Summer Encounters with God.

I was 15 years old when I first went to Youth Camp. To say that I was totally unprepared for the experience would be an understatement. It seems that year the camp was desperately short of staff for Kids camp. They we’re so in need of staff that the DYD, we called them D-CAP back then for “District CA President” which was short for “District Christ Ambassador’s President”… yeah, DYD is much better, called his mother-in-law for anyone who might have a pulse and was a Christian to come help. A short time later I found myself on a Greyhound bus bound for Marianna Florida and the West Florida Camp Grounds.

After that amazing experience where I saw kids as young as nine years old being saved, filled with the Holy Spirit, and called into the ministry I was hooked on Youth Camp. Every summer afterward I would go and spend as many weeks as I could as a staffer at kid’s camp then a camper at teen camp. When I was old enough I would spend five weeks during the summer at camp as staff for both kids and youth camps.

It was at camp where God changed my life so amazingly. I was baptized in the Holy Spirit at youth Camp; I was called into the ministry at youth camp; and I was directed to Southeastern to prepare for the ministry at youth camp. Perhaps you or a member of your family had a summer encounter with God.

Unfortunately many of our Missionary Kids do not have an opportunity to have a those Summer Encounters with God. During the time they are on the field there is no youth camp, and when they are back in the states itinerating they are traveling many long miles with their parents to help raise their budget to go back to the field.

Anna and I are so excited that in July of 2010 we will be having the first ever Southern Europe MK camp! As you can imagine it can be quite a logistical challenge to coordinate a camp for the various countries where we have MKs. The cost of getting the kids to camp can be quite a challenge as well. However our Area Director has approved a special project account for us to be able to help our Missionary Kids with events such as camps, retreats and ministry trips.

Can you help a missionary Kid have a Summer Encounter with God with a onetime gift or a monthly pledge? Could your youth group or kids church “adopt” an MK and sponsor them for their Summer Encounter with God? Perhaps there are some people in your church willing to help. If so, you can donate through your church, please specify that you would like to help SEMK (Southern Europe Missionary Kids) Account # 2509156 (class 60) 9373. Or you can call Contributor services toll free at 1-877-840-4800. When you call be sure to give them that huge account number 2509156 (class 60) 9373.

Through your financial help and fervent prayers, we believe that this July 2010, many MK’s will have a Summer Encounter with God! Thank you!

Staying Connected

In an effort to communicate with our friends, family and ministry partners we have migrated our email newsletter management to Mail Chimp. If you would like to be sure that you continue to receive the our latest news and updates, or if you have an alternate email address you would like for it to go to, please complete the form below. Only your name and email are absolutely necessary, but the other information is helpful to Anna and I as well. If your email is already on our mailing list, when you submit the form it will result in an error stating that your email is already on the list. Rest assured that this information is only accessible to Anna and myself and we will not be sharing it with anyone. Thank you for taking the time to respond.

Here is the link http://europeyouth.us1.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=1bdc6cd2a8f99797bc49b369d&id=b604fd2ae6

Another Season of Transition

The last few months have been very busy. We recently completed another term of language school and the children are now finished with school for the summer. Thank you for your prayers for our Southern Europe retreat in Italy. It was a wonderful opportunity to meet our missionary kids and their families. In a short weekend the MK’s shared with us their desire to have camps, retreats and ministry opportunities.

We continue to form friendships with our neighbors. As we listen to their struggles we are able to show His love and pray with them. One evening while talking with my dear neighbor, she asked how a loving God could allow pain and suffering. She said she knew I would tell her the truth even if it was hard to accept. It was an amazing opportunity to go through scripture with her and allow the Spirit to reveal the truth.

We now enter another season of transition. Language learning will continue, but now we begin to organize and plan ministry for the upcoming months. There are many areas that need prayer. First, the school that our children attend, Evangelical Christian Academy (www.ecaspain.com), is in need of teachers. If you have a burden or know of someone who has a heart to work with missionary kids this is a great opportunity. Next, we need wisdom, creativity, and funds as we plan retreats, camps and missions trips for our MK’s. Finally, we believe that God has brought some amazing families in our lives that need Him. Pray with us that their hearts will continue to be open to receive the truth.
~Anna

The Mission Field Needs YOU

In Madrid there is a school for Missionary Kids called Evangelical Christian Academy (or ECA for Short). If you are a teacher and you love Missions and MK's ECA can use you! You wanted to know how God could use you on the Mission field right? Well here's how! Contact ECA through their web site http://www.ecaspain.com/eca/ or drop me an email for more information!

