The end is near : (

Sadly there is only two more days of camp left. Despite the exhaustion every one has kept their energy levels high and camp has gone really smoothly. It has been really encouraging for me to see some of the girls in my group coming out of their shells this week and speaking more English with me. This makes it even harder to leave because I feel like I'm only just getting started with them and I wish that it could continue.

We had the awesome opportunity to go to a restaurant and see flamenco... It was incredible!!! Here are some pictures : )

ESPANA!!!

Cheering for Spain!!

End of the First Week of camp

Hola!

This is my first post and let me start off by saying I LOVE THIS TRIP!!!! I have never done anything so extroadinary. My host family is amazing; they do all they can to make sure that I am comfortable and that I am having a good time. My host "dad", Patricio, is a very intelligent and sweet man and I enjoy talking with him immensly. He speaks English well and has lived in the States for several years. I also live with his wife, Teresa, and his daughter Elena (6).

Camp is also very enjoyable. We just finished our first week where we "taveled" all over the world and next week is pirate themed, it should be lots of fun. I am on the crafts team with Lindsey and TJ, we have a great time. I love getting to know the other monitors here, who are from all over the U.S.. Everyone is very friendly and fun.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow when we get to go to Segovia with most of the monitors from camp and especailly Sunday when we get to be in Spain for the big game!!! : D It's so exciting!! Viva Espana!!

Thank you to all who made it possible for our team to be here. We are making an impact in lives of the families here at Tres Cantos; it's a beautiful thing. Please pray that over the weekend we get the necessary rest and peace for the remainder of our time here, that we remain focused on what is going on here and not be distracted by what may be going on at home and that God is working not only in our hearts but in the hearts of those here in Tres Cantos. Thanks!

Hope to write again soon : )

Losing my passport was a very unfortunate beginning to this trip. However, through the grace of God, I made it here safely and I am very thankful to be here! My host family is very nice and incredibly hospitable. Unfortunately no one really speaks any English, Esther (my host mom) speaks very little English, and I speak even less Spanish!! Despite the language barrier we are able to communicate enough to get by : )

I have a group of five girls during English camp and they are all very sweet. It is a tiny bit difficult to get them all to speak English but I am enjoying my time with them. I also help in Nancy's class room which has been really fun! All of the other workers are really great and I have loved meeting all of them.

Today we went to Segovia which was really fun. We saw a castle, a cathedral, the Roman Aquaducts, and a palace which has four impressive fountains. Unfortunately my camera ran out of batteries so I don't have a ton of pictures as of right now : (

Every day I have been pretty tired but I am looking forward to what the rest of the week has in store for me and every one else on the team!! Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon... In the mean time here are some pictures:

Inside the castle:



Vera Cruz Templar Church:


The Cathedral in Segovia:


One of my classroom groups and their jungle poster:


Carlota, Alicia, and I in Nancy's classroom:

Day 5 (third day of camp)

Today was the third day of camp. It has been almost the same everyday at camp, although yesterday was a little better since I had more sleep than the first day. The kids seem to like me although it is still difficult to communicate and when we do some activities I am able to get them to repeat some words or phrases. Tonight I am going out with my host family to watch Spain vs. Germany with some other host families. Please pray for my patience with the kids at camp, very often they don´t listen and do whatever they want to.

English Camp Day 1 & 2

Yesterday was our first day of English camp. I have a group of 5-7 year old girls for the two weeks. I will be with them during passport time, snacks, lunch, and song time. The other part of the time I am assisting with crafts. I am very excited about this and hope to the see children express some creativity with their work :) Michael has a group of 5-7 year old boys for the same activities and he helps out with Sport, which suits him perfectly. It was fun to see the children become more excited about camp and learning English as the day progressed. One of my little ones was very shy at the start of the day and seemed to not understand anything I was trying to say/ask but when the time came to say goodbye she was comfortable and was speaking some English. Though we enjoyed our day at camp, we were exhausted and a little hot :). After camp was over the monitors & service team (camp staff) went out for ice cream to celebrate Kendra’s birthday (and to cool off:)). I enjoyed being able to catch up to my other team members and see how their stay had been so far.
Carmen and Andrea were waiting for us when we arrived back home and the 5 of us headed to the pool. Yesterday I actually ventured into the pool; it was very refreshing after a long day of keeping up with the little ones. It has been a blessing to have access to a pool as the sun is up much longer over here.
Today was day two of camp and things are continuing to go well. I became very tired in the early afternoon and was not sure I was going to make it to the end of the day. Thankfully there was coffee in the teacher’s lounge to give me a boost for the rest of camp. This evening I was able to take a siesta and feel much better :)
Every day of camp we visit a different country. Yesterday the kids went to the United States where they learned about the Rocky Mountains, baseball, and animals found in the mountains. Today the kids learned about England. They learned about bugs, reptiles & soccer. We participate in group song in the morning and at the end of camp. We are having a lot of fun.
Please pray for the communication between myself and my group of girls. I know only a few Spanish words and most of my girls know a little English and it is difficult sometimes to answer questions or direct them where they need to go. Michael could use pray for energy in working with his group of boys. The boys don’t always want to participate in the activities and would rather be running around. You can also pray for the health of our team. It is very hot over here and none of the buildings we are in have air conditioning.
Below are some pictures of camp :)

