Holidays in Spain

This year we spent the holidays in Spain and had a great time sharing the holidays with our African friends. For thanksgiving we had a thanksgiving luncheon for the ladies class; complete with turkey pieces, (it is hard to find a whole turkey in Spain) dressing balls, mashed potatoes, corn, rolls, gravy, pumpkin cake, and fudge.

For Christmas, we enjoyed having a Christmas luncheon with Ndeye and her family. They said it was “afella lol.” (Sereer for “very good.”) We also enjoyed giving out veggies, rice, and fudge to many of our African friends for a Christmas gift that they could really use – well, maybe not the fudge.

Here in Spain they also celebrate “Three Kings Day.” This is the day that the Spanish folks give out most of their gifts. It celebrates Jesus’ birth and when the three wise men gave gifts to him. The night before Three Kings Day there is a parade in each town. Before the parade this year we had friends over to eat some good ‘ole tex-mex tacos and then we all went to the parade together. As we were watching the horses and floats with the three kings go by, I realized that our group of friends was made up of folks from all around the world; America, Britain, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Brazil, Spain, Russia, and Chile. After the parade we went out for the local favorite – tapas, a little Spanish snack.

The day after Three Kings Day we had a three kings party for the African children. We served a cake made with fudge frosting. Megan, Cade, and Dylan acted out the Christmas story while our pastor read it from the Bible. They dressed up as Mary, Joseph, shepherds, angels, and the three kings. Mihaela did a craft with the children and then we had a big toy exchange where each child was able to choose several toys to take home.

The holidays are a great opportunity for us to talk with our friends about our beliefs because many of them do not celebrate Christmas. We have spent many Muslim holidays with them, so this is a natural way for us to tell them about our holidays and what we believe about God coming to be with his people.

Now that the holidays are over, things are getting back to normal. Please pray with us that even though the holidays are through, our African friends will continue to be open to understanding about Emmanuel, God with us.

December Update

Camping in the hills of southern Spain

This summer we had the opportunity to attend the Spanish Baptist Children’s camp in southern Spain. It was a great experience; sleeping in tents or cabins with bunk beds, worshipping together outdoors, swimming, seeing wild hogs and other animals in the hills. It was a great opportunity to be at a church camp where half of the children came from un-churched homes. One evening our pastor asked me to talk with the group about how I first became “friends with Christ” as a child at a church camp in the states. Please pray for the children who come from un-churched homes; that they will continue to have opportunities to hear the gospel.

Babies, Babies, Babies!

This summer we have had lots of new babies arriving in Roquetas. Ndeye’s daughter, Fatu, traveled from Tenerife, to bring her new baby daughter to see her grandmother. The baby’s name is Ndeye! Beatrice had a beautiful baby boy named Michele. Maimouna had twin babies and named them Adam and Awa. Rougi now has a new baby girl named Maimouna. Umi’s baby should be arriving soon. We have had a great time delivering beds, strollers, food, milk, diapers, and baby clothes. We have been able to attend two baby naming ceremonies, where the daddy whispers the baby’s name into his/her ear on the 8^th day after their birth and then they shave the baby’s head. Then for the rest of the day the women cook African food, which we all enjoy eating together. The most fun has been holding these precious little ones! Please pray for baby Ndeye; that her hips will grow correctly, so that she will not have to continue wearing a brace and that she will be able to walk correctly in the years to come.

A Little Bit of Heaven

One of our greatest joys in our work over the years has been having the opportunity to experience a little bit of what we believe heaven will be like in worshipping with people from different cultures in different languages. In San Francisco, we worshipped with the Church of the Nations Christmas service in which the Bible was read in 10 different languages. In Marseille, France we attended a choir concert where choirs worshipped together from Romania, Madagascar, Philippines, and Isreal. In Roquetas we attend the immigrant prayer meetings where folks from Africa, Spain, Romania, North and South America worship and pray together. During our August and September kids club, we sang “God is so Good” in English, Spanish, French, Romanian, Mandinka, Wolof, and Sereer! The kids also enjoyed eating cinnamon toast for the first time.

Daniel 7:14a: “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him.”