Sunday at the Police Station.

Today started out like any ordinary Sunday... running around at the last minute to find a kids lost shoe, ironing the shirt that's more wrinkled than Methuselah, and rushing out the door 5 minutes late. We've only been to this new church a few times so we use the GPS (affectionately named Tommy)to get there and back. (Being a country boy, I don't do Cities very well).

We get to the church, park and find a seat. The sermon was a Narrative delivered by an Argentine lady in the role of a little girl. It was well delivered, and I even understood it was about David and Goliath! When we left the church things got a bit more interesting. (You're wondering about the police station part aren't ya).

We got to the car only to discover that someone had smashed one of our windows and ransacked the car. The made of with Tommy, Josh's Nintendo SP and a bunch of games he just bought yesterday at a Rastrillo (think community yard sale), and my ipod recharger / play thru the radio thing. On a side note, when we leave stuff in the car it's well hidden, event the cables and mounts. But now we'll leave nothing in the car.

You know, Christians are awesome people, and our Missionaries are super awesome. I asked Mark Cannon what I should do. This dude, who is suffering from kidney stones by the way, asked help from two other christian brothers and the three of them escorted Anna and I to two police stations to file the report (turns out you have to go to a different type of police depending if your, mugged, robbed, etc.) In the mean time Ellen Cannon, Marks awesome wife, took the kids home and fed them Sunday lunch/dinner. When Emily Cannon (Mark and Ellen's beautiful daughter) found out that Josh had his SP stolen she gave him her SP... dudes, I almost cried. Then one of Josh's friend's, Stephen Jolly, came over and gave him a game!

So tomorrow we call the insurance and file the report and see what's covered, and then try to get the window fixed. But in spite of everything, God is in control.

Remember when I mentioned the clutch died on the car a week or so ago? That same day when it was repaired I met our neighbors. Today he came over and helped me with some stuff around the house and his kids played with ours and Anna and I visited with them for a few hours at house! God is opening all kinds of marvelous and wonderful doors. So a window got broke, so Tommy was kidnapped (GPS-napped?) and I'll get lost every time I look at Madrid, so what? God is at work, and he's opening some really cool doors.

Missonary Adventures (Part 4)

What does your intrepid missionary do when his STL vehicle is in the shop and cup cakes must be delivered to a classroom full of ravenous, foaming at the mouth, first grader, Missionary Kids? He improvises, overcomes, and adapts!

Here you see your missionary displaying his indomitable spirit as he shows of his custom made Cup Cake Delivery Device (CCDD) made from high quality material that was liberated from a nearby dumpster and attached with zip-ties. The only thing needed to complete the CCDD is a little duct-tape.

However the maiden run of the CCDD was postponed. Just as the CCDD was to roll into action, two of our AG Missionaries (Shawn and Deb Gaylen) drove in and rescued, I mean, picked up Anna to safely deliver her and the goodies to the famished MK’s.

But seriously… what did missionaries do before STL? We’ve done a lot of walking, & bike riding over the past few days. THANK YOU STL, youth pastors, pastors and Students for all you do!

God at the Panaderia

We rejoice over the opportunities for ministry that have opened in our little town. In October I ran out of bread as we were preparing to go on an outing to a castle. Tony & Josh went to our local bakery, but the bread wasn’t ready. Tony began to help the baker and talk with him while he waited. As he was preparing to leave a Spanish lady walked in and heard his Spanish and wanted to know how long he had been living in Spain and where he was from. She then asked if he would be interested in coming and possibly helping at the English school she recently opened. She soon called us and we scheduled a time to meet. The school was started so that children in the community could come and receive help with English grammar and conversation. Since January I have been teaching a small group of Spanish children age’s 11-13 English conversation two nights a week. Tony tutors teens one night a week. A wonderful friendship has been formed with the director of the school. My friend is a wife, mother of three children, successful professor and attorney. It would appear that she has a wonderful life. Recently she shared personal heartache her family has experienced. With tears in my eyes, I listened as she poured out her heart. She said I was different than her other friends and wanted to know if the Assembly of God has helped me. It was the perfect opportunity to share with her about Jesus. The hour was late but she looked at me and said, “Anna, I don’t think it was an accident that I met Tony in the Bakery that day, it was His plan that we meet.”

