How Do You Feel about Spain?

I have been in Spain now for a week and a half.  Yesterday evening I sat on my patio overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and wrote down an answer in my little brown notebook to a question my Argentinean Spanish teacher was asking me, "How do you feel about your time in Spain so far?"  Good question.  I placed the tip of my pen on the paper and stared hard at the wood grain of the table.  I thought about this week's guest speaker, the CEO of a successful business in the States, and how after sharing the gritty details of his dreams and story of faith we gathered around and prayed for him, feeling the weight of his 10 year struggle to accomplish something for the Kingdom of God.  I thought about the church I had attended on Sunday and how I could feel God's presence despite understanding about 3% of the worship song lyrics.  I thought about how my back muscles felt at the top of the local rock face after having accomplished an "impossible" route despite having swum all over the Mediterranean earlier in the morning on Saturday.  I thought about the view of the African coast from the mountain top I had hiked to during lunch break and how tiny I felt in comparison to the world.  I thought about how my Spanish teacher would make me translate whatever I wrote down into Spanish.  I wrote, "I am loving my time in Spain so far." 

The village of Mijas Pueblo as seen from the top of the mountain on which is sits 

Swimming in the Med - a 10 minute bus ride from home

Climbing just a couple blocks from our home 

Just as I was hoping, the G-42 Leadership Academy appears to be a place of raw Christian community, practical Kingdom-centered academia, and experienced mentorship in a picture perfect location.  I live on the edge of the little village of Mijas Pueblo in an old white church perched on the side of a mountain.  My roommates are fellow students; six Americans, two Dutchmen, and one South African.  All of them want to change the world through love and I have no doubts that they will.  They are people of character, honor, and motivation and I feel blessed to live life with them.  The professors are some of the most accomplished and experienced people I have met, ranging from church planters to CEOs to non-profit visionaries. 

Sunrise yesterday from my patio 

The point of G-42 is to bring its "interns" to a place where they can make a detailed, practical plan about how they are going to love some people and reverse an oppression in the name of Jesus and then go do it.  The school accomplishes this through mentorship, discipleship, teaching, and intentional community.  It is an exciting place to be.  I am still trying to figure out exactly what I want out of my time here and what I am going to do afterward but I can honestly say from the bottom of my heart, "I am loving my time in Spain so far."