Please pray for us as we work with people from many different countries and languages that they might see Jesus in us.

Backpacks and Birthday parties!

In August we gave backpacks to the children of families from our ladies class that meets every Friday. We filled the backpacks with pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, folders, crayons, glue, sharpeners, markers, colored pencils, and a few other school supplies. After we gave out the back packs we had a birthday party for Sidou. We had a cake and sang happy birthday and then gave her a gift with clothes and a small toy. Sidou is ten years old. When she opened her gift her face was glowing with the smile and she gave us a big hug and said thank you many times. On the way home I was talking to Megan and saying that I thought the best part of the day was Sidou’s face when she opened her present. Megan said, “Mommy she had to ask me how to open it.” Sidou had never received a wrapped gift before, yet she is a happy child because she is well fed and has clothes to wear each day to attend school. We learn many things about contentment from our precious African friends. Please pray for the children in our community, that they would take advantage of the many opportunities that they are given and not be drawn in by negative peer pressure.

Association of Sereer in Spain

Years ago I served in Senegal with the Sereer people group. I lived in a small village called Fissel and learned the language and customs of this people group. I grew to love the people. I was sad to leave Senegal and hoped that someday soon I would be able to work with the Sereer people again. Several years later when we arrived in southern Spain to work with African immigrants, I was so excited and a bit surprised to meet Sereer people living in Roquetas. Now, once again, I am greeting folks in the Sereer language and enjoying their customs of baby naming ceremonies, African wrestling, and lots of fellowship together while eating poulet yassa, thieb o gin, mafe, and drinking attaya. Recently, Joel and I were able to join the Sereer Association here in southern Spain. After we officially joined this group of Sereer people, one of their officials said to us, “You are now a part of the Sereer family for always.”

Please pray for our Sereer family.

To read an inspirational story about the recent earthquake in Lorca, Spain, please click on “Thoughts Along the Way.”

Thank you for your continued support through prayer and giving.

Blessings,

Joel, Tiffne, Megan, Cade, & Dylan.

We're back!

We have not updated our blog in “forever” because the banana boat has been in the water and on the move again. We spent 6 months in Texas for our off field assignment (used to be known as furlough.) We enjoyed being back in the states. We enjoyed Mexican food, and chocolate chip cookies! We enjoyed seeing our families for the holidays for the first time in several years. We also enjoyed riding horses, going to the rodeo and riding wave runners! Also during the summer we had the opportunity to do the missions camp in Lueders, TX. This is the same camp where Tiffne went as a child and asked Jesus into her heart – so it was a real joy to get to be at this camp as the camp missionaries.

We enjoyed visiting churches and talking about the work that God is doing around the world to reach the people who have not heard about him. We visited our church in San Francisco, California. It was so great to be back in this really cool city and to reconnect with our good friends there. We had the opportunity to visit the homeless soup kitchen. Megan, Cade, and Dylan helped prepare the silver ware and napkins while Tiffne stirred the huge pot of soup. Every year 19^th Ave. Baptist Church has a “church of the nations” picnic where each of the different language congregations get together to share food and fun. It is such a great experience to try foods from China, Vietnam, Mongolia, and Japan, along with hamburgers and hotdogs. This year the biggest attraction was the Mongolian wrestling!! Wow!

After off field assignment, the banana boat headed back to Spain! And we hit the ground running. Our church in Almeria, Spain did a great job ministering to the African immigrants in our absence and their work continues… be sure to click on “Thoughts Along the Way” to read about Norma’s story and ministry.