I stand in awe at how God orchestrates every step we take. We have recently moved and found that our friend lives around the corner. We are also building friendships with other Spanish families in the neighborhood. Please agree with us in prayer that the Spirit will continue to lead us and that we will continue to find favor with our neighbors.

Another reason why your prayers matter to us.

Because we are US citizens and we've registered with the US embassy here in Spain, we receive notices via email from time to time. Here is a portion of the latest one we received.

On February 8, the Spanish Supreme Court banned two Basque political parties, D3M and Askatasuna, from participating in the upcoming regional elections in March.
On the morning of February 9, a bomb, believed to be the work of the Basque Fatherland and Liberty (ETA) terrorist organization, exploded at the Campo de las Naciones in Madrid. There are also media reports of violence in the Basque region the night of 6 February when commuter trains and buses were set on fire.

ETA remains active in Spain, and further attacks are a possibility in the period leading up to the March 1 regional elections. ETA generally provides advance warning of its attacks and has historically avoided targeting foreigners, instead directing its attacks against the police, military, local politicians, and Spanish government targets, as well as attempting to disrupt transportation and daily life; however, foreigners have been killed or injured collaterally in ETA attacks despite advance warning. Two examples of this are the Barajas Airport bombing in December 2006, in which two Ecuadorian nationals were killed, and the bombing at the University of Navarre in October 2008, in which 17 students were injured, including one American student. In addition, bombs have been used as part of criminal extortion of businesses, particularly in the Basque region.

The risk of “being in the wrong place at the wrong time” in event of an ETA action is a concern for foreign visitors and tourists. U.S. citizens living or traveling to Spain should remain vigilant, exercise caution, monitor local developments, and avoid demonstrations and other potentially violent situations.

While this may not have even been reported back home, it kind of hits close to home for us. We live about 30 kilometers from where this took place, and we often go to Madrid for doctor's appointments, government appointments and the like. Thank you for your prayers. We know that they make a difference. We know that the Lord hears you and everything is in His hands. Your prayers literally make a difference in our lives and in the lives of other missionaries all over the world.

Missonary Adventures (Part 3)

Back to our story...

My first post ended like this.

"Since this appointment is what keeps us legally in Spain, as we were driving away from the police station I called our legal representative Silvia so that she can make another appointment for us.

As it turns out, God had some cool things planed (doesn't he always)..."

I explained the situation to Silvia she asked us, "Where are you now?
"About 2 kilometers from the police station on our way home." I replied.
"I'm at the police station now, come back and we can at least get the kids done." She said.

So we turned around and saw Silvia at the corner near the police station and we dropped off the kids. Unable to find a place to park after about 20 minuets I double park and we call Silvia to check on her and the kids.

"Tony, come back and bring Anna to the door. I talked to the people inside and she can sit inside in the heat and wait." Silvia informed us. So Anna, feeling a bit better told me to drive her to the station.

I drop off Anna at the station and Silvia and the kids were waiting for her by the door. Again I go off to find a parking place. I prayed, "Lord, I could really use a parking spot close to the police station. And the Lord provided it. It was a space about two inches wider than the car between a truck and a van. Since the mirrors on our STL car fold in, I was able to get in the parking spot, but it was difficult for me to get out of the car.

Twenty min. or so later Anna called and said, "Come get us." "What's the matter baby are you feeling sick again?", I asked. "No" she replied, "We're done!" "Done? How can you be done? There are over 300 people in line before you?", I asked. "Come get us and I'll tell you in the car."

So I squeezed the car out of it's tiny spot and in five min. I had Anna, the kids, and Silvia in the car and on our way out of Madrid. As I drove Anna filled me in on the rest of the details.

