Small Steps. Big Faith.

In May, the Global Family Life office granted us the rights to print The Art of Parenting study. There were several edits that needed to be made to adapt the Latin American Spanish to Spain Spanish. Due to supply chain issues, there were challenges in getting right material to print. Then the month-long Spanish vacation time hit in August.  FINALLY, near the end of September we got our first batch of these books, in Spanish called El Arte de ser padres .  I am so hopeful for how God might use this study in the lives of moms and dads here in Spain. Please pray for the first study that will start at our church in Terrassa in early 2023. Also pray that the Lord would open many doors for us to promote this study to churches and communities throughout Spain.

Being a parent is one of the most rewarding and most challenging responsibilities one could ever take on. It brings great joy, but can also wear us out and even create great frustration, especially when things don't go the way we wanted them to. Time Out for Parents  ( Darse un respiro ) is a Christian course on parenting but uses no Christian language nor bible references. It is designed to minister to all types of parents with the desire to build relationships and create community. I was certified in Spain in May to teach this course, but had no specific context in which to launch it. I asked the Lord where to start. After talking with teachers, principals, the local library and even the town government, I was encouraged to launch the program in our little village. I created a website with info and a sign-up form and the city hall even prepared publicity (left). All the information was sent out to parents in the 3 local primary schools as well as the local nursery school. digita...

Dani Sanmartin completed the consolidation of his support team in January. In February, we hosted a team leader training time using the Together (+Juntos )  study that we recently printed for married couples to host bible studies at their church or with neighbors. While I was in the U.S. for Michael's funeral, Dani (front row) had begun his new role as our first FamilyLife Spain staff member. He is pictured here with 4 other new staff and trainers at the New Staff Orientation that Donna (pictured right) and I had been planning for months.   Donna's husband, Israel and Dani and I have been meeting several times a month to begin to work through Ágape's New Staff Training curriculum, which provides a solid founddation for new believers and encouraging reminders for older believers. Sometimes we meet in each others' homes and sometimes we meet online.  Our commitment to prioritize this 36 topics over the next 1.5-2 years allows us to spend time together, share our lives an...

I just said good-bye to a new friend whom I hope I will see again soon.  Victoria Geck contacted me last year through a staff friend. She is working as an administrative assistant at a music conservatory, but her heart for the people of Spain has been growing steadily over the last few years. I suggested she COME for a visit to see what God is doing here. And she did! Although we didn't know Victoria before, we opened our home to receive her so as to aid her investigation about Spain and possible ministry opportunities here. She travelled to Seville, Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. She was able to meet with several Ágape staff to get a first-hand look at how God is working to reach Spanish people with the gospel. Victoria had an especially encouraing visit with Nacho Marques, our national director, in Valencia. It seems that her gifts and talents could meet a great need in our national office, including finances, communications and graphic design. After heading back home, Victoria ...

Agape held its national staff and volunteer conference a the end of May 2022 in El Escorial, outside of Madrid.  Our family and FamilyLife Spain's new staff member, Dani Sanmartin, traveled together by car to join the over 100 staff and volunteers to worship the Lord together, to reconnect with others from around the country and to be refreshed. God keeps adding to our numbers by raising up more laborers for the harvest.  In the last 18 months we have had 12 new people join our staff plus.  Each of these people passed through a rigorous application process, several of which I guided and facilitated. The process includes gathering and synthesizing many documents including the staff application, self-evaluation, a doctrinal questionnaire, and multiple references,  as well as a face-to-face interview. At our conference in May, we celebrated this incoming class of new staff who have joined us. Several of the volunteers who attended our conference were convinced of God's ...

This past weekend 6 special couples who have said, "I do!" and are preparing to tie the knot gathered online with us to receive healthy perspective and practical tools as the begin their lifetime journey together. I served behind the scenes with the planning, organizing and communication before the event, as well as the technical hosting on Zoom during the event. Dani Sanmartin and his wife, Raquel Pérez, were amazing emcees, presenting our speakers with energy, grace and flexibility as last-minute changes came up. Please pray for these 12 young couples: that the Lord would burden their hearts of their crucial roles as husband and wife and the importance of putting into practice the wise advice they received during this S.O.M.  

Although this entry is posted in March 2022, just a few weeks after Michael's death, it was actually written 6 months after he passed away. On February 26th, I flew to Florida to meet with my parents and my brother, Mark, Michael's twin and Mark's family, as well as Mark's family and Michael's surviving daughter, Sydney.  Generous friends and family made it possible for me to buy a round-trip ticket so that I could be there with my family. As it is often said in situations like this, it was a surreal experience. My dad and I spent 5 days filtering through Michael's business paperwork and financial records. The funeral details were also prepared during this time: driving across town for the viewing of Michael's body, picking up his ashes, greeting Michael's ex-wife, Sydney's mom. The memorial service near Mark's place of residence was non-religious, but special. There were friends and business associates of Michael's as well as many friends o...

Michael Carter Patterson died of a heart attack in Ft. Pierce, Florida  on Friday, February 18, 2022 at the age of 49.  Read more about Michael's professional projects on Linked In .  A gathering will be held in south Florida (probably Boca Raton, FL) on Sunday, March 6.  The funeral will be held in Burlington, NC on March 19 at Holy Comforter Episcopal Church . More information soon.