Being an intern in Betel of Britain

I took the clips for this video and finally got it edited and posted so that you all can enjoy it! It's just 15 minutes long, but it describes the different jobs I did and gives a taste of what my day-to-day life looked like there.

Enjoy!

(Just a note... it's cheesy...sorry...)

A Typical Saturday in Betel Madrid

Here is a video from my time in Betel. 

On Saturdays, we would pick up food donations for the week's groceries in the house, and then we had to bring them home and put them all away. So you can see the hustle and bustle and slightly crazy aspect of a typical Saturday afternoon. 

Enjoy!

Get a bride for the King

A parable on witnessing methods


Once upon a time, there was a great king. He was rich and lived in a beautiful castle. One day, he said to his servants, "I would like to get married. Go throughout the countryside and find me a wife."

The first servant went out and met a beautiful girl. "Would you like to get married?" he asked. "No," the girl replied. "I'm too young." The servant found another girl. "Would you like to get married?" "No," the girl replied. "I'm in love with someone else." The servant went to one girl after another, but no one was interested. They all had an excuse why they couldn't be bothered. Either they were in love with someone else, or were too busy, or didn't want all the duties that came with living in the castle, or some other excuse. "I give up," the servant said. "It's useless to try to obey the master's command."

The second servant went out and met the first girl. "Would you like to be rich?" he asked. "Oh yes," the girl replied. "Okay," the servant said. "Here, say these wedding vows, and you'll be married to a rich king who loves you." The girl repeated the vows, and the servant smiled, congratulated her, and left. He went on to the next girl, and the next, and repeated the same process. He met hundreds of girls and did this with each of them. Then, he went back to the king and said, "I have found hundreds of brides for you."

"Okay," the king said. "Where are they?"

"In the towns and countryside, going about their normal lives," the servant said.

"But do they love me? Do they want to be with me? Do they even know me?" the king asked.

"Yes, well, they know your name," the servant said. "And they'll be coming around later for the house and money you promised them."

The king turned around very sad at the thought that his servant mistook this for marriage.

The third servant went before the king and said, "I can't do this without you. Will you please come with me?" So the king and the servant went together into the town.

Soon the servant found a beautiful girl and struck up a conversation with her. "There's someone I'd like you to meet," he said, and introduced her to the king. The king, the servant, and the girl did many things together, and the king lavished his love and affection on the girl. Little by little, he won her heart, and she started to love him back. The day came where they went to church together and got married, pledging their mutual love and commitment to each other. They became one. And for the rest of their lives, they lived together in joyful harmony, rich and full of blessings.

Trip to Malaga, Day 6

Friday, January 27, 2012


After breakfast I went with the girls to church, where we had devotions. Each person shared what she had learned at the cumbre.

Then I went to work in the rastro with P. We talked more than usual and she gave me some flower earrings.

I went back to church for lunch and said goodbye to the girls. Then I went to the front door and waited for Pastor horacio to pick me up. He came at 2:30 and took me back to his house. (I had attended his church, Iglesia Evangelica La Luz for the year that I lived in Malaga studying Spanish.)

His wife, Ana Maria, fixed lunch and we ate. Nilda (my old apartment-mate) was there too! It was so wonderful to catch up.

After lunch, I asked Ana Maria if I could take a nap, and she put me in a bedroom where I slept for about 2 hours.

When I woke up, I went back to the living room and visited. Irina came shortly thereafter, and it was a joy to meet her after so long a time of writing emails.


Then Nilda cut my hair! Wow, what a difference...it was fun.

Nilda took Irina and me over to Irina's apartment, and we talked until at least midnight. Then she had to go to bed because she had to get up at 6 the next morning. I slept wonderfully and woke up about 8:15.

Next Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 7
First Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 1

Trip to Malaga, Day 5

Thursday, January 26, 2012


My alarm rang at 6 and I got up! I woke Marieta and we had a good time together reading the Word and praying.

