Our first week and a half has been filled with so much that I hardly know where to begin.  I (Frank) should start carrying around a little video camera and just film everything for you – but for now I’ll do my best to fill you in.

Let’s start with language:
I know more Spanish now than I ever have in my life. At first life here was a big game of charades but over the past couple of days things have really started to come together. One thing has been made very clear to me – language will be our biggest obstacle while we are here in Granada. To combat (or combatir) this we are currently taking 2 hours of language training per day. This coupled with immersion in the culture has been very effective so far.

Now on to ministry:
God did not waste any time – I have started a small group that meets weekly with 3 recovering addicts. In addition to a weekly meeting, I meet with each one individually during the week so we can go a bit deeper with our struggles and prayers. All three of the men speak very good English making it possible to talk without the need for a translator. The small group is a direct answer to prayer and I was amazed at how quickly it formed.

Finally, general life in Granada:
We are at the end of the hottest month so needless to say…it’s hot. But we have fans, a wonderful breeze in the shade and much cooler evenings. We are looking forward to November through January because we hear they are cooler with less humidity. Our roommates are wonderful – seriously, we could not have a better living situation. They are both very kind and have offered us all the help we have needed with no complaints (at least not any that we understood). We eat lunch together 5 days a week and the food is amazing. The city is beautiful and we are very excited to see what God has in store for the next year.

Prayer requests:
Please pray for the men that are in recovery here and also pray for their families. There are lots of AIM teams flying in and out over the next several months so please pray for them as they prepare to come and go. Pray for the city – there are a lot of needs here and God is showing them to us one by one.