Apparently Silvia knows everyone at the police station and she just took their papers and walked to the front of the line. She took care of all the paper work and even finger printed Bekah when she was scared of the police (they had rubber gloves on and she thought they might try to do a blood draw).

The Lord is so wonderful. Had we missed the appointment it would have been 2-3 months before we could have gotten another one, and as missionaries it's important we get that National ID card with our residence number. God had everything in control. He had Silvia at the right place at the right time, and she was able to take care of everything. Isn't God cool?

Missonary Adventures (Part 2)

Well today I was supposed to tell ya everything else that's been going on but I must ask your indulgence for another day or so. Today we moved into our new house that has considerably less fungus :) It was quite an experience since we just had to dump stuff into boxes and suit cases.

We found out last night at 7:30 PM (Madrid Time) that we would be able to get the new house, this was fantastic news, since there was some doubt on this issue when we met with the landlord the night before. So today the movers came. A BIG shout out to the Madrid International Church Masters Commission Students who came out and lent us a hand and to our incredible MA Ashely. When she saw the all the mold in the house her response was, "You've been living in this!" (Ashley's a tough cookie, and if it grosses her out, it's pretty gross."

More later, we are dead tired, still a bit under the weather and desperate for a shower. If we can only find the box that has our clean "unmentionables" in it...

But it's all good. God is so wonderful to bless us with a clean, health place to live in.

Missonary Adventures (Part 1)

Oh, the glamorous live of a missionary! I say that tongue-in-cheek because some people think that a missionaries life is always full of adventure and excitement. While I can honestly say that our missionary journey is never dull, the exciting part is not often what some may imagine. Here's some of our recent journey...

For the past month I've had this cold that hasn't been getting any better, I finally went to the Doctor and found out I had a upper respiratory infection. He gave me some big gun antibiotics to knock it out and soon as I started feeling better, Anna gets the "fungus". I say "fungus" because we think the cause of our illnesses (cold/flu symptoms, muscle cramps, general "blah" feelings) is that our house is moldy. During a time of big rain the roof leaked and the ceiling got wet. Since then we have this mold farm growing in our bed room. All around the windows and in the corners of the room, it's pretty nasty and damp to boot.

We reported it to the landlord who had some guy come out and spray some smelly stuff on the roof. Weeks later, still mold, still damp, still sick. So we find that a house is becoming available in our area and we give our notice to vacate this house so we can move into the new house... more on this tomorrow.

Meanwhile, as part of our visa / residence process we have to get finger printed to get our national ID cards. This is done by appointment. You receive a letter in the mail telling you what day to come get it done. So you show up and wait in line with hundreds of other people some who have been waiting in line since 10:00 PM the night before! If your at the end of the line and they decide they are done for the day you have to reschedule your appointment for months later. So pretty much it's an all day affair.

Anna and the kids had their appointment on the 20th of this month. We get their at 9:30 (the place opens up at 9:00) and get in line behind 300 or so people. It's extremely cold and the line is moving slow when Anna gets dizzy and has to sit down. The only place to sit is in the muddy ground. She tosses down the blanket she was holding and plops down. She insists she's ok and so we stay in line occasionally moving closer and closer to the gate that lets us into the police compound.

We're about 50 yards from the gate when Anna finds a relatively clean piece of wood to sit on (about 2'x3")I turn around to talk to Bekah and when I turn back to Anna she's lying down on the wood. Our conversation went something like this...

Me - "Anna we need to get you home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "I can make it..."
Me - "Baby, your laying down on a tiny piece of wood in a sea of mud and filth, we need to go home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "I can make it..."
Me - "We are going home."
Anna - (in a feeble voice) "ok..."

We get her to a mostly clean piece of mud in the parking lot near where I can pull the car up to pick her up. The area is blocked off except for police vehicles and we are parked about 6-8 blocks away. Lizzy stays with Anna and I rush back to the car with Josh and Becka.

While I'm away the police keep coming up to Anna who is sprawled out on the pavement and they keep asking her (in Spanish) "Are you ok? Do we need to call an ambulance?" And Anna (in her Yoda Spanish) is telling them "Yes, Are you ok. My Husband go get car." (We are still learning past tense verbs and she was forgetting to conjugate her response).