Orange Hands

One Sunday this month was the Senegalese festival of Touba. It is a Muslim religious festival. We went over to Ndeye’s house that morning to help with the cooking. The ladies were making cheb o gin, rice with fish. I peeled so many carrots that my hands turned orange. Then later when we were eating this delicious dish, I ate with my hand, just like all of the Senegalese women around me, and again my hands were orange from the yummy sauce. Then the ladies began cooking the next dish in huge pots over the fire in Ndeye’s garage. It was an amazing day, helping them cook, taking the huge dishes of food to the festival, listening to the men sing, visiting with the women while we cooked, speaking to folks in 6 different languages. I just know the greetings in most of them, but I enjoy seeing their faces light up when they are greeted in their home language.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I recently read a book about a missionary who took “pineapple chutney” and the gospel to Japan. This gave me the idea – for my favorite thing – to “bring” chocolate chip cookies and the gospel to our friends here in Spain. So we have served chocolate chip cookies at “ladies class” and “kids’ club” as well as shared them with Ndeye and her family. It is fun to tell our immigrant friends from Africa of the customs that we have in America in my family. When my family gets together we almost always have chocolate chip cookies as a part of the celebration. So we have enjoyed sharing that with our friends here in Southern Spain who are also away from their families. In the past I have had to have chocolate chips mailed to me because they didn’t have them here in Spain – but just recently I found some – that are very similar to the ones we use in Texas – not exactly the same but they will do in a pinch. The flour here is also a little different – so sometimes I use my flour that I brought from the states. The girls from kid’s club and the women from “ladies class” want to learn how to make “chocolate chip cookies” from America. J

The Pancake Gang

Recently we had a great team come from Blue Springs, MO. God did amazing things through this team. One door that God blasted open was the door to Megan, Cade, and Dylan’s school. We have wanted to do something in their school for 4 years and God opened the door for us to serve American pancakes while this team was in Spain. We served pancakes to about 250 students; including entertainment, with “the pancake song,” flipping pancakes across the room and catching them on a plate! This team helped fit the ladies from the “ladies class” and a few others with reading glasses. They also provided hair cuts and manicures for the “ladies in waiting.” We also shared the gospel and gave out MP3 players in Romanian. During “ladies class” and “kids club” the ladies taught each group how to make American chocolate chip cookies, with chocolate chips and flour from the states. The children at “kids club” also enjoyed the Easter story, along with Easter crafts, dying Easter eggs, and an Easter egg hunt. This team also had the opportunity to assist Segunda in paying a house tax. Segunda also prayed and asked Jesus into her heart during this time.

Banana Boat Prayer Requests

· Please continue to pray that the people who received glasses will have open eyes and hearts to the truth of a personal God.

· Pray for the ladies from the ladies class who received glasses and heard the gospel. Pray for Beatrice and her husband as we hope to begin discipleship with them.

· Please pray for the “ladies in waiting” who heard the gospel and who received the Bible in Romanian on MP3 players. Pray that they would want to have a personal relationship with Jesus. Pray for Laura, Victoria, and Miheala. Pray for Janette as she returns to Romania; that she might find a different type of work. Pray for Maria who is interested in Bible study. Pray for Miheala (from our church) who will lead a Bible study.

· Please pray for the children who heard the Easter story at kids club. Pray that they would understand about a living Savior.

· Pray for the young men in Mojonera. Pray for Nguy that he would understand more about who Jesus really is and how to know him personally. Pray for Ruben as he visits the guys in Mojonera.

· Please continue to pray for Ndeye and her family. Pray for her younger son. Pray that the Holy Spirit would call her to a personal relationship with God.

· Thank you for praying for Segunda: she prayed to receive Christ as her Savior! Please continue to pray for her as we follow up with discipleship.

Celebrating Woman’s Day with the Senegalese

We attended a Woman’s Day celebration at the Senegalese Association in Yegua Verda, Spain. Yegua Verde is a small town in the middle of many green houses about ten minutes from where we live. Yegua Verde means “green mare,” and there is a statue of the green mare made out of metal parts in the middle of the round about in the town. We went to the Senegalese Association’s center to deliver some clothes and attend the Woman’s Day celebration. We enjoyed eating delicious poulet yassa, a spicy African dish made with chicken and onions. This time it was served on tiny pasta instead of rice. Nernah Todop! (Wolof for “very good.”) We also enjoyed listening to the introductions, especially the one from a funny lady from Senegal. She was thanking the Spanish lady officials for coming. She said, “Thank you for coming.” And a few other pleasantries, and then she said, “We need work! We have homes we are renting and children we are feeding, and we need work!” Everyone laughed, but they also knew the seriousness behind her words. Then she danced and other ladies joined in to dance the Senegalese type of dance.