Story time with Whitney

Whitney and I

Michael and I during Group Activity

My group of Girls

Craft Time

Part of the craft team

Song time in the morning

Ice Cream for Kendra's birthday

Day 3

Today was the first day of English camp! I got to meet my girls in my group and lucky for me they are all sweethearts. There are five girls all around nine or ten years old, and many of them have come to camp previous years. Today was America day at camp, so they were taught about the Rocky Mountains and leaned words like tree, fox, mountain, grass. I was in the classroom helping out Nancy with the teaching. We broke out into our groups for snack, lunch, and to fill out their booklets or "passports". The theme of the camp is travel so tomorrow will have a theme of another country. After camp we had ice cream for Kendra's 22nd birthday! Happy Birthday Kendra!!! I think I have become spoiled now because that ice cream was much better than any you can find in Sacramento area.
Later this evening my host family took me out to a beautiful part of Tres Cantos where they have a garden! We picked some ginormous, fresh Zucchini and some lettuce. We had dinner there with another family and talked until dark. What a day! I hope everything is going well back home. Tom all family and friends I love you!!!
Lauren

first day of english camp

we had our first day of english camp today, and it went really well. there are 125 kids there! we each have a small group that we hang out with and each lunch with. there are 3 boys in my group that are each 9 or 10, including miguel, my host family's son. thats all for now i guess, ill post more later!

First post 3rd day

Hey everyone this is first chance I gotten to get on the internet so its the third day already. Today was the first day of camp and it was a lot of fun and very looooooooong. I have a group of four 5-7 year olds and they speak very little english. It doesn´t help that I speak very little Spanish, but I do my best. The son of the family that I am staying with his name is Isaac he is 7 years old we jsut got back from swimming in the pool. I am helping with the crafts at camp and it isn´t very hard to do because its mostly hands-on and I don´t have to try and get the kids to understand me, instead I just show them what to do. Please pray for the camp to continue to go smoothly and for all of the leaders to have energy because the camp is long and tiring.
Thanks for all your support!
T.J.

Day 2

Today was a beautiful day. I woke up and played Sequence with Tomas but he beat me... His father, Mic, brought us all Churros from a Churriguera across the street. They were heavenly!!! Mic and Tomas also walked me to the church where I stayed and prepared for camp. I will be an assistant to the teachers in one of the classrooms. I will also have my own group of 4 or 5 girls that I will look after during camp for the next too weeks. I am very excited to get started and to meet all the kids. Everything seems to be going very smoothly so far and I pray that it continues. I have not gotten over the jet lag quite yet though. I almost dozed off in church this morning during the service but I looked around and I was happy to find I wasn't the only one. Please pray that the camp goes well tomorrow and that I have enough energy to control the little squeaks. Thank you for all your support and love!

Lauren

We have arrived safely in Spain. For several days, I will be staying with Klaus and Carmen. They are also hosting Mike and Lindsey Hemington, and last night they had TJ here, too. Yesterday we had lunch with our hosts and their teen daugter Andrea at around 4 in the afternoon. The timing of meals, along with many other daily activities is very different here. As soon as we were done eating, we walked downtown to watch the German soccer team win their match against Argentina. We went to a pub/restaurant to watch the match because it wasn't available to watch on tv. Then we came home, went swimming at the community pool, and walked downtown again. This time, we ordered tapas and drinks to enjoy while we watched Spain defeat Paraguay in soccer. Soccer is the favorite sport in Spain. Every time something went well for Spain, you could hear the cheers ring through the town, and if a call was made that the Spaniards didn't like you could hear the jeers. Even though I don't understand much about soccer or the World Cup, I have really enjoyed watching the matches.

Today we attended church at the Tres Cantos community center, followed by a prayer walk and some training. Tomorrow camp will start. Please pray that we will fulfill the different roles we have been assigned with excellence. Some of us are craft teachers, some of us are on the sports team, and some of us are on the teaching team. Please pray that we will have energy despite jet lag, and that we will be able to connect with the children at camp. The first day is critical as it sets the tone for the rest of camp. Pray that it goes smoothly. For me personally, please pray that my voice will return. Although most of my cold symptoms are gone, my voice has not returned. Also pray the same for Martha, as she is also recovering from a cold. We are the lead teachers for the English language portion of camp, and we need our voices.

Thank you for partnering with us through your prayer and support.
Gratefully,
Nancy

Our First Day

We arrived in Spain yesterday and spent time getting to know our host family. We experienced a lot on our first day. We rode bikes to the local grocery store and helped Andrea (one of the daughters) pick up some things for lunch. Our first lunch was wonderful; we had sushi, a salad, stuff mushrooms and some sort of quiche dish. After lunch we headed over to a Cafeteria where we watched Germany win their match. Carmen (the host mom) treated us to a Limon & Nada (lemon & nothing). When the game ended the Cafeteria quickly emptied out and it was just us. We left soon after and headed to the community pool. It was nice to lay out and relax in the shade.

