After spending four weeks teaching English/Vacation Bible School in Cartagena, I was feeling fairly confident about doing the same thing in Madrid. Little did I know that it would not be the same at all. My experience in Madrid was very different from Cartagena, yet it was still great and I still learned a lot about the people of Spain, myself, my own Christian faith and what it means to go make disciples of all nations. At times it is a very challenging task, but I suppose there is no verse where Jesus says it will be easy to live out our faith and share it with others.
The English classes followed the same basic schedule as what I used in Cartagena, but many times I had to adapt the activities to better meet the needs and abilities of the group of children that attended. There were about 7-9 kids each day, which was an adjustment after working with such a large group in Cartagena (where I had up to 16 kids each day)! But the Spanish tradition of disappearing to the beach or the mountains during the summer actually made it possible for me to give more attention to each student. Each one had more opportunities to talk and practice English, or to talk and ask questions about one of the Bible stories we were reading.
We met for one hour daily for four weeks to learn about the Christian values of loving our neighbor and our family, the love and faithfulness of God, and His creation of the world around us. After reading the Bible story of the day, I would introduce new English vocabulary to the students that connected to what we had just read. Then we would play various games or do activities to give the students opportunities to use the new words. Some of the things we did to practice was play musical chairs and Bingo, sing songs, play with balloons and toilet paper, and paint. The children seemed to have fun everyday and were able to develop a positive attitude toward learning another language and feel comfortable about speaking.
One of the students, who is six years old, was recently diagnosed as having ADHD. Because he was not diagnosed at an earlier age, his inability to concentrate in school negatively affected his learning and speech development and he now sees a speech pathologist as part of his treatment. Getting to interact with him during the classes and working with him in his home has given me the opportunity to understand what it will actually be like to work as a speech pathologist with children who are learning English as a second language. The visits to his house also allowed me to connect and have some great conversations with his mother on a variety of topics including speech pathology, schools, the history of the Catholic Church in Spain, baptism, forgiveness of sin, and pastries.
Once again, the more I talk with Spaniards about church and religion, the more I find that there is a common sense of apathy among the people toward the idea of religion and faith in Christ. Many will participate in certain rites and rituals for the sake of tradition, while at the same time realizing and acknowledging that a truly lasting change is not being made. However, when given the opportunity to think more about the Gospel and the sacraments and what they mean, the people tend to be curious and interested. The mother in particular expressed to me that she felt like what I was saying made sense and she thought there would be more Lutherans in Spain if the people knew about our beliefs.
In addition to the English classes with the children, I was also able to practice English with a group of adults at the community pool. Many people here speak English very well, but I was happy to give them an excuse to use it. It was also a good experience for me to get know the people more and talk with them. They were all very nice and one couple even invited us to share a meal of authentic paella made by a man from Valencia!
One passage I have come to understand better after being in Spain is Jesus’ conversation with the young rich man when he tells his disciples that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God” (Matt. 19:24). One of the challenges of working with the people here is that they have very rich lives. Yes, Spain is experiencing an economic crisis, but there are also many people who have jobs, growing families, and nice homes. The problem is that what some of them don’t have is faith in Christ. This results in a population of people who believe that they have attained every earthly thing in life on their own and that they have no need for Christ and the Gospel. Faith becomes something that is irrelevant and unnecessary in their lives. I suppose that is why Paul also tells us to rejoice in our sufferings, because often in times of suffering we are made more aware of our need for God and His redeeming grace.
Another main difference about Madrid was living with Pastor Gustavo Lavia and his family. This gave me the opportunity to attend multiple worship services, interact with various members of the church from all over Spain, and have some great, encouraging discussions with people from the Lutheran church at large. I’ve enjoyed every encounter I’ve had with the people here and have been able to meet some people who are very passionate about what they believe and about sharing what Christ has done for us. The Lutheran Church is working to define its identity and plans for the future in Spain and I believe it is an important mission field that God will continue to grow. I am thankful that God decided to send me here and that He was able to use my skills and abilities to connect with the people and help them. Spain will continue to be in my prayers and in God’s hands as He continues to work in spreading the news of His love to the people here and throughout the world.
Kate Elahi, 21/7/2011