Maria’s Journey

Several years ago Maria came from her home country of Romania to southern Spain. She was looking for work and a better way of life. While in Spain she had a beautiful baby girl and named her Rosa Maria. We met Maria through our “ladies in waiting” ministry. Now she and her baby girl and her husband are traveling back to Romania and then on to Germany to again look for work and a better way of life. Please pray for Maria and her husband as they look for work in Germany. Pray that the Lord will lead them to another line of work and to a personal relationship with Jesus.

The Women’s Class

Norma is from Ecuador and is a member of our Spanish church in Almeria. Every Friday she takes the bus from Almeria to “mi casa” in Roquetas to teach a women’s class. She is teaching ladies from Senegal, the Gambia, Mali, and Mauritania to read, write, speak Spanish, and sew. Norma also loves to talk with her new friends about many things including what she calls “the Word of the Lord.” We are thankful for Norman and her great ministry to these ladies from Africa. Please pray for the women’s class as they meet on Friday mornings.

International Easter Egg Hunt

The Saturday before Easter we had an Easter party with our kids club at “mi casa.” We started with baking a cake in the shape of a bunny and the children decorated the cake with frosting, candy, and sprinkles. The children learned the American traditions of dying Easter eggs and an Easter egg hunt. The children loved the Easter egg hunt – once they got the hang of it. Our friend, Michiela, from Romania helped the children paint wooden Easter eggs based on a tradition from Romania. Then our pastor talked with the children about different Easter customs in Spain and asked the children about the religious experiences from their home countries, then went on to tell the Easter story which some of them were hearing for the first time. Please continue to pray for our Spanish Baptist Church as they continue to reach out to these children from Africa.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!

We were about ready to kill Clara, the sheep, to feed her to our African friends, but as we took a close look at her, I said, “I think she might be pregnant.” So we waited and in about a week we had a beautiful brown lamb, named Clarita. So we decided to kill Randa instead. So today Joel and John came over to Malle’s house early in the morning to kill and cut up the sheep. After the guys chopped it all up in the kitchen we delivered meat to four different African households. Now we are having a bar-b-que at the first house. We are cooking the meat out on a grill near the sheep pen, while the children are picking grass and flowers from the pasture to feed to the sheep in the pen: an interesting African day. Cade just walked by and said, “I want to eat some sheep!”

Banana Boat Prayer Update:

• Please continue to pray for Segunda and her 5 children ages 7,6,4,2, and 4 months. They are from Guinea Bissau.
• Please pray for Christians in the country south of us that are being persecuted. Please pray for the orphans who have been again left without caretakers whom they know and love.
• Thank you for praying for Maria. She is in Germany and is finding work there. Please continue to pray that God would lead her to a better line of work and to a personal relationship with Him.
• Please pray for the African young men in our area as they look for work. Also pray for John as he spends time with them and seeks to be the presence of Christ in their lives. Pray that these young men might begin to understand about a personal relationship with God.
• Please pray for us as we begin to prepare for our time of off-field assignment in the United States. Pray for our Spanish church and other folks who will be carrying on with the ministries while we are not here. Pray that God would use them in a special way and that He would encourage them in this ministry to African immigrants in southern Spain. Please continue to pray for our children’s education adjustments as they study in the states and then return to school in Spain.
• Please pray for Anna. She will be coming to Spain at the end of May to work with us through CBF’s student.go program. She will be working with the African churches to help them begin some children’s ministries. She will also be visiting the African young ladies. Please pray for her as she seeks to be the presence of Christ in their lives

Prayer Request

Please pray for us as we begin the process to enroll the boys in school here in Spain. We are hoping that they will be able to start kindergarden here next year (and not be put into first grade.) Please pray for the administrators here in Spain as we speak with them about placing the boys in school. We are also hoping that Megan and the boys can go to the school that Megan has been attending. Please pray that God's will will be done.

Malle had a little lamb...

Malle had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow

And everywhere that Malle went the lamb was sure to go.