After we finished up at the pool we headed back home and got ready to go out to another Cafeteria. We went to a place called Pantagruel where we watched Spain play. We also enjoyed some dinner and drinks.

I also experienced Spanish coffee for the first time. Carmen ordered it "American" for me but it was still quite strong compared to the coffee I am used to in the states.

We enjoyed our first day in Spain and look forward to all that we are going to experience during our time here.
Michael & Lindsey

Day 1

Today felt like three days clumped into one. The team and I got together around 3:30 am this morning, packed up, got coffee, and left for our flight. I was upset to find that Kendra was not joining us because she had lost her passport!!! I hear she has gotten a new one and will be arriving in Spain on Sunday! I'll let her fill you in on the details.
The flight went very smoothly and we arrived in Huston with time to spare. Unfortunately, when we got on the plane a thunder storm rolled in. We saw lighting hit the ground right outside our plane window! We didn't take off again for about an hour. Our next stop was Newark, New Jersey, and then a straight shot to Madrid. It was a long flight, but I was able to pass the time with some good movies, books, and friends.
When we arrived in Madrid we unloaded our things and my host family picked me up. The mother's name is Susana and she has two boys, Tomas, age 6, and David, age 9. There father is away on business and will not be around for the majority of my stay. They are the sweetest family and have made me feel at home here. I went for a swim with the boys and had a delicious lunch. They took me around Tres Cantos to show me around, and then went to watch the Spain v. Paraguay game. We watched it in a large gym with a big screen and screaming fans. Spain won! Everyone was honking, yelling, and running down the streets. So you see. it is not so much different here than little El Dorado Hills ;) Miss you all back at home very much! Keep me in your prayers. It's getting late, more tomorrow.
Lauren

Landed In Madrid

Hi Everyone. Wanted to catch you all up to speed on our trip so far. The flight over was more or less uneventful. We were stuck on the tarmac waiting to take off for about an hour in Houston as the front edge of Tropical Storm Alex made its way into the area. Fortunately we were able to take off because we were told that the airport was closed down shortly after we left. We arrived in Madrid at around 10:30 this morning (Saturday the 3rd) and were greeted by Tim Wendel and Tim Westegren. We were then taken to the Global Ventures Community Center where we spent 30 minutes unpacking and sorting all 12 of our checked suitcases and dividing up all of the supplies that we brought to Tres Cantos. By the time we finished sorting, all of our host families had come to get us and take us home.

I spent the rest of the day with Javier, Ana, Adrian and Javier Jr. A wonderful family in Tres Cantos. The whole family is learning English and is doing a great job. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other. We also had a lot of fun watching the Spain vs. Paraguay world cup match. Spain won and the fireworks began to go off and continued for an hour, accompanied by horn blowing, shouts and cars honking. It was pretty exciting.
I haven't heard from anyone else on the team yet, but we will all meet up again tomorrow for Church then an afternoon of training for English Camp.

Camp starts Monday, and we can't wait. Pray that Jet lag is gone by then. Until next Time.
Dillon.

When this trip was first announced in our church, I told Phil that this trip was the type of trip I would like to go on...someday. Of course I couldn't go now, we have kids at home that need me. He challenged me to go now. Through a series of conversations and much prayer, I realized I was telling God I would obey...later. On my timetable. Yikes! Once I realized this, I jumped in, and am now a part of Team Madrid.
I am being stretched to trust God in many ways. I am stepping out in faith, faith that He will watch over me and my family while I am gone,that He will protect me on the trip, and that He will equip me for this trip. I am looking very forward to developing friendships with my host families (I get to stay with two different families), the Alliance workers in Tres Cantos, and the children at English Camp. I am also excited to get to use my rusty Spanish.

Please pray the following for me:
I am an introvert, and being "on," both at camp and with my host family will be a stretch for me in terms of energy level. Please pray that I will have an abundance of energy.
My Spanish hasn't been used in quite a while. Please pray that it will come to me quickly and I will be able to converse easily.
I have a cold right now. Please pray that it will go away quickly and not hinder me on this trip. Please also pray that the colds three of my four kids have will go away, too, so they can be healthy for their adventures with Phil.
Please pray that my time in Spain will stretch and grow me in great ways.

Thank you,
Nancy Christiansen

Hello every one! We are getting down the wire here as we prepare to depart for Spain on Friday. We all hope that you will be able to check in with all of us from Team Madrid here on this blog. We will try and post updates semi-regularly so you know how we are. In case you have forgotten or never knew here is every one going on the trip:
Dillon Barber, Nancy Christiansen, Martha Falk, Whitney Martinez, Michael and Lindsey Hemington, Kendra Santoro, Mike Tripp, Lauren Magoffin and TJ Santoro.

We are very excited to be helping at an English camp and staying with different Spanish families. We leave Friday at 6:30 and return on Sunday, the 18th, at 11pm. While we are in Spain all of the different team members will be posting individual up dates to the best of their ability (it's going to be a busy 2 weeks), so keep an eye out for lots of different up dates!

Thank you all for keeping us in your prayers as we travel and we look forward to telling you all about our trip in person when we get home!