Tercera Semana: Friendship

Hola amigos!

This week we learned about la amistad (friendship) through the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus Calling His Disciples, The Last Supper, and the Golden Rule. My favorite part was probably when the kids played Human Bingo and had to go around asking questions to learn more about each other (age, school, favorite movie, color, food, etc.). It was during this activity that the older kids really helped out the younger ones to complete their Bingo card. I was glad to see that the kids were feeling more comfortable speaking and seemed to really enjoy sharing about themselves!

It was also really fun on the day when we read the story of Jesus Calling the Disciples, because we learned about jobs and occupations. We went around the circle and each person said, “When I grow up, I want to be ______.” Spain is going to have a few more dancers, singers, artists, cooks, architects, veterinarians (that was a hard word, haha), athletes, and teachers in the future. All English speaking of course!

After making friendship bracelets for each other, having a “last supper” together of grape juice and bread, and a good week of learning, I think we all have a better understanding of  friendship and how to love our neighbors.

I’ve also been making friends in Cartagena that I know I will be sad to leave. I have had some great conversations with people that have challenged my language abilities as well as my ability to defend my faith. In particular, I have one friend who claims to be an atheist. After talking to him more, I think he just has issues with his experience in the Catholic Church and the institution of religion. I was shocked to find out that he had never even heard of Martin Luther (different from Martin Luther King Jr.! J) or the Reformation. I thought he would have at least learned about it in a history class! But after talking to Loisys and Tony, they told me that in Spain the topic of the Reformation isn’t taught very well. It was interesting too because many of the troubles that my friend had were similar to Luther’s.

This experience really made me realize again how important it is to have missionaries here in Spain. I wasn’t expecting my friend to change immediately, but hopefully a seed was planted and God will make it grow.  

Now I will be beginning my last week of English classes that will conclude with a performance by the students and the Lutheran Divine Service. I’m praying we will have many interested people in attendance!