Back in the USA

It's been months since I have posted on here! The last few months have been a time of soul-searching and decision making for us. We have had to make life changing decisions, some good and some heart wrenching. So, I just haven't been in the blogging mood. Here's an update of what's going on in our lives.

When we first came to Spain in January of 2007, we had raised all of our support for the year in cash. We did not rely on any monthly support. Which made it much easier to know how long our stay would be. The US dollar did weaken that year and we had to cut our stay short by 1 month, but all in all things went as planned. We returned to the states at the end of 2007 to raise our budget for the next year. But, because of bad economic times and other issues, it was more difficult to raise the amount we needed this time. So, when we returned to Spain we had part of our budget in cash and part in monthly commitments. As the months went by, due to bad economic times in the US, our monthly support shrank by over $700 per month. And with the weakened state of the US dollar the exchange rate was even worse than the year before. So, we were forced to make the decision to return to the States. We could have returned and traveled again to raise more money but, to be honest, that's just too difficult on the church in Vigo and on our 14 year old daughter. So, we found a good man to come and take over the church and came back to the States.



Bro. Luis was born in Ecuador and immigrated to Spain 9 years ago. He has started 2 churches in Spain and is thrilled to relocate to Vigo. The church in Vigo is now running about 42 people. They are happy to have Bro. Luis as their pastor but hated to see us go. Leaving was gut-wrenching! It was very difficult for all of us and for the church. But we know that they need a pastor that can stay and not have to leave for months at a time.

We arrived back in the States 1 month ago and are now living in Oregon. When we were traveling last year we fell in love with Oregon and made the decision that when we returned to the States we would move here. We are attending church in Oregon City and praying for God to give us direction. There are alot of Hispanics here but not many Spanish speaking, Apostolic churches. So, we are praying about starting a home missions work.

In the meantime we are trying to put our lives back together! We sold everything before going to Spain so when we got here all we had were our suitcases, some dishes and 3 air mattresses! We had a little money in savings and have since purchased a couch, 2 chairs, a dinette set and beds. Mostly used. But, we know that God will help us and little by little we will have what we need. Meghan is thrilled to be in a good youth group! Things like that are so important to a teenager! She is attending the Christian school at the church and is loving every minute. Seeing her huge smile every day when I pick her up after school and listening to her chatter happily about what happened that day makes me realize that we made the right choice.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers that God would give us direction and open doors. Tim and I are both seeking employment and desperately need God's hand on us! Tim is looking to sell insurance again so that if we do start a home missions work he will have a flexible schedule. I have applied at a few banks and have an interview in 2 weeks.

We have started on a new chapter in our lives and are very excited for the future!

The City of Vigo

A couple of days ago we drove up on a hillside and had a breathtaking view of the city of Vigo. I took a few pictures and thought that I would post them here. I had to shrink them down to get them to fit so they don't do it justice but you can still see what a beautiful city it is.





This picture was taken looking to the West. You can see the Atlantic Ocean. There are two islands, Islas Cies, at the mouth of the bay that are connected by a strip of beach.





This picture was taken looking North. You can see more of the ocean. Vigo is the largest fishing port in Europe.





This picture is a little more Northeast than the last one.

Here is a little more info about Vigo:

Vigo is the largest city in Galicia, Spain, in terms of population, located in the province of Pontevedra. Vigo also is the largest non-capital city in Spain.

According to the 2007 census, the population of the city of Vigo itself was 294,772; and the population of the entire metropolitan area was estimated to be 420,672. This makes Vigo the 14th-largest metropolitan area of Spain. The city is well known for its fishing industry, shipyards, food, cultural and night life, and football (soccer) team, Celta de Vigo.

¿A Donde Vas?