Breakfast was at 6:45 and devotions were at 7:45. My speech went pretty well and several of the girls said they appreciated it.

We left for church at 8:30. today my job was to work in the despensa (food pantry). There wasn't much work in the morning, so Marieta and I had some chances to talk about the Lord. In the afternoon there was a ton of work -- boxes and boxes of food to unload and organize. I loved it. I also spent ALL DAY eating stuff that was BAD for me. :-(

In the evening, we ate supper, I showered, and I wrote in the Bibles of several of the girls who asked me to.

Oh!

In the morning, S asked me to give her a verse. She said she had never asked anyone to give her a verse before. I said no one has ever asked me for one, either, but that I would pray to ask God to show me one by this afternoon.

In the afternoon, the Lord led me to Deut. 30:11-20, especially verses 19 and 20. I told S the verse and let her read it.

"This is an answered prayer," she said to me after she had read it. "I had cried out to God, 'What do you want from me?' And now I know."

I was surprised and blessed at how it had impacted her. Then after my shower, we stayed in the salon sharing for a long time. I was explaining my struggle to live after the Spirit and not the flesh. It was a very blessed and God-ordained conversation.

Next Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 6
First Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 1

Trip to Malaga, Day 4

Wednesday, January 25, 2012


I got up this morning at 6:00 and shook Marieta to wake her. she murmured something and made no move to get up. I went to the salon with my Bible and started reading, and a few minutes later, Marieta appeared. We prayed together, I shared a few Scriptures, and asked her about herself, probing for what or where I could help her or teach her something. We settled on a plan to study living in the Spirit vs. the flesh tomorrow morning.

We ate breakfast at 6:45. Breakfast here is coffee and toast (white sliced bread). Yesterday they also had shredded pork and some thick orange lard that they were spreading with gusto. I ate a banana and had a cup of tea.

At 7:30 we left for the church for a devotional there. Then we went to our various jobs.

My job was calendars, but first I had to go with the girls (M and L) to a doctor's appointment for M. We got to the hospital about 9:50 and didn't leave until about 12:30, so it didn't leave enough time to do calendars. We went and had a cup of coffee and a pitufo (whoa, the best sandwich EVER! The best, tenderest baguette, with Manchego cheese, tomato sauce, and olive oil. YUM!).

Then we walked back to the church. I got talking to M. She was telling me about her boyfriend (a Betelito) and her upcoming marriage, her love of children, and how Judith (a baby of one of the other girls in the house) is the joy of her life. It was very sweet.

We got back to the church, ate lunch, and went back to the house for the siesta. The thing is, no one takes a nap. I was tired, so I laid down, but everyone else in the house was talking so loud that it was impossible to sleep.

I got talking with A (one of my other roommates) and she asked me how I decided to be a missionary. I told her the story of the New Tribes video I had seen at a CEF function, and she was overcome. "Oh my goodness," she said. "That's so powerful. I've always had a heart for people like that, ever since I was little..." And she started to cry. That opened up the door to talk about how God surely had a plan for her, and who knew how it would end up, but perhaps she would find herself working with some jungle tribe one day.

We went back to the church at 4:00, and M and I went out on the calendar campaign. We got 24 euros. It was so exciting and wonderful to be able to walk through the center of Malaga again and have a chance to see some of the places I used to go. Ah!

When we got done selling calendars, we went walking to the rastro, where Juani picked us up.

We went back to the house and ate dinner (macaroni noodles with tomato sauce and cooked, cheesy cauliflower). After dinner, Juani came up to me. "You're sharing in devotions tomorrow," she said.

"Oh cool!" I said. So I started getting stuff ready to give my "Don't be just an empty shell" speech.

I also had an excellent talk with V. She is such a dynamic, amazing woman.

Also, S started to open up to me--which surprised me, because I wouldn't have expected it...but it must be Is. 60:1-2 coming true.

I went to bed very late.

