EURO TRIP 9 A REFUGE AND STRENGTH

High in the mountains along the border between France and Spain are a line of fortresses, a reminder of days when relations between the Spanish and Portuguese were not as amicable as they are now. Europe has many hill-top forts. How wonderful that the Lord's people have for themselves a "mighty fortress" to shield them from every foe.

Where we crossed into Portugal was at such a fortress, called Marvao. It was a spectacular place and has been restored so beautifully and creatively. The town, too, was so picturesque. Come on up with us!!

God is our refuge and strength, a very present hep in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

though the waters thereof roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.
...Be still and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.....

Psalm 46

EURO 8

After Madrid we began to head East towards Portugal, though not taking the most direct way. Avila was a beautifully preserved wall city, en route.

We managed to find a parking space!

Then we headed for the Batuecas Mountains. The ascent was beautiful. The summit, (5,000') took our breath away. The descent took us a long time as we navigated carefully the hairpin bends and steep slopes.

Found another lovely view for our lunch time stop, beside an "embalse", a man-made lake.

At Caceres we saw some specially erected poles to encourage the storks to nest and breed as numbers have been declining. They love to nest on top of street lamp standards or on high chimneys. In the middle of a bustling town you can hear the "clappering" of their beaks.

From Caceres, it was an easy drive to the border with Portugal.

F

EURO-TRIP 7

Madrid was the general direction to aim for after Cuenca. One of the detours we took was to visit the excavated and restored site of the Roman city Segobriga. It is one of the best preserved examples of a Roman city.The building of it would have started when Jesus walked on earth.

One can see the theatre, amphitheatre, baths and so much more. It became prosperous through the mining of lapis especularis which was used for floors and windows throughout the empire.

We booked into a camp-site on the outskirts of Madrid. From there it was easy to take the metro into the centre of the city. Then we took the Tourist Bus to give us an idea of what it was like. We were very impressed by the buildings and lay-out. Below is the Plaza Major.

The congregation we wanted to worship with on the Lord's Day was in one of the suburbs, easily accessible by metro. There were about 40 people and lots of young children. We enjoyed a good sermon from the pastor, Jose de Segovia. In the evening the pastor was preaching elsewhere. 5 of us met and were led in a good Bible-study by the man in the picture. The taller of the 2 ladies is the pastor's wife.

EURO-TRIP 6 CUENCA

Cuenca has a beautiful position, built on a high spur, above the gorges cut by 2 rivers. The European Missionary Fellowship has been helping to support a Christian work here for some time.

Pastor Matthew Hill has been looking after a congregation in Cuenca for about 6 years, but is now moving to a new sphere of service, so the congregation have to look to the Lord for their future pastoral care.

They have a very well appointed building, perhaps on the small side at times, near the town centre. We were welcomed warmly, and were asked to bring greetings. They had a congregational lunch that day so we were able to chat and get to know them a little bit.

This is one of the Rumanians who worship there and we heard that in another church there are many Rumanian gypsies.

Here are Sergio and Evelein. He is Spanish and she is Dutch. They met while studying English in England and both did the EMF Bible Course in Welwyn. They have recently arrived in Cuenca and want to do what they can to help. They have just issued their first Prayer Letter. Some of their requests are listed below.

Remember Serge as he is included in the list of visiting preachers for the congregation after the departure of the Hill family; that he may gain from experience in this sphere.
Remember the contacts they make through street evangelism, visiting an Old People's Home, etc.
Their financial support: they are registered unemployed at the moment and are looking for temporary work.
The Cuenca congregation and the town itself.

EURO-TRIP 5

From Albi we had a longish run in order to be in Cuenca SE of Madrid for our next Lord's Day. We chose a route involving 2 high passes over the Pyrenees to cross into Spain. The scenery was spectacular and the wild flowers on the road verges were a joy to behold. Then the views changed from the high peaks to more open valleys. Spain surprised us with its diversity of landscape and flora.

This was a site that we paid for and enjoyed the use of the facilities. (near Graus)

One of our lunch stops!

