First Christmas with Elena

Sure was great to be with family over the Holidays and celebrate our first Christmas with Elena. You are now the big attraction when we get together.Will look forward to you being a little more active!!

The Holiness of God & Madrid

I was talking with my daughter Melissa the other day, and she shared that she was reading The Holiness of God  by RC Sproul. I thought it would be fun to read along with her. In Chapter one, Sproul says ... "God's Kingdom will never come where His name is not considered holy. His will is not done on earth as it is in Heaven if His name is desecrated here... it is foolish to look for the kingdom anywhere where God is not revered." p 16. As I read those words the thought jumped out to me. "The church plant in Northern Madrid (the presence of His Kingdom here on earth) will not take place until those outside the kingdom in Madrid see the Holiness and awe of God". That is what I need to be praying for. What a blessing it is that we have the Bible that reveals God as he really is. Do you believe it is sufficient to reveal the true Holiness of God that the prophet Isaiah saw in Isaiah 6? I do, and God's Word alone has the power to do so. Will you pray for Madrid?

In chapter two of the book, Sproul writes about a repeated pattern in history. "God appears, people quake in terror, God forgives and heals, God sends. From brokenness to mission is the human pattern." p 40. I also liked Sproul's illustration of Humpty-Dumpty. God can and does put broken people back together again and send them on a mission.

Hey we are now Grandparents

We were thrilled to be in Hopewell, Virginia for the birth of our first grandchild. Elena Joy McMillan was born on November 30th, 2013. Congratulations to our son Ben and his wife Hannah.

IBM Gives Birth Again!!!

What a joy to be able to celebrate with the IBM church we started in Lecheria, Venezuela. This past Sunday, November 10th, they launched their second daughter church called IBM - El Morro. Wish we could have been there, but we know they are in good hands.

 First Service was held at the Mare Mares Resort

 Great friends - Helmut and Herminia Schatte

Lead elder for the church plant - Alejandro Molero

THE ART OF NEIGHBORING

While in NJ, our friends Steve and Mary gave us a copy of this book, remarking that it was similar to our approach to church planting in Spain. We have enjoyed reading it and sharing it with our friends in the USA. We are trying to give away as many copies as possible.  Christian BookDistributors has actually given it away as a free ebook.  It is also available on Amazon. The picture on the front cover represents your home and your closest 8 neighbors. Can you name the 8 neighbors that live around you? Great ideas on how to network in your neighborhood.

We recommend it and here is the Link for the trailer:  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAHjRH5YH-8

First Presbyterian Church, Schenectady New York.

 One of our supporting churches is First Presbyterian Church in Schenectady, New York. This church dates back to 1760. What a privilege it is to be partnering with a church that is over 250 years old. We are thankful for the 25 years of partnership with them and the opportunity to be part of their 2013 Missions Conference. 50 % of the churches budget goes towards missions.

 First Presbyterian Church - 1760

 Mohawk River

Historical Building near the church

 The site where Jonathan Edwards (the younger) is buried.

Deerfoot Lodge - Log Cabin building

Sharon and I had the opportunity to help out at the Deerfoot Lodge Fall Work Weekend, October 11-12. This was Peter's first overnight at Deerfoot since 1976. (Was on staff for 4 summers) Great time of fellowship and a learning experience as Peter got to help with the construction of a Log Cabin.

Sharon helped out in the kitchen while Peter was working on the cabin

Would you like to see how you build a log cabin? Check out this cool video at Deerfoot 

Peter's First Visit to Southeastern

One of the benefits of  staying with our son Ben in Hopewell, VA is that it is only a two hour drive over to Wake Forest. Today Peter was able to attend the first 9 Marks en Español @ Southeastern Seminary at Wake Forsest. He was able to meet many of the Spanish pastors who were attending as well as those leading the pannel discussion. Peter was able to coodinate with Wayne Anderson from Faro de Garcia to set up a book table. Great time of fellowship with Ryan Townsend, Juan Sanchez, and Edgar Pontes.

 

Juan Sanchez at Southeastern in Wake Forest, NC

27 Churches and 44 Families

We have started our road trips to visit our supporting churches and families. While we are in the USA we will try and visit as many of our partners as possible. Today we are in Perry, Florida. We are here in town to visit with Peter's aging parents as well as to speak Sunday at St John's Christian Fellowship. On this trip we will be gone for three weeks and may pass thru as many as 20 different states. So glad the weather is so nice.