The sheep ministry is growing. Soon after the guys set up the new secure sheep pen, we bought a couple new sheep. Then just a few weeks later, Malle, our friend from Senegal who takes care of the sheep (I guess that makes him the shepherd) called to say that one of the sheep had given birth to a little lamb. What a cutie! We learned how to dock the tail, to take good care of our sheep. A few weeks later, our friend from Mauritania who sells the sheep called to say that he had another sheep with a baby. So off we went in the “veggie vehicle” to buy them. The children named the mother, Gordita, (“little fatty” in Spanish) and the lamb, Amossa, (“beautiful” in Sereer.) Later when we docked the tail of the new lamb, Megan said that she was not Amossa, she was feisty! I think I might be a bit feisty too if someone was cutting off my tail!

Soon we will be ready to kill one of the flock to feed the men in Malle’s house and two other families from Africa. We are thankful for this culturally relevant way to help our friends from Africa. In Africa, anytime there is a celebration, whether a wedding, baby naming ceremony, or religious festival, the host family kills a sheep and provides food for many people who come to visit their home. Thus, providing sheep for African families here in southern Spain, offers them the chance to remember a custom from their own country.

Meet John – the African Amigo

John Williamson is from Manchester, Ga. He will be serving with us for at least three months in Spain through the student.go program with CBF. He will be working with the sheep ministry as well as other agricultural ministries. He will be spending time with many of the immigrant young men here in southern Spain. Please pray for him as he builds relationships with our friends and seeks to be the presence of Christ as well as an “amigo” to many who are looking for friendship in a foreign country where they feel very alone.

Banana Boat Prayer Update

• Please pray for Segunda and her new baby Immaculada who was born a few weeks early and spent some time in the hospital in Almeria. Please pray for the other children and adults who are a part of this family.
• Please pray for Aaron and Anta as he looks for a new job to provide for his family. Anta is expecting a new baby and they would like to move to an apartment of their own. Right now they are sharing an apartment with another family with three children.
• Please pray for us as we travel to team meeting.
• Please continue to pray for the distribution and updating of the scripture on the MP3 players. We will be beginning to update the players with the Easter story. Please pray that those who listen to this story will begin to understand about a living Savior.
• Please pray for Greg who will begin language school in Madrid.
• Please pray for the new ministries starting at “mi casa.” Our Spanish church in Almeria has started a kids’ club and will start classes for women in sewing, cooking, and Spanish.

The following prayer requests will be in the CBF annual prayer calendar…

Psalms 2:8

“Ask of me and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.

Psalms 22:27

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him,”

Please pray with us for the nations.

We, Joel and Tiffne Whitley, serve among immigrants in southern Spain. Many people from Africa, eastern European countries and South American countries migrate to Spain in order to provide for their families, or to flee from bad circumstances in their own countries. Please pray that we, along with churches and other Christians, will continue to meet the needs of the nations along their spiritual and perilous migratory journey.

Faith by Hearing

Please pray that as field personnel, Joel and Tiffne Whitley, along with other Christians talk with immigrants from Africa about their faith in a personal God, and as these immigrants listen to scripture passages on MP3 players donated by FBC, Blue Springs, MO; that faith will come by hearing, and that these immigrants who often come from countries that are closed to the Gospel might understand for the first time about a God who is loving, concerned about them personally, and has a plan for their salvation.

Romans 10:17-18

Thank you for your prayers, for giving to our projects, and for supporting the CBF Global Missions’ “Offering for Global Missions.” Here are some of the ministries that you are supporting with your prayers and giving…

Kilos of Care project…

-Purchasing kilos of rice, kilos of potatoes, kilos of onions,

sheep, and chickens to give to hungry families.

“mi casa es tu casa” project…

-Hosting a Thanksgiving meal for an African Sereer family.

-Hosting a Christmas meal for an African Wolof family.

-Hosting the immigrant pastors’ meeting.

-Hosting a reception for Spanish church members after the

immigrant churches’ joint prayer meeting.

-Hosting a training and cultural learning meal for Spanish

church members.

-Conducting a monthly “kids club” at “mi casa.”

Migration Crisis and Relief project…

-Veggie vehicle upkeep and repairs.

-Picking up and delivering vegetables.

-Delivering clothes.

-Purchasing and delivering blankets.

-Purchasing and delivering baby supplies.