This was what I heard a Spaniard lady tell her husband this morning while waiting for the light to turn green at a crosswalk here in Vigo. Tim and I, in our never-ending battle to loose the extra “baggage” we carry around, were out on our morning walk. We came to one of the hundreds of crosswalks that are in this city and the walk light had just changed to the little red man. Which means, “Parar” or stop. A Spaniard couple was walking just behind us and when they came up to the crosswalk, she stopped and he took a couple more steps, like he was going to keep walking. She looked at him with a look that I have seen many wives give their husbands when he is about to do something she thinks is stupid, myself included, and in a very loud voice said, “A Donde Vas???” which being interpreted means, “Just where do think you’re going????” He stopped immediately and just kept staring ahead like nothing had happened. I had to laugh to myself as I thought, “some things are the same the world over”.

I have never really “fit in” in Spain. Being tall, blond-haired and blue-eyed in a sea of short, dark-haired, dark-eyed people kind of makes you stand out. Meghan and I are constantly stared at but we have grown accustomed to it, for the most part. Another thing is when people hear us speaking English they will literally stop what they are doing and just look at us. It’s so funny! We have been walking down the street and been talking and all of the sudden, somebody that was walking in front of us that hadn’t seen us but could hear us, will just stop dead in their tracks and turn around and watch us as we walk on past them. This has happened more than once. Another time, right after we got back this year, Meghan and I were walking into a little market down the street from where we live. As we walked in we were chatting to each other in English. There was an older man kneeling on the floor at the front of the store, putting price stickers on cans of tuna. When he heard us speaking to each other in English he stopped what he was doing and gave us this harsh look. Then he said something that I couldn’t quite understand until the very last part, which was “necesita habla Espanol”. Which means, “you need to speak Spanish”. We haven’t been back to that store!

So, needless to say, I often feel like an “extranjera” or foreigner. But then I hear some Spaniard wife tell her husband “A Donde Vas” and I feel right at home!

Urgent Prayer Needed for Timo Simoneaux, MK to Africa

Timothy (Timo) Simoneaux, a missionary kid from Africa, has bacterial meningitis. He is being medivaced to Johannesburg. Here is an excerpt from his aunt's blog:

I've just hung up with Vicki again they are still @ the hospital. The Doctor was concerned that there was not a CT Scan of Timo's brain. Of course that technology is not available at the hospital he is at in Malawi. The cranial pressure is increasing which has caused some of the delays this morning. Vicki said to ask each of you to pray the following specifically: "No air bubbles on the brain, if so in flight the pressure elvates and the bubbles will get big and his condition will deteriorate rapidly." The Joburg team feels Timothy's condition is critical and feel like it is worse than they were expecting. Vicki and Tremayne feel very confident with thm. ALL tests will be repeated or etc upon arrival to the Garden City Hospital in Joburg.Tremanye will arrive in Joburg @ 3 pm. Carol Simoneaux, Tremayne's Mom, will arrive in Joburg from Botswanna @ 5 pm. Missionary David Flowers will transport each of them to the hospital.The flight should be a 1 hr 40 minute flight from Malawi to Joburg. Vicki is going to text me upon landing in Joburg.

You can find more updates at:http://www.tsmithconroe.blogspot.com/

Upon reading this please stop and say a prayer for Timo and his family and continue to pray throughout the day.

Happenings

Things have been really busy the last few weeks! So here's an update.

We were finally able to buy a car this month. A huge thank you to Bro. James Carney, pastor of Woodlawn Church in Columbia, MS and Bro. Herrington in Louisiana for donating the money for a car! It makes all the difference in the world! This will also enable us to go to A Coruna where there is a family that has been baptized in Jesus Name but has no church.


We have been having Monday night services in the apartment of a couple from Peru. Last Monday night we had 18 people.


We have a Wednesday night service in the home of a Romanian family. They have several friends that come to be in the service. We had 28 there last Wednesday night.


So we are having services on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday with a different group each service. We have a few that go to all of the services. When added together we are working with over 45 people! We really need to find a place to rent that we can call our church! That way we can all meet together and have freedom to worship and pray. We are praying that God opens the door for us to be able to find a place and to provide the finances. I really believe that if we had a church where we could all meet together and be able to have worship, prayer, music and preaching, we would have huge growth! Please help us pray.