Marella is an ancient hill-top fortress, built by the Muslims, perhaps used by the Romans before that, then used by the Roman Catholic Church, before being occupied by the army. It was restored some years ago.

This is the view from the provided Overnight Stop.

We ventured throught the ancient gate into Morella and climbed to the top!! On our way down we stopped for a coffee, and at the same time as we were being served there were some old people from a nearby old people's home, being assisted along the street by a nun and her helpers. Eventually there must have been about 20 of them. They were seated near us to get their refreshments. Bill, with his half-forgotten Spanish returning to him saw this as an opportunity, and went to speak to them. He shook hands with each of them in turn, said a few words about the Lord and sang, in Spanish, the words of Romans 5:8.

"..but God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"
The nun seemed happy that someone had taken such an interest in the old folks.

EURO-TRIP 4 ALBI(2)

Some more pictures from Albi taken by the real photographer in the family!

Liliane

A more up-to-date one of the Rosses and some of the congregation.

Philippe, Martine, Liliane and yours truly

EURO TRIP 3 ALBI

In Albi, France, there is a special lady called Liliane. She is half Scottish and half French, and she speaks both English and French equally well. She is also a trained and skilled translater and has been using this skill in the Lord's service. Recently, she has been translating into French the work of the converted Roman Catholic Priest, Richard Bennet of Berean Beacon. It was the desire of both herself and us that we would spend our 2nd weekend away in her home.

Liliane showed us so much kindness, even to putting the tray with mouth-watering cherries in our bedroom.

Tim Ross is an American Baptist Pastor who has been serving in Albi for some years and has already set up a group further to the North. He currently looks after the small group where Liliane attends. He is working on turning his garage into a meeting-place.

Liliane speaking to Phillipe and Martine in the "garage".

After the morning service lunch was kindly provided up stairs by Tim's wife, Valery. The couple with Liliane travel all the way from Toulouse to hear the Word of God preached. Above them are pictures of the Ross's 6 daughters taken as babies.

We had lots of fun with Phillipe and Martine who invited us for a meal. Bill is explaining the value of our £20.00 note.

Nous vous attendons, Philippe et Martine!

EURO-TRIP 2

Having crossed the Channel, we made a bee-line for Albi in the mid-south of France. We had 3 nights on the way, making use of "Aires" to make a stop-over. These are free parking areas designated by many town councils on the continent specifically for campervans. Some of these are in scenic positions as in the Auverne, (see below) where the sounds of cuckoos and cattle-bells rang in our ears.

Having made an earlier trip underneath the Millau Viaduct when it was under construction we were keen to see it completed. It is the tallest bridge in the world, crossing the river Tarn, and part of an ambitious project to provide an autoroute from Paris to Montpelier, over very difficult terrain and high altitudes. The views along the autoroute are stunning.

Not far from this remarkable bridge is Albi. More of that soon!

EURO-TRIP 1

The Scotts from Scotland are home after travelling 5,090 miles (8,144 kilometres) plus ferry. We are very mindful of the Lord's great kindness to us in keeping us safe from harm all this time. We left at the end of May, being able to see our rhododendron in bloom. We returned to see lots of weeds in bloom!

The first leg of our journey, naturally took us through England, and we took the opportunity of catching up with a few friends. Jonathan and family were the first port of call. His progress continues to be remarkable. However, we forgot to take a photo.

After leaving Bolton, we went to see our friends Brian and Georgina near Ipswich. We were soon enjoying an English Afternoon Tea in an English garden! It was good to catch up with each other's news and then to worship with their congregation on the Lord's Day, hearing a good sermon from Rev. David Allan (TBS).

Instead of going directly to Dover we wanted to look up our Korean friend, Soonjo Hong and his family. Unfortunately he and the children were out but we enjoyed a short time of fellowship with his lovely wife. They used to attend our Edinburgh congregation and they miss the metrical psalms, so, as you see in the photo, the psalm-book was out and we sang, read, and prayed together.

We had time to visit Rev. John Harding once minister in Shettleston and now retired in Dover. He provided us with a lovely meal before we left to go and pass a peaceful night along the sea-front in Dover, all ready to catch the ferry to Callais in the morning.