and find peace, and find Him. 

I wanted to listen to the songs for Sunday and make sure I had memorized all the words of the four new songs I had learned. Thankfully they hadn’t asked me to sing in Spanish yet, but I knew it was coming. I looked for my headphones but couldn’t find them! I frantically searched. The AirPods were a gift and I couldn’t afford to replace them. I said a little prayer and I saw them in my mind. Sure enough, there they were, right where I left them. I caught myself thanking God aloud, only it wasn’t in English! Without thinking, I said, “Gracias Jesus!” And I laughed at myself.  I was adapting quicker than I expected!

International Church of Barcelona (ICB) doesn’t have their own church building. They rent a sanctuary from a Seventh Day Adventist church, as they have services on Saturday. During the week, the staff meets at another office space in the city, where they also have storage. We walked the 15 mins from my apartment to the church office where we met with about 12 team members. Collectively we carried all of the gear, including sound equipment, children and nursery supplies, coffee station and even canned goods for the benevolence ministry, several blocks to set up in the sanctuary. We set up for three hours. I was happy to be able to pitch in with something I was so familiar with. I grew up on a tour bus singing with my family. We set up no less than twice per week, but sometimes more. Then we started a church and did the same every week for 3 more years. All in all I have about 10 years experience doing this very thing. It felt like home.

I was immediately impressed with the warmth and friendliness of their team. This church does things excellently, and they had the routine down to a tee. I finally got to meet the worship team. Peter, the Irishman who was filling in for the worship pastor on his honeymoon, and a bassist and drummer, whose names honestly I can’t pronounce or spell. They were all great and though Peter had to do quite a bit of translating for me, we were able to run through the songs relatively smoothly.

Afterward, most of us hung out the Carranos, and the team began to give me tips for getting along in Spain. The most important of which was that I should prepare to be kissed. A lot. Pastor John explained that they would kiss me on each cheek and that I should always go to the left first or else be kissed on the lips! He then told me that it can often be awkward because a married man may be kissing me right in front of his wife, but that I should feel comfortable because it is the custom here.  With my eyes wide, he then suggested that we practice. I laughed and then I WENT THE WRONG WAY! Yep, leave it up to me. Thankfully, Pastor John anticipated my error and we avoided the kissing on the lips part. Actually it was probably a good thing that I did it wrong the first time because it scared me so much, I haven’t messed up since!

Sunday came and it was everything I had dreamed. I got pretty emotional singing the first few lines of “I am who you say I am.” It was the ultimate “I made it!” moment. I felt so honored to be leading them, and I loved hearing their voices sing out. The presence of the Lord was definitely there, and I realized He felt the same here as He does in Nashville, and that I may not have understood what everyone was saying  but we were all speaking the same language anyway. 

Meeting ICB is like meeting the whole world in a single day. They have over 80 nationalities represented there on any given Sunday. By the time we had completed three services, I had been encouraged by a woman from Holland, asked to coffee with someone from the Netherlands, complimented by an Irishmen, invited to a concert by a British couple, asked to climb a mountain with a Colombian man and lunched with Americans and Spaniards alike! It was absolutely incredible. Knowing that we had all come so far to come this place and time. We had so many differences, but we were bound together by this belief in Jesus and He was our common experience. We had all experienced Him and it created this sense of unity that was one of the most powerful feelings I’ve ever had!

After a few days of rest, Wednesday finally arrived. On Wednesdays the church sanctuary isn’t available, so in the summer time ICB travels about 40 minutes outside the city to a place in the mountains called Las Planes. After a short walk, metro ride and a train, we arrived at the historic Spanish home, where the church meets under a tree. The Assemblies of God purchased the home durning the 1992 Olympics to house pastors who were coming to minister to the athletes. How cool is that? Now ICB staff members live there. It is also home to a Catalan church. More on Catalonia in a later post. 

We climbed up the tiled steps and onto the terrace overlooking the Pyrenees mountain range. It was even more beautiful that I had imagined. It was this place that I saw a picture of on social media several years ago. It was this place that drew me here, and I felt it. The same peace that I felt when I looked at the pictures. 

So there I was feeling very peaceful, and then one of my roommates issued me a warning. “Hey, if you see a wild boar, just run, Okay?” She said, ever so nonchalantly.  “I’m sorry, did you say a WILD BOAR?” “Yeh,” she replied.  “We don’t have any food on us, so we should be fine. There were some out here last week. Don’t worry. Just run fast.” I gulped. My roommate Karen was born in Texas, but grew up in Kenya. So, Wild Boars and Black Mambas are no big deal to her. Then I saw the trays coming! Trays of FOOD! The very thing that Karen had said would attract the Wild Boars! There was watermelon and hard salami and sushi and of course olives. Oh and ice cream! Everyone is obsessed with ice cream here, and the white chocolate ones are totally worth the calories. How do I know?  Because I ignored the fact that I may be attacked by a wild boar and dug in to the snack table! 

The service was simple, but when the sun began to set it felt extravagant. There was a sweet presence there, and that peace that I spoke of earlier. The last few days I’ve been struggling with feeling useless. I’m here, but what can I offer them? I can sing a song, but what do I do with the rest of my time? I can’t speak the language so making calls or counseling is a bit difficult. I don’t know my way around the city, so running errands is challenging too. I feel handicapped here. Far from awesome. But God started speaking to me about my need to ‘do’ things, and how He wants me to just ‘be.’ I don’t know if I know how to do that. Being still is hard for me. But I can feel it. There is definitely something stirring with regard to my perspective. I thought He brought me all this way to DO and maybe He brought me all this way not to. I find myself wondering why He couldn’t have just told me that in my living room back in Nashville, but there is something about ‘BEing’ here rather than there. There is something about observing others and having my hands tied a little bit. I don’t understand it all just yet, but He is speaking. Have you ever felt like that?

Thanks for joining me on this journey, friend. If you want to follow along even more, you can follow the church on Instagram and see some pretty cool stuff. @icb_Spain

XOXO

Jeepgirl