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.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
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.
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.
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.
Friday, February 13, 2009
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?
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?
Friday, January 23, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
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
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
Friday, January 2, 2009
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!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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!
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