Next Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 5
First Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 1

Trip to Malaga, Day 3

Tuesday, January 24, 2012


My alarm rang at 6:00 and I didn't get up. I used the excuse that Emilia's bed was in the way and I couldn't get out. It wasn't until later in the day that the thought came: "You didn't have any trouble getting out when they called to wake everyone up." I was smitten and asked the Lord's forgiveness.

We ate breakfast at 6:30, a little earlier than normal, because we had to leave the house at 7:20. One of the girls had a doctor's appointment early, so we had to do everything a little earlier. Those of use who weren't going to the doctor went to the church auditorium and joined some guys who were having devotions there.

After devotions, it seemed like we were standing around for a long time doing nothing. I thought I was going to go to recuperación (food donations) with Juani, but then they changed me and sent me back to the rastro with P.

I had started praying in the morning for ideas on how I could be a blessing to the girls. While we were waiting around in the hallway, Marieta pulled me aside.

"I would like you to teach me to sing," she said. I protested that she already sang quite well and that I hadn't had voice lessons, so I didn't know how to teach singing.

"Well, or teach me from the Bible," Marieta said. "I want to learn from you. I see you have more knowledge of these things, but there's never time."

"Ok!" I responded, moved by her sincerity and passion. "I will do whatever I can for you."

"It's just that we hardly ever get missionaries here," she said, "and when they come, I always want to take advantage of the opportunity." So we agreed to talk later and make a plan of what we could do together.

I worked in the rastro again, did a lot more cleaning throughout the whole rastro, mopping and dusting. I also spent a good deal of time scrubbing a whole set of kitchen cabinets someone had donated. Oh! And I made bleach tea. Oops!

We returned back to church at 2:00 again for lunch, and in the van I asked P and her husband how they met.

"Is she asking me because you wouldn't tell her?" her husband, M, said.

"No, she's just now asking," P said.

"Oh. She can tell you later," M said.

"Ok," I said. Hmmmm...did I bring up an uncomfortable topic? Or is this a culturally inappropriate question? Who would have thought? I never worked up the courage to ask P later.


After lunch I talked to Lola, the wife of Luis Pino, the head pastor of Betel of Malaga. She was very friendly and interested in me, and I felt very welcomed.

After lunch, I went back to the house with the girls for the siesta. No one took a nap--we just stood around talking, eating yogurts, and doing nothing much. I did take the opportunity to go up on the roof of the house and take some photos of the view.

When we went back to the church, I sat in the entrance with my knitting, waiting for P. this time I would be alert and not get left behind. However, at 4:15, Juani came up. "They've already left," she said. (What??) She explained that P wasn't going to the Rastro from here and I should have been looking for the driver of the van...some guy who I was supposed to have gone with. Oops again. But how was I to know if no one told me? So Juani had to drive me again.

Towards the end of the evening, I went to a store nearby to buy some CDs. The only size they had was a pack of 50 for 20 euros. I didn't know if that was a good deal or not, but I bought it to give the girls some of the Spanish music from my computer. (Later I found out that a pack of 50 should have cost 12 euros.)

We went back to the house and I spent the evening recording CDs with the music I had, waiting for my turn for the shower. When I finally put my computer away, Marieta and I started to talk.

"I'm sorry I've been so glued to my computer all evening," I said to her. "I want to be a blessing to you all, although my time here is so short."

Marieta started sharing with me about the difficulties of living here, about how everything just ends up being day-to-day struggles, and how you end up focusing on things that are not really the most important. It becomes hard to see what is eternal when you're wrapped up in the everyday things of life. We determined to get up early in the morning the next day to pray together.

I had finished my shower and was putting my things away in my suitcase under the bed. E was already in bed and apologized for the lack of space. There really is barely room to pass from the door to my bed with her bed in the room. But I said, "That doesn't matter. You know what? We want you to feel welcome here. We are happy you are here, because it means you are returning to the right path."

"Yes, the path that I left a long time ago," she said.

"And that is much more important than lack of space on the floor of the bedroom," I continued.

