It all started with an incredible day camp for kids! Kelly Seders, AGWM personnel in Barcelona, Spain and her group of volunteers (with the help of a team visiting from the States) hosted more than 60 children for a week of learning and growing in faith. The theme was imagination and invention, with a theological focus on God’s creativity and the unique purpose for each individual.
It’s common in Spanish culture for kids to attend weekly camps the entire summer due to the long work hours of parents. This, of course, gets expensive. There’s virtually no such thing as a free camp, but the International Church of Barcelona (ICB) provided a camp free of charge. Kids were saying this was the best camp they’d ever attended; they even wanted it to be longer! Parents were blown away by the quality of the camp and amount of fun their kids were having, to the point that some wanted to pay ICB after the fact!
On the first day of the camp, volunteers were standing outside greeting parents and kids with loud cheers, and it caught the attention of several passers-by. Earlier that morning, a woman had asked God, "If you're real, please provide something for my kids to do this week." As one of those interested passers-by, she then asked what was going on in the church, and one of the volunteers told her about our camp. Astonished, she asked if her kids could be signed up, too! They came the following day and were with us for the rest of the week!
Then, in July and August, Nick and Kelly Seders led ICB in a very intentional reading challenge. In order to support biblical literacy and focus on the meaning of the Gospel, we led everyone in a 30-day reading of the New Testament. Since summers in Spain tend to be slow (with locals heading for the hills and tourists hitting the beaches), it was the perfect time for everyone to add scripture into their daily routines! The challenge not only did that, but it also forced fellow believers to come to terms with essential elements of the faith. According to one of the new believers, “It’s been a daily appointment with myself: a space to relax, reflect, and get the answers that only God has. Opening the Bible every day gives me peace.”
For the duration of the NT-30 challenge, the Seders coordinated a weekly gathering outside of the city which allowed for a time of worship and reflection on the things that they as a community had been reading. Teachings included how redemption and restoration function, the power of the Holy Spirit, how to read the Pauline letters, and the message of Revelation. God used these gatherings to support the reading challenge in such a great way!