Barcelona

It has been my dream to go to Spain, specifically Barcelona, since I started learning Spanish in school. In fact, my plan before meeting Forrest was to teach for two years in the States so that I could go teach in Spain. However, as many of you know, the Coronavirus canceled my plans to do summer missions work in Southern Spain. (Though I had a significant internship in Tanzania instead!) This month, my dream of traveling to Spain was finally realized. Forrest and I went with our best friends from Minnesota, the Nelsons, to Barcelona for just under a week. We met them on our first mission trip together to South Carolina. They actually met each other on that mission too! The Lord has blessed us with such a close relationship despite the distance between us. We have cultivated a sweet friendship through trips to each other’s weddings, various homes, surprise birthdays, and even camping in the Badlands. It was beyond cool to experience international travel together. We are enjoying this delightful period of time when we can grow and travel as young adults.

Barcelona was beautiful. The detail of the architecture is simply extravagant to the American eye. The buildings have so much history and art to them. We got to stay in an apartment outside the typical tourist area, so we walked around and experienced the local Barcelona and the tourist attractions. The most notable attraction, La Sagrada Familia (meaning “The Sacred Family”), will be the largest Catholic church in the world when it is finished. The sights were amazing, the food was delicious, and the people were friendly. It was fun making friends with taxi drivers and waiters as I practiced my Spanish. The four of us were quizzed on our geography by an intelligent Sylvanian boy. He spoke English very well and said he learned it from Youtube! We made friends with a Canadian couple and a pastor and her husband from Southern California who were visiting a missionary that their church supports. We also chatted with a different missionary at the International Church we attended.

The International Church was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was a very Spirit-filled church, and the worship atmosphere was beautiful. People were singing and praying in Spanish and English as the Holy Spirit led them. There was a guest speaker from Australia preaching the sermon. It was so cool to see all the diversity in the church as a picture of the diversity in heaven. Barcelona is an international city, and there were people from all over the world. The majority of signs were in Catalan, Spanish, English, and Arabic. Imagine the harvest! Forrest and I spent time praying for the missionaries because only 3% of the population in Spain is evangelical Christians.

The hardest part about the trip for me was the smoking and the dress. Spain is mainly secular, even with a Catholic background because most don’t even practice Catholicism anymore. I didn’t realize how much America has either gotten rid of smoking or replaced it with vaping. You couldn’t sit or walk anywhere without breathing in second-hand smoke. That was hard for me since I am sensitive to smoke. Additionally, the attire was very secular. It was a stark contrast to Tanzania where women wore long, modest dresses. In Barcelona, most women didn’t wear chest undergarments, or if they did, that was all they wore. Not only was I sad about it because the guys in our group were constantly affronted by it, but the people seemed so consumed by their appearances. They looked beautiful, but it was a stumbling block for me because I was comparing myself to the women of Barcelona. The different culture in Spain made it hard for me not to start worrying about how I looked. My husband and I prayed against stumbling blocks of comparison or judgment and prayed for all the lost daughters of God.

My favorite part was the language. I love Spanish. I speak it better than I understand it, so I loved the practice of listening to native speakers. I enjoyed the practice of speaking it as well. I spoke the most Spanish in our group, which was equally terrifying and exciting. I successfully called and reserved a taxi to pick us up at 2:50 A.M. at our address to take us to the airport. I was sad to leave the city and the warm weather. But I am so grateful to the Lord for allowing us to take this trip. It was fun to experience a new culture, albeit briefly. I loved that the Lord used us to pray for the city while we were there rather than simply from afar. And I appreciate that the Lord, our perfect Father, gives us the desires of our hearts when we don’t deserve them. Thank you so much for all your prayers for safe travel on our trip and for taking the time to read my reflections!