I had heard her talking to one of the other girls earlier, and she said that her family had kicked her out of the house, which is why she came to Betel. She had been in betel 10 or 12 years ago, but she said she left the right path. She said she knows the Lord and has been disobedient to Him for many years, but that He has never left her. And now, she said she is too old to be homeless, experiencing cold and hunger, begging and trying to survive. She seems very humbled by the consequences that God has brought into her life, and I pray that she will return wholeheartedly to the right path, sowing to the spirit instead of to the flesh.

I went to bed about 11:30 and again slept absolutely marvelously.

Next Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 4
First Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 1

Trip to Malaga, Day 2

Monday, January 23, 2012

We got up at 6:45...well, I got up at 6:15 to read the Bible--Yay! At 6:45 when they knocked on the doors to wake everyone up, I went to my room and started making my bed. I was halfway done when Marieta called me. "We're waiting for you," she said. "It's time to ask the blessing." Oh! oops. They eat breakfast first here. So I went to the table and we had breakfast. I just had some hot water because I was fasting.

After breakfast, our room had the chore of cleaning the salon grande (living/dining room), so we swept and dusted. then we had a few minutes to get dressed and ready before devotions. Devotions were from 7:45 to 8:30 and Juani (the house leader) shared her notes from the cumbre (conference in Madrid that had taken place that weekend).

At 8:30, we got in the vans to go to the church. My job was to work in the Rastro (furniture shop), so I waited at the church until it was time to leave and went with P, who is in charge of the rastro.

At the rastro, I cleaned the bathrooms, mopped a bit, folded clothes, and went through some bags of donations in the back room.

We went back to the church for lunch at 2:00, but I didn't eat anything, and the girls manifested curiosity at my fasting.

At 2:30 on Mondays, they have a prayer meeting, which I stayed for. They sang a bit, had a sharing time of testimonies from the cumbre, and prayed. I was struggling to fight off sleep, but finally succumbed and woke up about 3:15, added a prayer of my own, and it was over at 3:30.

We went downstairs and no one seemed to be around, so I went back upstairs, lay down on some chairs, and fell asleep. I woke up at 4:15 and my ride had already left to go back to the rastro. I had assumed they would call me when it was time to go. Oops again.

Juani took me to the Rastro and didn't say anything. I worked the rest of the afternoon and Juani came to pick me up about 7:30.

We went back to the house and were eating dinner. Towards the end of the meal, Juani came in with a very serious expression on her face, holding up my pocketknife.

"Whose is this?" she said.

"Mine," I said.

Juani gave me a look and walked out. A dead silence fell over the table.

Really big oops.

(It was found between the cushions of the couch, so it must have fallen out of my pocket in the morning when I did my devotions.)

After dinner I apologized to Juani and she gave me back my knife. But she talked to me very seriously about how I needed to be careful and if one of the new girls had found it, it would have been very bad...she could have kept it...who knows what could have happened. Ah!

I thought that after 2 months in Madrid, where I had mostly figured out how things worked, I was over the "oops" moments. Guess not.

Marieta asked me to wake her up in the morning when I got up to pray. She is full of hunger and thirst for God. I love it! It's so rare to find a person like that. From the first day I saw her, I noticed a glow about her, an energy and thirst for life. I wanted to make friends with her right from the start, so when they made me her roommate, I was very happy.

We had a new girl in the house when we got back from work, a 57-year-old woman named E. They set up a cot in my bedroom between the bunk beds for E to sleep on. That left scarcely any space to walk in the room.

I went to bed early without showering because I was so tired. I fell asleep right away.

Next post: Trip to Malaga, Day 3
First post: Trip to Malaga, Day 1

Trip to Malaga, Day 1

I'm going to back up in time here and post my journal entries from the week I spent at Betel of Malaga.

Sunday, January 22, 2012
After church, I left in the van for Malaga with my small suitcase (amazing, considering I am capable of packing the whole trunk of my car full just to leave for the weekend, and I packed for a week in the carry-on suitcase!).

