During the weekend of June 20th, Grace invited Joanna and I on a church retreat to the mountains of Málaga - to a village called "Villa del Rosario."
It was quite an adventure getting there. Joanna and I knew the bus to get on, which we took for a while. We knew the village we needed to stop at was very small and that we needed to pay attention to road signs for when to hop off. Little did we know that there wasn't a bus stop in Villa del Rosario! The bus pulled off on the side of the street, and I quickly jumped up and asked the bus driver if this was the stop. He said something very quickly in Spanish that sounded like this was it, so we got off and started walking to what we thought was the center of the village. After walking around the corner, and quickly realizing we were completely lost, we thought the best idea would be to walk back toward where the bus dropped us off. We then found a gas station, and as we were walking...I prayed God would provide us with some form of a miracle. We didn't have a cell phone, but we had phone numbers of people we could call, but at the time that had not come across my mind. When walking into the gas station, Joanna reminded me that my journal had a list of names of people from the church and their numbers. I shouted for joy! The next feat was to figure out how to use the pay phone...but as I was doing so, a man walked by. I asked him for some help, and then he offered to let me use his cell phone while he made his purchase. What a kind man! I made my phone call - got a hold of Grace and told her where we were - and then thanked the man numerous times for his generosity. Funny thing was that he spoke English and knew Villo del Rosario like the back of his hand! He gave us directions to walk just in case, and also gave us his cell phone number if we needed help. He even offered us a ride because he was going right by our destination, but I figured it would be best to wait for Grace.
10 minutes later....Grace came! She took us to a beautiful retreat center in the mountains, with a pool, basketball court, hiking trails, and kitchen.
Our rooms were right behind the flowers in the white building. But I never went in them - we slept outside on the basketball court with tons of wool blankets and pillows!
The retreat for the church is a time to get away from the city and spend some time getting to know each other better. It was evident that this church is closely-knitted - young and old, American, Chinese, German, or Spanish - which for me was a vivid example of the diverse body of Christ. We spent time listening to sermons, singing, praying, swimming in the pool, reading, relaxing, sleeping under the stars......
Joanna and I decided to go hiking - which was glorious. That will be a vivid memory for sure, climbing up the rocks and listening to the echoes of drum beats, guitar, and singing from below through the rolling hills. Just one of those moments to soak up, to be thankful, to breathe, and to remember how great God is! He created that beautiful moment to remember his peaceful, comforting, loving character.
To give you a better idea of what this church is like, here is a picture of the entry way. It looks like any other store front, tucked in on a corner next to the Parque de García Lorca. Some days we stay and talk for an hour or so and then go out to eat - all of the jovenes (the younger crowd...). Today, a few of us extranjeras (American foreigners :)) ) went to the park and sat in the shade to chat and relax. Sunday mornings have been a great way to relax, be encouraged, and fellowship with others.
This is Grace and I on her last Sunday in Granada (someone is being funny and holding up an ironing board...not sure why exactly!). She's now in Argentina with her family. Her city lacks a lot of hope - a lot of Jesus. It's hard for her to be home, but there is a reason behind it. If you think of it, lift her up in prayer! She is a lighthouse, and I am confident that she will do amazing things where she's at. I miss her like crazy. I hope someday to visit her or to see her again sometime. It's not too often you become such close friends with someone in a month's time.
Angie y Natalia, two girls from the church who I came to know fairly well. Angie is from Germany and will be returning to Granada after her time home during the next couple of months. She's insanely brilliant, and can speak 5 languages nearly fluently! Natalia is from the Netherlands and has a sincere heart and a passion for dancing - her newest dig is break dancing, which I saw her do with the rest of her friends one day near the river. It was pretty sweet! She's also on the step and hiphop dance teams for the church.
Eating out at the chinese restaurant (I didn't take any pictures of the whole group, just a few of them creating a tower with anything within hand's reach!)
