Update on Serge and Evelein

Some of you may remember about Serge and his Dutch wife, Evelein. They have just sent out Newsletter No. 2.

They are settling in to life in Cuenca and finding the congregation supportive. Serge requests prayer for 22nd and 29th August when he is preaching.

Evelein is doing a TEFL course and hopes to be able to teach English in one of the local schools. She teaches a girl called Olga 2 hours a week. Remember her as English is not her first language.

Serge has a weekly visit to some R.C. priests. One in particular is very interested. He is hoping for an opportunity to give his testimony sometime soon.

The weekly visit to the Old People's Home continues with some good conversations.

The couple are planning a bi-monthly conference in the "Cultural Centre" (part of the local library) It holds 180 so it is an ambitious venture.

That ask for their daily needs to be supplied. They wonder about a cheap secondhand car to help them get out to the surrounding villages with the gospel.

EURO-TRIP 17 England!

Our ferry took us in to Plymouth and we planned to worship in Barnstaple on the Lord's Day. The congregation were having a lunch together and we were invited to join them. It was good to meet visitors from other congregations as well.

We enjoyed being with Pastor David Kay and his wife, too.

The journey home to Scotland was smooth and uneventful. We were so thankful to God that we were safely home after travelling 5,090 miles. We continue to pray for the people we met and trust that they will know the Lord's grace and mercy in their hearts and lives.

EURO-TRIP 16 Picos

The Picos of Europe are an amazing range of mountains rising to 2,648m at the highest peak. They are about 13 miles inland from the beautiful coast-line and are part of the Autonomous Communities of Asturias, Cantabria, and Castile and Leon. Some of the passes into them are extremely narrow and dramatic. We were only able to make a day trip to get an impression of what they are like.

Enjoying a last coffee before boarding the ferry at Santander!

EURO-TRIP 15: People

On our trip we struck up a conversation with different folk. At one of the lighthouses in Portugal we passed the time of day with a young man, who later, came by our van, looking for, it seemed to us, some conversation. He is French and his name is Alec. He is wandering arround Europe and confessed to be "lost". He asked questions about Jesus and what it meant to be a pastor. Bill had described himself as a pastor and Jesus as "the Good Shepherd" His English was fairly good and Bill gave him a copy of Rev. Douglas MacMillan's book on Psalm 23. May the Lord bless it to him.

You can see Bill making himself at home among some of the locals in a very poor village in Portugal. The allocated parking place was in the centre of the village, and nearby were families of, we think, gypsies. We felt for this village where there seemed no gospel presence or influence.

In Galicia, at one of our stops, a man parked next to us then passed at the back of our van carrying a case. A few minutes later we heard the sounds of the bag-pipes! You can see he and Bill got on like old friends. Indeed the people from Galicia, along with Asturias and Brittany in France are Celtic like we Scots and welcome any contact with people with the same roots as themselves.

We were very interested, some days later to visit a bag-pipe museum, and see exhibits of old instruments from many different parts of the world.

Inland from the coast there are old villages built of beautiful local stone, clinging to steep slopes. In a gift shop we were told about a Scottish lady, who lived in the area. We tracked her down and she turned out to be, not Scottish, but Peruvian. Her husband is from Newcastle. They lived near Carlisle for some years. Her brother attended the Free Church of Scotland school in Lima and she remembered one of the teachers - a John MacPherson who hails from Isobel's home village! They have now moved to this beautiful area and are building their own house in a village that has been unoccupied for some years. The local people were very sceptical about the project, but have warmed to the idea now they see the loving care that he is taking to use the traditional building material and methods of the area. What he is doing has encouraged other people who have had family living here in the past to think about doing the same. The roads linking these small villages are incredibly narrow and twisty.

EURO-TRIP 14: Mountains or Sea?

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding.
Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest?
Or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened?
Or who laid the corner stone thereof?
When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?....
Job 38:4-7

We loved being in the mountains - these were in the north of Portugal.

But the call of the sea is also strong! We looked at the map for a headland with a lighthouse (there is always a road to a lighthouse) and headed there. Look! That's us down there!!

There we are again! This is where Bill fell into a gorse bush while taking a photo of a small vivid blue flower. He got the picture but extricated himself from the bush with difficulty, and returned to the 'van with prickles all over him! What a good job he has a sense of humour! (The photo of the flower is lovely!)

This is a proper campsite in the north of Spain, near to the sea, where we enjoyed the friendliness of the staff.

The sea right across the road from our pleasant campsite.

EURO-TRIP 13: The lilies of the field

"... consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall He not more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat?
or, what shall we drink?
or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?.....

But, seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:28-33

It was interesting to see the different use made of the land as we drove through France, Spain and Portugal. In some parts it was cherry-picking time, and there were acres of cherry trees apparent.

Then in some areas the slopes and terraces were covered in vines. Olive trees also were cultivated in abundance.

The wild flowers were a delight, especially the poppies, which sometimes grew in large swathes.

Eventually we guessed what these were:- cork-oak trees which grow mostly towards the south. We passed people who were busy stripping the outer bark off and laying the strips in piles ready to be uplifted on to a lorry.

On more than one occasion we were entertained by flocks of goats, herded by their master and on one occasion their mistress.

We kept on seeing strange little "houses", always above ground level. Our imaginations ran away with us; were they for coffins?? Well mostly they are for drying the corn on the cob. But there are some very large ones that you can store clothes in as well. They are well-designed to keep out any marauding little animals!

EURO-TRIP 12: Road Blocks!!