I finally get to the car and head down the closed road when the police stop me and ask me what I'm doing. Please keep in mind we've only been in school for a short time and I think I said in my Tarzan Spanish, "Mi mujer esta infermo." Which means "My woman is sick" (In Spain that is the correct way to refer to ones wife). He let me pass and we get her in the car and start to head for home.

Since this appointment is what keeps us leagaly in Spain, as we were drving away from the police station I called our legal represntive Siliva so that she can make another apointment for us.

As it turns out, God had some cool things planed (doesn't he always)... Wanna know more? Stay tuned tomorrow!

Points to pray for:
Health
House
Language

It's still Christmas!

In Spain Christmas lasts a long time. It starts on December 22nd with the national Christmas lottery called El Gordo (The Fat) then there is Christmas and it all ends on January 6th which is El Dia de Los Reyes Magos or Three Kings Day. In Spain this is the traditional day that children receive gifts from the three kings. These guys are more popular than Papa Noel (Santa) but in recent years children are getting some gifts on both days.

It's different to see everyone flocking to the stores in droves to clean out the toy departments after December 31st. Every time we think it's safe to go to the store we get caught in the Christmas rush!

Happy New Year's Eve!

In Spain one custom at Midnight on New Year's Eve is to eat one grape at each sounding of the clock at midnight. The stores even sell little cups that hold 12 grapes each. So tonight the Gryskiewicz family will be practicing a new, New Year's eve tradition. How about you? What do you do on New Years Eve?

And now for something completely different...

A few day's ago I sent out or E-newsletter. We had a lot of "bounce backs". If you haven't received our news letter or if your email address has changed please let us know and we'll update our distribution list. Many times we can not share on our blog or Facebook what the Lord is doing due to sensitivity issues, but since we have more control over who gets our news letters we have more freedom to share what the Lord is doing.

Be Blesses and have a great new year!

Welcome Ashley!

A few weeks ago the most awesome MA (Missionary Associate) arrived in Spain! Ashley is from our home church in Panama City, Florida. We've known her since she was in Middle School and have had the privileged of being her youth pastors. Now we have the privileged of working with her in Southern Europe.

Ashley's official title is "Missionary Associate to the Youth of Southern Europe". In that capacity she will be helping us to pastor our MK's in Southern Europe as well as helping us plan and take care of all out AIM teams that will be coming in. In addition Ashly will be active in Children ministries in Southern Europe and will be the Children's pastor at IC: Madrid.

Once again, welcome Ashley!

If you are interested in the Missionary Associate program and in giving the Lord a year or two of your life feel free to contact us or check out the Missionary Associate web site.

Today we went on a little family adventure. Since we've been here we haven't had a moment to go and learn about and experience Spain. So today we went to the Manzanares el Real. One of the best preserved and restored castles in the Madrid area.

The construction of the castle began in the year 1475, at a time when Madrid had little more than 100 houses and about 300 citizens. The castle has a quadrangular plant with four towers on the corners. Three cylindrical towers and a larger one known as Torre del Homenaje (Homage Tower) with a squared layout. Each of the three cylindrical towers is crowned with smaller towers, and the "Homage Tower" is finished off with another smaller octagonal tower. The body of the castle has sides of 30 meters and the cylindrical towers have a diameter of 6.5 meters at the base. The central courtyard (called Patio de Armas) is surrounded by corridors with arcades as an example of the late Gothic style with Mudejar influence. Finally, the castle is surrounded by a barbican wall with a single entrance through a beautiful gate facing the west side and flanked by two solid towers. All the walls of the barbican have arrow loops in the shape of the cross of Jerusalem.

The castle of Manzanares el Real appears in the movie "El Cid" (1961) featuring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren.

(I'm not that smart, I looked up all that info online)

Every Day is an Adventure...

Every day is an adventure. Just going to the grocery store we learn something new! This time we found out that they have Spanish Chitlins!

That's Lamb intestines wrapped around two crosses sticks and fried. Dude, they are sticks! As in the kind you go out in your yard and get sticks.

I like to try new things, but I think I'll pass on this one for a bit...