We saw a gorgeous sunset that lasted for far longer than I would have expected possible. We also passed through a spectacular mountain gorge, with layers of rock in vertical and diagonal bands jutting out of the earth.

As we got closer to Malaga, it was already dark, but my heart started beating faster with anticipation. Here I was in my city! "It's amazing how you can have love--for a city," I thought.

First we stopped at the church and unloaded our suitcases. Then we got into a different van and Juani (our house leader) drove us back to the house.

It was dark as we pulled in, but in the light of our headlights I could see that the driveway was lined with orange trees laden with bright fruit.

I walked into the house and was greeted by a warm welcome from each of the girls. It was amazing how much they made me feel at home right away. We ate a delicious dinner of homemade pizza. Yum!

After dinner, I got talking to V, who is from Ireland and has spent 10 months in Betel. She was phenomenal to talk to!

She came to Betel straight from the hospital 10 months ago in very bad health. She had wanted to die. In Betel, she came to know Christ, was baptized, and grew rapidly in the Lord. She talked about themes like surrender with such a light in her eyes and a passion for Christ, you would think she was a pastor's wife or a missionary or someone who had been saved all her life. It was so inspiring to talk to her.

I went to bed and slept soundly and comfortably. The mattress was very comfortable and the covers were very warm. Yay!

This is the first post in this series.
Next Post: Trip to Malaga, Day 2

Home for a while

My internship in Betel is over, but it hasn't left my heart. I'm hoping to go back to serve long term.

My blog didn't die--I just didn't have internet access, and my writing urges tended to come few and far between, and didn't tend to hit me on Sunday afternoons (which was the only time I could get online).

In the meantime, I'm catching up on sleep, getting over jetlag, and looking forward to a few months with my family! I can't wait to go hiking with our siblings, meet our new puppy, and see if some of the lessons I've learned in Betel really stick, like getting up early, keeping my things neat, and having a disciplined schedule.

I am back in the US, where everything is familiar and comfortable, but I have changed. So it will be interesting to see how I encounter home. Somehow it all feels different. This is reverse culture shock. You expect everything to be the same, but you can never go back to the way things were; you simply have to go on.

I am also realizing how tired I was. I didn't detect it while I was in the moment, immersed in Betel life and pouring myself out for the girls, but the minute I was away from it, I suddenly realized I didn't want to be around people or invest in them, I just wanted to hide in a cave for a little while and regain my equilibrium. I scarcely spoke two words to the girl in the seat next to me on the airplane--and it was an 8-hour flight! So it has been really nice to spend a week at WEC headquarters where I can just be alone in my room (outside of the debrief classes they have for me) and be quiet for a while.

More than anything, what kept me going in what would have been a tiring and draining ministry, was the Lord. Before my trip, he had encouraged me with Isaiah 58:11, and looking back, I can see that it came true every day.

"And the LORD shall guide thee continually, 

and satisfy thy soul in drought,

and make fat thy bones: 

and thou shalt be like a watered garden,

and like a spring of water,

whose waters fail not."

And that is what makes me know that I can go back. The LORD will give me the strength to do whatever He calls me to do, even if it's tiring.

Answer to last week's post

Gotta love painting Betel-style!! I love the advice in the pink poster on the wall: "Keep Calm and Carry On."

Painting

Quick! What's wrong with this picture? How many things can you find?

Put your guesses in the comments. Answer will appear next week.

England Update!

I haven't intentionally neglected my blog. It's just that I have had way less time to be online, and the blog unfortunately has had to suffer.

So here are some pictures!

My bedroom (only 2 of the 6 beds are showing; mine is the pink flower one on top in the photo). Notice that there is a sink in the room...this is a huge help for cutting down on clogged bathrooms. Every room has at least a sink and sometimes a toilet, too! 

