• Arabic Bible Readings: I recently finished another Bible reading - Luke 12:49-53. It was not the easiest verse — How do you express things like this with video? That is my challenge…

Not Peace But Division
“I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

• MMC Website: I’ve been making regular updates to it, weekly, monthly, etc. depending on what it is that needs updating. Be sure to check out the Prayer section - current prayer requests are updated about twice a week, for Arabic ministry, Spanish ministry, and general MMC needs.
• I’ll be heading off to a meeting for the DVD project in about half an hour, so I’ll hopefully have some more info on that for next week’s update.
• Support Needs: Praise God that he has brought us encouragement in the form of new partners in ministry! Tim has received a few emails in the past week asking how to help with his school loans and how to send in a gift towards our moving and ministry expenses. This whole experience is just one huge trying of our faith - the faith that is something not seen, but hoped for. It is hard to be continuously confident in something that you cannot see: Messages, commitments, and partnerships like this give visibility to what we believe about God’s provision. Praise God for this encouragement… he knows what we need.

Faith is a lot like driving in a foreign country.

You follow the signs and hope you end up in the right place!

(Especially evident when driving in Torremolinos.)

• 16 new Arabic Bible Readings are now finished, put to tape, and ready to send to the broadcaster. They’ve already been regularly using the readings on the last tape we sent, and now there will be even more variety.
• I’m almost ready to post a new story on the MMC Website, just waiting for the corresponding testimony video to finish being subtitled; I’m hoping to get it on the web this week.
• Next week we are expecting to shoot a new promotional ad for the Arabic website, to use in the Sermon on the Mount programs.
• Tomorrow is an official MMC cleanup day! According to Dan, everyone will be helping clean out the storage area and shop room, so that should be interesting.

Regarding non-ministry related things…

I feel as if I might be coming down with yet another cold. This would make it the second in three weeks, so I’m really hoping I don’t get sick again. Also, I’ve been cleaning and sorting most things at home, so my stuff is sort of all over the place and not in any good order yet…but it’s better that I do this now, since I’ll be having a visitor in a few weeks!

The video editor part of me feels the same way about “editing to tape” as the graphic designer part of me feels about “printing.” I despise it.

Making something look good on a computer is fine, but the important part is when you actually put it down onto media for distribution: that is the part where all manner of things can go wrong, and even if they don’t, it is still usually a time-consuming and not very interesting process to get there!

But yes, it must be done. Remind me that this is the final step, the last thing I have to do before these programs are out of my hands and onto the airwaves, spreading scripture into North Africa and the Middle East.

I guess it’s really not so bad after all.

It came while I was walking around the outside of the house my apartment joins, in search of a crying cat I was sure I’d heard somewhere nearby. As I circled back to the front of the house, paced along the street in front of my entry gate, the realization hit me that I was at home here, not just comfortable with Spain and all that goes along with being in a foreign country, but I really was indeed at home, at peace. (With the exception, of course, of a rather annoying infestation of very small insects in my cupboard at the moment, for no apparent reason.)

Part of me wonders if this home will feel the same in four months with another person added to it, and all of the changes and adjustments that go along with the beginnings of a marriage.

Time will tell.