26th Wedding Anniversary

Thursday, July 3rd, will be mine and Tim's 26th wedding anniversary! It's hard to believe that we've been married that long....but, on the other hand, It seems like we've been together forever.



Tim was my very first boyfriend. We started dating when I was 15 years old and have been together ever since. When we married I had just turned 17 and he was 6 weeks away from his 19th birthday. We had to have my mother's permission to marry and even then we had to appear before a judge to be granted permission. The judge told us that he was going to give us permission but that he wanted us to know that 97% of teenage marriages fail. It was pretty tough going too, at first, because we were sinners. My father had been killed 2 months before our wedding and I was devastated. I spent the first year of our marriage in deep turmoil and depression.

After we had been married a little over a year, we decided that we needed God in our lives and that we needed to be baptized in Jesus Name in order to make our marriage work. So we started searching for a church that taught what we were looking for and found the church in Madera, pastored by Clifford Clark. Our first service was the week before the church was starting a revival with evangelist Larry Booker. We attended the revival, got baptized in the wonderful name of Jesus, received the gift of the Holy Ghost and have never looked back.

God has been so good to us and kept His hand on our lives and I am so thankful to Him! I love him with all my heart and pray that he never gives up on me.

Tim has been the best husband and father that I have ever known. I am privileged to be his wife and our children are blessed to have him as their father! I have never known a man so dedicated to having a christian spirit and trying to do the will of God. He has wisdom beyond his years and I trust him completely. My prayer is that the next 26 years are as blessed as the first 26 years!

Back in Spain

Well, sister Lori Domingues has inspired me to try blogging. She sent me a link to her's and I was so impressed that I thought that I'd like to give it a try. I would like to keep this updated with info about what we are doing in Spain this year. Anyway, that's the plan! So, here goes!

We left California on May 20th and landed in Madrid, Spain on May 21st. Leaving my boys was difficult, but not as hard as last year. Don't get me wrong, it wrenched my stomach the night that we said goodbye. But, seeing that they are happy and settled in a great church made it much easier this time. It was easier for Meghan too. Last year she cried, literally, the whole flight to Europe! Tears just ran down her cheeks the whole time. But this time she was actually looking forward to seeing her friends and getting back to Vigo. I guess that knowing where we going to live and what we were going to be doing this time made a huge difference.

We landed in Madrid at 8:00am but couldn't leave for Vigo until 2:30pm because we had brought our dog, Sasha, with us. It's MUCH easier for a person to come to Spain than it is for a dog, for some reason! We just walked through customs, handed them our passports and after they stamped them, walked on through the doors. Bienvenidos a Espana!!!! But for Sasha it took HOURS!!!! I won't bore you with the details. When we finally drove off for Vigo, which was a 6 hour drive away, we were exhausted! We stopped 3 times to rest and finally made into the city at 9:30pm. We got hamburgers at McDonald's, checked into the hotel and finally slept!

It took 3 weeks to find an apartment. Things are so much more expensive this year and with the exchange rate it's even worse. Then, once we got moved in, the owner came to us and told us that the building that we are living in has a "no pets" rule! He doesn't mind us having a dog but the lady under us was throwing a fit. So, now we have to send Sasha back to the states to live with the boys. Meghan is crushed and I must admit that I am also heartbroken. I know, she's just a dog! But for some reason we are very attached to her! She's so human-like. She flies back to the states next Tuesday.


Our church is doing good. We started the church in June of 2007. Then we had to leave in November to go back to the states to raise our funding, which took 6 months this time! But, everybody is thrilled that we are back and services are going well. We had our first baptism last Sunday in the ocean. It was great! We went to the beach after our Sunday service and it was a warm day so there were alot of people there! Needless to say, we attracted alot of attention! I have posted a few pictures on my page if anyone's interested.

Well, that's all for now. I will try to keep this updated. Thanks for checking things out!!!!