New Year's Greeting from Madrid

What has happened to the McMillans? Did they ever arrive in Spain? Did they ever find an apartment??? The answer is “yes!” We stayed with the Muhas for 11 days while we registered with the court house, opened up an account at a bank, hunted for apartments, arranged to rent/borrow a car, bought a GPS (very important)and adjusted to the 6 hour time difference. We had our first team building retreat on the first weekend after our arrival. After that, we moved to a guest house/office combination outside of the city so that there would be room for Melissa and Jonathan. They arrived on Dec. 20 and 21. By then we had a contract on an apartment, and we needed to find something to sleep on, eat on, eat with, cook with.....


On Christmas day we moved in, threw a chicken in the oven, and went to pick up Heather at the airport. Later that afternoon we went over to celebrate together with Micah and Kimberly Yaun, a young couple from our home church who are doing an internship in a township east of Madrid. While our 3 visitors were here, 2 of them became engaged! Heather is now engaged to Jonathan, who is finishing his masters in Civil Engineering in Delft, Netherlands.

We made an overnight trip to Cordoba to see the famous Mesquita and other historic sites in the city. After Melissa left on January 5^th we set about in earnest to look for furniture. We went with prefab furniture that you put together for the office and extra kitchen counter and cabinet space. Since all of the buildings where we live are less than 10 years old, the apartment is really nice, 4^th floor, 3 bedrooms plus a storage room and one parking space in the basement. Once our shipment arrives, the office, spare bedroom, and storage room will fill up quickly with mostly books and resource materials! Now that the big sales have started we have ordered our bedroom furniture which should arrive in a month. The last major item is the living/dining room combo. We bought a 2001 Ford Focus.

As far as our visas go, Peter has gone to the immigration office 4 times. They had asked for 2 new documents that were not previously required. After each appointment the agent sent him back for another adjustment. Finally everything cleared. Then he asked the other agent about Sharon's visa. There it was, on the top of the agent's desk! She said that we should hear from the embassy in about 2 weeks. This means that Sharon will go back to Washington, D.C. sometime in February to pick up her visa.

We have been able during the holidays to get together with some of the members of the church. Peter has already preached 2 times, Sharon has helped some with the children and gave a workshop this past Sunday for those interested in working with children. Also, she filled in on piano during the worship service. We have begun weekly team meetings on Thursdays, as well as the regular men's and women's Bible studies. The three leaders and wives will begin intentional discipleship with the people who regularly attend. For 4 days we will be at a camp location near Toledo for the TEAM Spain annual conference starting Jan. 20.

In less than a week we will be in Spain!!!

WE ARE ON OUR WAY! Our financial support now meets the requirements of TEAM and we have 750 prayer partners! After waiting much longer than we wanted to, the speed has now zoomed to high velocity:

Last Tuesday: the embassy notified us that the marriage certificate was not the up-dated version. We immediately make the necessary phone calls to figure that out and obtain the correct document. We found out that the county had used the old format on the first one. Sharon’s brother’s family arrived for the big Thanksgiving hurrah.

Last Wednesday: The remaining relatives arrived to make 12 in all. We went ahead and bought 2 tickets for Madrid, leaving December 8 and returning January 5 in case the visas are not granted before we leave.

Last Friday: we received word that Peter’s visa has been approved!

This Past Sunday: Yaszbet Zannis from Faith Presbyterian Church sent us a lightening quick Spanish translation of the new document. We also said “Goodbye” to our son Ben and wife Hannah.

This Past Monday: Peter Ellis, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church, ran around to 3 different agencies, drove to Albany to obtain the new documents, and mailed them to the Spain embassy.

This Week: packing boxes and suitcases, arranging shipment, phone calls.

Next Week: move out of the lake house, go to DC to pick up passports and at least Peter’s visa.

Wednesday: Leave 5:30 pm Richmond, VA. Arrive Madrid 7:50 am Thurs.

Dec. 12-13^th: First retreat with new team coworkers.

After That: Find and move in to an apartment if possible before we receive 3 visitors for Christmas.

January 5^th. Sharon will probably have to return to D.C. to pick up her visa.

We give thanks to God for your partnership as we head for Madrid, Spain

Motel 6, 33 Rescued Miners and Las Tablas

How much of your life savings would you use to decorate your room at a Motel 6? This question in a recent study prompted us to remember how short our life is on this earth and how transitory are the things that we tend to give importance to. We want to thank all of you who have chosen to invest in rescuing lives for eternity in Las Tablas.

We are not in Las Tablas yet. We are still in the U.S.A….and have had the privilege to meet more brothers and sisters in Christ who are serving faithfully in their churches. We are encouraged to see their concern that their local body not stagnate by thinking only of its own interests, but that it gain fresh life by helping to birth other churches. We have been on the road every weekend but one. This weekend will be our last trip. We will be with the Alethia Church in Harrisonburg, VA where our daughter attends. In October we did presentations in NC at Gardner’s Baptist in Macon, Lake Gaston Baptist in Littleton, and Springs of Life Baptist Church in Durham, as well as Salem Baptist Church in Richmond, VA, and Common Ground Community Church in Portsmouth, VA.

In Las Tablas, the week of October 17-24 witnessed the first event that our teammates the Muhas and Chamorros had planned together. A couple who are friends of the Chamorros came from Argentina for a week’s stay and spoke/preached several times. One lady received Christ at the ladies’ meeting! While not all was smooth sailing, they did learn more about how to function as a team!

Thanks to all of you who joined us for our day of prayer on October 9^th. We have peace that by the time that church budgets are approved in November and new families come on board we could be 100% supported. We are at 97% as of this date. We are happy to announce that TEAM already gave us clearance to leave for Spain. We plan to leave for Madrid the first week of December and stay up to 3 months if our visas have not been granted. If the visas are approved by then, we will return to D.C. to pick them up and then return to Spain for good.

On October 13, after spending 69 days trapped a half mile down in the San Jose mine in Chile, 33 miners were rescued. What a testimony of a concerted effort by a nation to rescue those trapped miners. The two of us watched in amazement as they pulled out the first miner in the Phoenix-2 capsule. The world celebrated as each miner was lifted to surface. In watching this rescue we thought of our upcoming ministry in Las Tablas and saw many similarities. Las Tablas has a similar need of people who need to be rescued. It requires a powerful drill bit to penetrate hardened rock so deep, many resources, teamwork, and so much more. Together we can make a concerted effort to take the powerful gospel message. It alone has the ability to penetrate hard hearts. And the rejoicing in Heaven for every soul rescued will far surpass what we recently witnessed in Chile!