Back to School

We had a few days off from school. Thursday and Friday were holidays. In Alcala where the school is located is the home of Miguel de Cervantes the author of Don Quixote. It is widely recognized as the first modern novel and is the second most translated book in the world (the Bible is the first). Anyway, Thursday was the celebration of Cervantes christening so the entire town was converted into 1500's Spain. There were booths with vendors with historic costumes and everything.

So today classes were back in session and boy did they hit us hard with the homework. Time to go back to work. My next assignment is to "Escribe que haces un dia normal". Please forgive me for not putting the stresses over the letters but my keyboard is having issues I need to resolve. Enjoy the pictures.

We Passed!

Anna and I passed our final in our language course Vuela 1 and graduated to Suena 1. I'm proud to say I was in the top seven of our class! I should probably point out that there were only seven students in our class...

Our new class has about 15 students from around the world, the class we just completed was tough but it, for the present, it puts us ahead of the curve. The classes are taught in Spanish and if you have a question it's answered in Spanish. They say immersion is good. It must be, becasue it seems that Spanish is sinking in to my dense skull.

The above picture was taken just before our "graduation" ceremony. In the center is Soraya our conversation teacher. To the left Shawn and Deb Gaylen missionaries to college students and on the right Anna and I.

Our Container Arrived!

Our container finally arrived! We had a lot of help unloading it from the Masters Commission at IC: Madrid, and a bunch of Spain Field Missionaries. A big thanks to Kevin Prevost, Jon & Bonnie Cooper, Shawn & Deb Galyen, Dana Santiago, Ellen Cannon, and Jacki Jenkins

Unloading went without a hitch. Our house is small, but we didn't realize how small until our stuff got here. Our queen size bed was too big to go up the stairs so we had to be a bit creative to get it in. In some photos you can see some of the kitchen items that we brought with us. Those items are very expensive or unavailable here in Spain.

Pirates of the Spanish Main!

So here is the saga of the our shipping container. It's a long and tragic tale, not for the faint of heart. Read on if you dare!!

We went with a company we will call Bob. Bob said the truck that we would load all our stuff (winter clothing, bed, etc. etc.) would arrive on Tuesday. On Monday I called Bob to confirm that the truck would be there on Tuesday. (We had asked a bunch of folks from our church to come and help us and all our utilities were going to be turned off on Wednesday morning.) Well, apparently Bob forgot to book the truck and was less than forth coming about that little detail. With a flurry of phone calls and lot of sweat and tears, a truck was booked for the Wednesday and the closing of the utilities postponed to the next day and all of our help graciously rescheduled to come the following day.

On Wednesday a truck did arrive as promised and our wonderful friends loaded the truck in less than an hour.

Fast forward to the end of August. Our container is shipped from the US and arrives in Spain on Sept. 4th. Our lawyer here in Spain begins to work on having it cleared from customs. Because it is a container full of personal items, there should be little paperwork and no import fees.

Apparently Bob booked the "worst company in Spain" (words from our attorney) to receive our container. We'll call this company "Stanley" Instead of writing "Personal effects" on the paperwork for customs Stanley puts "For Resale". Stanley realizes the mistake and crosses out "For Resale" and writes under it "Personal Effects". Guess what? Customs didn't buy it and hit us up for a TON of import tax.

Weeks of our attorney throwing paper at them ensue. Add to that a trip to the US Embassy and the Spanish immigration office in Madrid, several missed classes at language school and blizzard of paperwork from our offices in the US.

The final resolution was that we were given clearance from our freight fund from our home office to pay the ransom to have our possessions released. It should (Lord willing) get here tomorrow at 10:00.

During this process the Lord has taught us a lot about patience, and that there are indeed things we can live without. (Although I highly recommend a real bed instead of an air mattress on a hard wood floor.) Did this work out the way we had planed? Nope. But it didn't catch God by surprise. He is a God of grace who loves us and gives us the strength we need every day.

And now for something completely different.

A huge thanks to all of you who have responded with Bug Bite remedies. I've been using them! From Hydrocord-a-whatever-it-is to ammonia I've been using them! Apparently I'm alergic to what ever is biting me. I had a few new bites last night. One was on the Elbow. Now I have two elbows on my right arm. Thanks for all your tips and most importantly your prayers!

~Tony