Pictures from the Inauguration

We had the inauguration of our new building in March!  We had lots of visitors and we were excited to fill up every chair we owned.  Praise the Lord for the work He is doing in Picassent!

It's hard to get the big picture from these pictures, but this is half of the people who were there.  This is the large area that we usually use for Sunday morning.

This is the other section of seating.  When you stand at the front of the congregation in the first picture, all these people are on your left.  It's our "overflow" section.  It worked perfectly for our needs!

This is Fernando greeting everyone in the large area.  To the right of him is the "overflow" section.

Junior and Aida lead worship for us every Sunday.  Junior is early twenties, and Aida is 14!  They do an awesome job.

Our first Sunday School group!

Lots of traditional Spanish food for the fellowship afterward

Ministry in Picassent

Our new church plant, started in June of this past year, has grown like crazy!  The Lord has just blessed it!  We had rented out a little cafe that worked for our needs, at that time; but after 8 months, we had to begin to look for another location.  In Feb. of this year,  after much prayer, the Lord opened doors for a larger building in a great location.  It was an old gym that had been empty for about 3 years, so we had a lot of renovation to do in order to get it to where it would be usable for our needs.  And so, the process began...

Everyone pitched in, helping tear down, haul out trash, lay new floors, clean walls and floors, and paint everything in sight... :)

Every day, some of the ladies would bring lunch for everyone who was working...

And after a month of hard work, we were down to the final touches...

This shower got walled off...

We knocked a whole in the wall on the other side to make a door

Looking at the walled off section of the old shower from the viewpoint of the new door!

Our new kitchen with the new door!... needed so that we can store food that we give out to the poor.

The wallpapered brick had to come off...

and we painted a chalkboard for announcements

The logo for our food/clothes ministry

So many people have given their time and hard work to put all these details together.  Businesses have donated paint and chairs for the sanctuary.  Individuals have given money for a computer, a counter top and sink for the kitchen, etc.  The Lord has been faithfully providing each and every thing that we need!  Please continue to join us in prayer for the provision of the details that still need to be finished.

Fallas in the Schools!

Do you believe me yet, that Fallas is the most celebrated holiday in Valencia???? :)  hehe... seriously... there's excitement in the air this time of year!  As I mentioned, even the schools take time off from school for the 4 days of Fallas.  But... right before they take their break, each school has it's own little fiesta.  As y'all know, we have the kids in two different schools, so we always have two fiestas to attend! 

Weston and Nathan's school made their own Falla during the month of March.  All the kids spent time creating it, building it, painting it, decorating it... and then, they burn it!

It really is incredible how excited everyone gets over burning down a sculpture that the kids worked so hard on!  Weston's class even spread all the sand that you see everywhere, so that the fire wouldn't spread.  It was a great unifying project for the school!


This is Jonathan and Carolina's little school.  They just had the whole school repainted, including the "patio" floor, so they did not build and burn a falla this year.  They chose to do a Valenciano dance that's typical during Fallas, and then they passed out a chocolate drink with croissants! 

Carolina, of course, couldn't have the chocolate or the croissants, so I brought cookies especially for her.  She and a little friend named Ana ran away from the crowds to munch on them! :)

Fireworks in the streets!

Not all the celebration for Fallas goes on in the city center with hundreds of thousands of people.  Some of the best had times are found in the neighborhoods... right on our street, with our neighbors!

The kids obviously had a blast!  To be honest, I'm not sure who had more fun... the dads or the kids! :)  Wes was like a little kid when he went to buy all the firecrackers from the little stand.  He just couldn't help himself. :) This is the one time of year where these stands are all over the place.  I'm sure we'll buy even more next year!

Fallas in Valencia

Fallas is a festival here in Valencia that is more celebrated than Christmas!  It was incredible to us.  There are more lights put up, more people gathering in the streets, fireworks several times a day... definitely the most celebrated holiday in Valencia.  Apparently, it's a holiday that celebrates the coming of warm weather, and the fact that the carpenters no longer need to work by lamplight and firelight during the long winter nights. 

All year long, the creators work to build these huge sculptures made of paper-maché and cardboard.  They work on the individual figures (called ninots); and then in one day, they scramble to set them up in their intended displays on the streets of Valencia.  They are on display for 4 days and then on St. Joseph's Day (the patron saint of carpenters), they burn all of them except the first prize winner, which goes into a museum.   It's really a month long celebration, but it culminates in those last 4 days.  There's 'mascletas' (fireworks) around 2pm everyday in the center of Valencia... people come by the thousands to experience it.  There's celebrating until late into the night, and then there's fireworks again around midnight.  Then, after a long night of celebrating, at 8am every morning, they do more fireworks in order to wake everyone up for the work-day.

Businesses shut down, schools shut down, even most of the streets in the center of the city are shut down!  So, when we decided to go into "el centro" to see the fallas, we had to take the bus into the city... the streets were all closed down and there was no-where to park!  We began our 2015 Fallas journey at 9am on the bus down the street from our house.  With all the kids, we don't love the huge crowds that come around the 2pm time; so we went early, hoping to leave before the crowds arrived.

It was a rainy day... actually, all 4 days were rainy this year.  But that didn't stop the show!  Thankfully, on the day that we went, it wasn't down-pouring... just sprinkling the whole time.  The kids thought it was the greatest!  We spent the whole day in the rain!

We walked all over the center of the city, looking at the different Fallas.  One of the things that the kids love most about Fallas is that they sell churros on almost every corner.  We had to live the true cultural experience, of course. :)

As we walked around, there were all sorts of booths selling things.  It was such a culturally rich experience!  I didn't get a picture of pallea... I was bummed when I got home and realized it.  Sorry!

We walked and walked... checking out the sites...

There are also these little Fallas that are done by kids!

Even though it was raining, we were still overwhelmed by the beauty of our city and the immensity of the Fallas!  They were "impresionante."

Just one of the side streets that was blocked off to all traffic.  You can see one of the Fallas at the very end of the street.

This is the bull ring in the center of the city

The last night of the festival, they burned all the Fallas and then they all gathered in one central plaza and they burned this sculpture of the Lion.

The art and creativity are amazing... especially in light of the fact that the creators know that their Fallas will be burned at the end of the festival.  (Some of the Fallas can be crude, so I had to be careful with the pictures I took.  Please forgive me if I missed something!)

We walked around for a couple hours; and although we enjoyed our time, we were completely soaked.  As the crowds began to pour in, we decided to go down a side-street and see if we could find a cafe and get coffee and "bocadillos" while we dried off and warmed up a little bit before taking the bus home.

Obviously, you can tell by their faces... the sandwiches were super yummy! :)  It was the perfect break to refuel before heading back into the crowds and taking the bus home!