I Love Corella

This summer I lived in Logroño and taught at an English day camp in villages mostly in the south of Navarra. We taught at a different village every week. It was a demanding job, but overall it was a great experience. I feel more confident than ever as a teacher.

Every village was unique in its own way, but our last one, Corella, will always have a special place in my heart for two reasons. First, I probably had the best relationship with my students that week because they were my oldest, most mature group. They even gave me and Jenna "I love Corella" t-shirts. The students were disappointed when I told them I can't go to Corella's festival on September 23 because I'll be in Germany that weekend, but I promised to wear my Corella t-shirt in Germany. The second thing that struck me is Corella's bike friendliness. The number of bike lanes is astounding for a village so small. Unlike Pamplona, all of them are painted on the street rather than squeezed on the sidewalks. The school's halls were adorned with posters promoting cycling around every corner. I definitely want to ride down there some time and actually use those spacious bike lanes.

Now I´m back in Pamplona. I don´t start my conversation classes until next Monday so I have almost nothing to do for the next week. I´m going to try to make the most of my "vacation" first and foremost by putting some quality time into studying Spanish. I thought there was no way I could pass the DELE this year, but I figured that if I study consistently for two months, I might have a shot. If the Spanish government continues the program for full time visiting teachers from the United States and Canada next year, a DELE C1 certificate would make my application far more competitive. I think that my level is already good enough, but the certificate would really prove it.

It May or May Not Be the End of the World as We Know It but I Feel Blessed!

Seeing the people, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:3

Monday being a holiday in Spain, I had three whole days this past weekend to read, pray, reflect, and very briefly describe my experience over the past year and this summer.

I had two short-term paid internships this past school year- as an English TA at a high school/middle school and teaching (really more listening and correcting) English conversation classes at a language school for government employees. I learned a ton about Spanish people and culture in both places.

This summer I’m working at summer day camps in villages all over Navarre. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know a different group of students every week- most of them, anyway. I’ve finally gained the confidence to apply for a full time teaching job in Spain if the visiting teacher program is extended for the 2012-2013 school year (though I really need to buckle down and improve my Spanish enough to survive an interview). I moved to Logroño for this job.´It´s a nice town. The coffee is certainly better here, but I´m definitely looking forward to moving back to Pamplona.

Another highlight of the summer was the Into the Wilderness retreat in the Italian Alps. Anthony Testa taught on foundational principles in Christian living that week through climbing, hiking, whitewater rafting, and other activities. I’d heard several similar teachings before, but never quite like these. The one on fear really got me. I’ve been afraid to tell anyone that I plan to stay in Spain a few more years because I don’t know what curve balls the government will throw next. But I’ve finally been able to let go of that fear of being disappointed. After all, I have a visa for at least one more year.

As a foreigner in a country with a 21% unemployment rate, God has blessed me immensely with my two pseudo-jobs. Now that I know what to expect, next year I can more effectively balance my schedule so I can spend more time on the university campus we're committed to serving.

I’m really looking forward to getting back into ministry in Pamplona because I think we as Christians have a unique opportunity- actually, more of a duty and privilege- to be a light especially now as the world goes nuts (again) -the indignados still at it in Madrid, deadly riots in London, and political crises in the United States and Europe with the possibility of another financial crisis.

John Piper wrote that it is important to “develop a wartime mentality and lifestyle.” I agree wholeheartedly, but nowadays I see this “wartime mentality” channeling itself primarily into civil wars- it saddened me when I read that Sojourners and the Family Research Council, two Christian political organizations with opposing viewpoints are running competing television ads, very much like secular political campaigns. Over the last few years, it seemed that the church was learning from its mistakes and refocusing. Books that like UnChristian and Jesus for President that challenged the status quo were really encouraging to me. But now it turns out that there is nothing new under the sun.On the other hand, once in a while a Christ follower makes such an impact that even a prominent non-believing columnist cannot resist praising him, though he usually stops short of trusting in and following Jesus himself.

I’ve focused much more on reading than writing lately (just started Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, good book so far). These gloomy reminders of the sorry state of the world are what brought me back to this blog. We have a spiritual crisis on our hands for sure. We always have one in a fallen world. I also firmly believe that the intellectual crisis inside and outside the church which I wrote about last year is dragging us down. Christians, myself included, are clearly not immune from the divisions that Bill Bishop describes so well in his book The Big Sort. I know that keeping an open mind is a constant struggle for me.

The world has always been burning, and I'm not excited about the especially intense recent reminders, but I am excited to see what God will do through it. I think that God will teach me and many others very much through it. I look forward to sharing what I learn and the joy of another year of ministry in Pamplona. Stay tuned.

Oh, and I email an update letter every two or three months so if you're interested in getting that, let me know.