-Providing funding for immigrants to make phone calls to

families in Africa.

-Providing funding for immigrant’s residence and work

permits.

-Funding to start up sheep micro enterprise.

We appreciate you for reaching out around the world through your prayers!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from the Whitleys in southern Spain!

During this holiday season we are so thankful for your support through prayers and giving to our projects and the CBF Offering for Global Missions. Your support makes it possible for the stories below to take place. We appreciate your ministry to immigrants and the most neglected here in Spain.

A Sereer Thanksgiving: Afella Lol!

This year for Thanksgiving we invited a Sereer family to “mi casa” for a traditional Thanksgiving celebration. It is hard to find whole turkeys here in Spain, so we had turkey legs, and turkey breast slices, along with mashed potatoes, corn, bread, green bean casserole made with fried onions from the states, dressing balls made with spices from the states, apple cobbler, and banana bread. We enjoyed sharing this American traditional meal and celebration with our friends from Senegal; and hearing in their language, Sereer, that it was afella lol!

The Sheep Saga Continues…

Recently we bought and delivered the supplies for the more secure sheep pen to Malle and the guys from Senegal. They soon had the new improved pen up and ready to go; so we found the small warehouse/barn where the man from Mauritania sells the sheep and we bought Clara and Randa. We loaded them in the “veggie vehicle” along with a bale of hay on the top and took them to their new home. The children scattered fresh hay on the floor of the pen to make a cozy home for our new sheep. This reminded me of the hay in the manger where Jesus was born that was used to make his bed and keep him warm and cozy.

The Gift of Christmas: Emmanuel; God with us…

This year we will be delivering Christmas gifts to many of the immigrants from Africa. We will be delivering blankets, vegetables, pasta, and rice from the kilos of care project. We will also be giving MP3 players donated by First Baptist Church, Blue Springs, Mo. The MP3 player will have the story of Jesus’ birth from the gospels loaded onto it in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, or Wolof. Please pray with us for each of the immigrants that will be receiving this gift; that they will begin to understand about Emmanuel; God with us.

Ladies in Waiting

The International Cluster of CBF has been focusing some of their efforts to help stop human trafficking. Many of the people that are hurt by human trafficking find themselves trapped in a life of prostitution. In hopes to help in a small way to alleviate the problem of human trafficking, we are reaching out to a few prostitutes in our area in Roquetas and Almeria, Spain. We hope to give them a MP3 player with the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke.

Please pray for us as we begin this new ministry to “ladies in waiting.”

Celebrating the Holidays

We attended a joint prayer service with the immigrant churches in Roquetas. It was awesome to worship and pray in English and Spanish with people from Spain, Germany, Romania, Argentina, America, Ghana, and Nigeria. Joel was asked to speak about reaching out to Muslims in our area, then the entire group prayed for missionaries who minister to Muslims and we prayed for our Muslim neighbors. Please pray that each Christian living here in Roquetas and Almeria will be sensitive to their neighbors and will look for opportunities to share the gospel with them. Also, please pray for Emmanuel, a Christian man from Nigeria, who is going to be working with Joel to reach out to the Muslim men in our neighborhoods.

During the month of December we will be doing a presentation in our church, Iglesia Evangelica Bautista, in Almeria. They have voted officially to take part in the ministry to African immigrants in Roquetas, and they have asked us to give a presentation about ministry that they can provide for these immigrants and how they can reach out to the lost in their area. On the day of our presentation, Megan is also going to announce to the church that she has asked Jesus into her heart to be her Savior. She is planning to be baptized this summer/fall when we are in Texas. Please pray for us as we give the presentation in Spanish and pray for Megan as she grows in her faith in the Lord.

Megan, Cade and Dylan will be doing two Christmas programs this year. The will do one in our church in Almeria in Spanish, and then they will do one in the Nigerian church in Roquetas in English. Megan will wear a shepherd girl’s costume and the boys will dress as two of the three kings. These are all very popular costumes in Spain during Christmas and Three King’s Day celebrations. Joel will also be speaking and our family will lead in singing a Christmas hymn as well. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas with churches from Spain and Africa in both Spanish and English.