Me in my high-visibility vest that I have to wear whenever I go on the food donations run. We collect groceries donated from local supermarkets, and we have to wear the vests because we go in through the back loading dock area, where by law the vests are required. Windmill House is the main Betel-UK headquarters.

Me in the furniture shop that the girls run. We have a lovely lot of furniture and a coffee shop that just opened in the front of the store. The girls make home-baked cupcakes and brownies that are AMAZING!

Flying!! Not literally, but that's what they call distributing flyers. We pass them out from house to house in people's mail slots, which are usually a slot through the door. In the photo with me is Jan, our house leader.

No mailboxes here! This is a nice system...the mail falls right inside your house! :-) 

First visit to the UK

I am in England as of Friday, and it has been quite an adjustment from being in Spain. 

In the first place, I have caught myself more than once speaking Spanish instead of English. I said "hola" to the guy who sat down next to me on the bus from London to Birmingham. I said "perdón" instead of "sorry" when I bumped into someone. and once when I fell asleep in the van, I said "Yo quedé dormida" when I woke up ("I fell asleep"). 

But the thing that has absolutely confused me is this business of driving on the left! I keep feeling disoriented and surprised...going into the roundabout, you move to the left...left-hand turns are the ones that don't require you to cross any lanes...and the oncoming traffic is to your right! Ah! 

So the first day I was here, I was in the van with the girls to go back to the house. The girl in the driver's seat got out of the van to unload my suitcases. Then the van went forward. I gasped internally. "We're moving and the driver is gone!" I thought. But no... the driver is on the right here! So the girl who got out was actually in the passenger seat! 

It's funny...I knew these things...I knew they drive on the opposite side here...but I keep getting surprised as if I didn't know it. 

Please protect me from myself...

So today I was working in the Rastro (secondhand store...kind of like Goodwill or Salvation Army).

We have a little back room with a fridge and microwave and some snacks, and about 11:00 today, I went to make myself a cup of tea.

"I think I'm supposed to use water from a jug," I thought to myself. I'm always unsure when it's safe to use the tap water, but I thought I remembered that the responsible in the Rastro had showed me the jug of drinking water. Sure enough, I saw a bottle on the shelf and poured a cupful. I heated it up in the microwave and then put a tea bag in it.

After waiting a couple of minutes, I looked at my tea. It wasn't steeping very well...the water was still quite light and the tea bag was swelled up in a strange way.

"What is wrong with this?" I thought. "Did this tea expire years and years ago or something?" (I didn't think tea could go bad... but there was definitely something wrong here.)

I noticed it smelled funny. I sniffed the cup.

"This smells like bleach!" I thought. "Maybe, long ago, this packet of tea fell into some bleach water and then dried out." (But there was no sign that the paper had ever been wet.)

Then it hit me.

It was BLEACH that I had poured into my cup and heated in the microwave.

Bleach tea.

Now that's a new one, even for me.

Good thing I didn't actually come to taste it.

~~~

Tune in next time for another episode of "Please Protect Me From Myself."

View from our backyard

Large storks resting on the treetops

 Lovely little river behind our house

Water

New Year's Party

Spanish New Year's typically consists of a costume party. Then when the clock strikes midnight, people eat 12 grapes, one for each stroke of the clock. It's hard to chew and swallow them fast enough!

Q dressed up as a clown

R went as Alice in Wonderland

U is a Smurf!

C is Betty from the Flintstones

U and me. (Yeah, no costume on my part.)

A Bible character

A nun and priest

E as Tinker Bell

The FOOD

Appetizers

You would think that these are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, but no. (At first, when I saw them, I thought, "Wow, PBJ is so rare here, it's special enough to serve for New Year's Eve dinner." But then I looked a little closer...

There! See it? Not Peanut butter and jelly--Smoked salmon and jelly! YUMmmmm. (Actually, this will go down as one of the weirdest things I have ever eaten.)

Amazingly tender meat with some kind of white sauce.  

My grapes! I succeeded in eating them all, too! (But I de-seeded them first with my pocketknife.)