Greetings friends and prayer warriors!!!!!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support regarding my trip to France/Spain. The trip was awesome and so were the people. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. My team member Alma was a great traveling companion and excellent interpreter. Her ability to speak Spanish was a great blessing to me. With only two people on the team, it made it a lot easier to travel. The cars in Spain and France are quite small.
We did a lot of traveling on this trip which caused some extra wear and tear on our physical bodies, but we finished the race with much joy and gladness!!!! Praise God.
We arrived in Barcelona on Tuesday and spent the night there in a hotel. We left early the next morning by train for Montpellier, France. We were lodged in a hotel which was all paid for by someone in the church! PTL!!! God was so good to us. We ministered that evening at Pastor Hugo's Church. The church there was small, but precious. We had 15 people in that particular meeting. My interpreter was an American from California. He had been in France for one year and was returning to the states for a much needed rest.
We left Montpellier by train on Friday morning and headed for Girona, Spain. Girona is one of the more difficult spots within Spain. We stayed at the School of Ministry which was started by Pastor Jaume. He is a great man of God and works diligently keeping the ministry going as well as his home life. He has a wonderful wife and three precious children. He has pioneered two churches in the Girona region, and we were blessed to be able to minister in both of them. We also conducted some women's meetings which proved to be very fruitful. Our time in Girona was sweet. This wonderful door of ministry is open for us to return in the future if the Lord so directs.
We left Monday by train to Valencia, Spain where we worked with an American couple - Dan and Penny. They have been in Spain for one and a half years. They started their first church in Valencia last November. Dan is an energizer bunny and Penny is a little sweetheart. They have three children (two girls and one boy). We had a leaders meeting in one of the churches there on Tuesday, and after that we were privileged to be a part of Sidewalk Sunday School in a park near one of the local schools. We had a blast! Dan is a natural with this kind of child evangelism. Many children, teens and adults were present in the park and stayed throughout the entire program to listen. Dan played some upbeat games with the children and then Alma shared the gospel message with them. We prayed the salvation prayer with the children afterwards. It was totally awesome!
During our stay in Valencia, we stayed at the Seventh Day Adventist Boarding School in a small city called Sagunto, which is about 20-30 minutes north of Valencia by train. It was a lot cheaper than a hotel, and it was a very peaceful place. We each paid about $15.00 per day for our small apartment. We took the train into the city every day, and Pastor Dan was so faithful to pick us up at the local train station to take us to our meeting places. Wednesday we were blessed to be able to attend a pastor's meeting with 31 attending pastors from Valencia and the surrounding area. What a privilege to hear these men pray for their city and see their desire to do more. These leaders were all fired up because Carlos Anacondia (from Argentina) had just finished a ten day crusade there. There were 998 decisions and re-dedications made for Christ during the crusade and many miracles/healings. God is beginning to do something precious in this area. Pray for these leaders to have God's wisdom and unity and they work together for the harvest.
We left Valencia on Thursday morning by train and headed for Barcelona. We were met by two workers from the Betel Center which is located about 40 minutes west of Valencia. We had no clue that the Betel Center was a drug rehabilitation center for recovering drug addicts as well as a church. They have a really nice facility for their church services. These services were attended by those in rehabilitation as well as outsiders from the surrounding area. We were accomodated in a house with nine ladies who were actively involved in the rehabilitation process. We were able to minister and fellowship with these women on a daily basis. We believe that Jesus was able to minister to them during our stay and we are very thankful for that.
We ministered Friday evening at the Betel Center Church, and Saturday we were picked up by Pastor Paco and taken to Barcelona to minister in two church services there. Three churches had united themselves together for these special meetings. We ministered at 11:00 AM and at 4:30 PM. Inbetween we had lunch and fellowshipped with the people. God moved and the people were blessed. It was a privilege to minister to them as they were hungry for more of Jesus. Every single one of them came up for prayer in the evening service. Alma and I were worn out after all was said and done, but it was a "good" tired! We were then taken back to the Betel Center at 9:00 PM and caught a van ride to the house where we were staying. Sunday morning Alma preached on the wounded heart lesson and forgiveness. Many came forward for prayer and healing. It was wonderful! Monday morning I ministered to the women from the Betel Center. These women are very hard and have been through a lot of abuse, suffering, trial etc. Some of them have AIDS and desperately need salvation. Pray that Jesus will continue to restore them. There were a total of 29 men and 9 women at this drug rehab center. Pastor Rafal did not charge us anything for staying there. PTL!!!!!
We left the Betel Center at 4:20 AM on Tuesday morning for the International Airport in Barcelona. Alma continued on to Switzerland, and from there went to Israel. She will return to the USA on July 6th. I was able to catch my flight to the USA with no problems. I returned home safely and my heart was full of joy and peace regarding our times of ministry in France/Spain. I suffered a little jet lag, but not bad enough to keep me from bouncing back quickly. It always feels so good to come back home to rest, refuel and refire.
Please pray that the Lord will give me clear instructions regarding my next trip to Spain/France. I have a real burden for the Spanish people to know the Lord. There are many strongholds in Spain and France. Please pray for these nations to receive the gospel of Jesus Christ so they can be set free from religious spirits, etc. There's so much work to do and not enough laborers. There are 7,000 villages in Spain without any Christian witness. There's a great harvest out there for the church. I pray that our eyes will be opened to these needs and that we will respond when God calls us. There's more to life than watching TV and soap operas. It's time to be about the Father's business. We don't know how much time we have left to do all that He has placed in our hearts to do. Now is the time! Today is the day. If you hear His voice. MOVE!
Thank you once again for praying for us. We believe the trip was truly a "God Thing". We felt His presence and peace everywhere that we went. The pastors and leaders received us with open arms and we thank God for this blessing. We could feel your prayers and support. May the Lord richly bless you!
Blessings,
Donna Kazenske
