Sharon's Visa is Granted

On the 10^th we received word from the Spanish consulate in Washington, DC that Sharon’s visa had been granted and was ready to pick up. We are glad that Sharon was able to travel to Spain originally on a tourist visa. This allowed us to find an apartment, pick out and buy all the furniture, house hold appliances and set up our home while we waited on her visa to be granted. We have also had time to build relations with our church planting team as well as get to know those who are now part of our church plant. Sharon left for the USA on 16^th and returned on the 24^th. She was able to send time with family and meet with the work team that will be arriving on March 5^th. While she was in the states most of the furniture that we had order arrived. The last of it arriving on the 26^th. Sharon now joins Peter in the ordeal of more paper work and waiting to secure our national identity cards.(NIE) We need these cards so the we can: buy a car, get car insurance in our name, have a cell phone in our name, facilitate the banking process, etc. Peter is currently waiting on an appointment to have his finger prints documented. Once that is completed he should have his NIE in 45 days.

On March 5^th a team will arrive from Alethiea Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia. They will be working with us to help establish ties here in our target area as well as helping with a cultural center in downtown Madrid. Another focus will be college students. We have meet with Susana and Raquel who are the leaders in Madrid for evangelistic outreach to college students. We want to serve them in their ministries on campus. We were encouraged with their focus on working with a local churches.

This past Saturday we had our first couples dinner at a local restaurant in Las Tablas. One of the local restaurants that is closed on the weekends did a super job in hosting the event. Those who came had a great time. It was a small group this time but a positive and encouraging evening for all who attended.

We have checked into a numbers of ways that we can get involved and meet people in our community. The community association has their next meeting on the 10^th of March. There is also a community choir and opportunities to assist the elderly people. It is still pretty cold so there are not many out and about. We have looked at a number of locals that we could rent as a site to teach English and to facilitate church activities. So far we have not found one in our price range. Pray with us that if this is the right time we will find a place at a price we can afford.

We continue to work on our team building activities. We are grateful to our Supervisor Jay Sensenig and his wife Carol for hosting us this past weekend. Karen Ginter with World TEAM, assited us with the Myers Briggs Type Indicator test.