We are glad for the opportunity to be with Peter's parents. Peter's dad has not been doing well and we are happy to be able to help out in anyway we can. Thanks for so many of you that have been praying for dad and mom. What a treat to be with them and also other family here in Perry. We also had the joy of traveling to Perry with our daughter Melissa. Reminded us of older times!

Sharon and Melissa with mom, dad and nephew MJ and his daughter Emma

Safely back in the USA

Today August 25th, we arrived safely back in the USA today. You can imagine how thrilled we were when US Air asked us if we would mind being bumped up to 1st Class. Wow what a treat and a nice trip back to the USA! Thanks Ben and Hannah for picking us up at the Richmond airport. We will be staying with Ben and Hannah when we are not traveling. We are looking forward to be near by when our first grandbaby comes along. We will miss our dear friends back in Madrid, but sure looking forward to see old friends and meeting new partners for ministry.

Two New Baptisms for CCEN

What a joy to be able to celebrate two baptism today. We are fortunate to have a local church that was willing to let us use their baptismal tank. Jael and Renato are two youth in our church. I have had the privilege of knowing Jael since our days back in Venezuela, where I baptized her sisters at the IBM Church. Renato came to Madrid from Peru to be with his mother. It is a great joy to witness their public profession of faith. Renato is looking forward to helping with our sound and music ministry at church.

 Renato and Peter

Church celebration after the service

Sing with the Ramon y Cajal Choir

Did you know that most of the hospitals in Spain have their own choir? I have been with the Ramon y Cajal choir now for almost a year. We have our practices on Thursday afternoon. We will practice at the hospital but most of our performances will be at a cathedral in Madrid. Our big performance this year was in June at the San Andres Cathedral in Madrid. Check out this video of our July Concert.

Cipriano de Valera 2013 & 9 Marks

Our First 9 Marks Conference in Spain

It was great to have Mark Dever in Spain for our first 9 Marks conference. Mark was invited to Spain to speak at Cipriano de Valera 2013. This is a conference for reformed minded pastors and lay leaders in Spain. We were able to share promote two of the 9 Marks books that Peter has been coordinating the translation and publication.Mark gave an overview of  the charertisitcs of an effective discipleship ministry in the local church. We have a sweet time of fellowship and discussion.  The two books that we promoted at the conference are available in pdf format the the 9 Marks web page. Check out La Disciplina en la Iglesia & La Membrecia de la Iglesia. 

After the conference Peter enjoyed travel with Mark and Jamie Owens to Toledo and down town Madrid.

Mark shares a word about the new book on Church Discipline

9 MARKS IN SPANISH

The new 9 Marks web page in Spanish and two new books from 9 Marks in were launched at The Gospel Coalition conference in Orlando, Florida. Over the past year and a half, Peter has been working with Patricio Ledesma and 9 Marks to coordinating the translation of the 9 Marks web page into Spanish. Javi Perez has done a great job in translating these two books into Spanish. Little by little a team is forming to get more of the books, articles and ejournals into Spanish. We are thankful that it worked out for Patricio to actually attend the conference and meet with the Spanish pastors that were in attendance. Here are the two books that were given to the Spanish pastors.

A Day in Valencia, Spain

It does happen often but when it does we are thrilled to have family come for a visit. Peter's sister Miriam and her husband David won a Cruise in the Mediterranean. One of the stops was Valencia, Spain. We were able to enjoy the day with them and get a first time chance to visit the city.

 

February Learning Community in Oxford

There were 9 of us from TEAM Spain that attending the learning community in Oxford, England. The focus for this learning community was "Building a Discipling Culture".

It was refreshing to consider how Jesus would use "Invitation and Challenge" as he built His discipling culture. A new insight for us was that "Inviation and Challenge" should begin even at the -9 level of the Engel's Scale and continue on thru the whole discipleship process.

 

With our church planting parters Scott and Lorna

One of the high lights while we were in Oxford was to eat at the Pub "The Eagle and Child" where C S Lewis would hang out with his buddies. 

  

 The Corner where the four "Inkling" would sit.

January Church Retreat

We were able to get away as a church for our first ever church retreat. We even had 100% participation as everyone from our church plant attended the retreat.

 Sharon and Gustavo lead the times of Worship