Updates On Past Prayer Requests

Hello All,

On my way home from dropping Renae off, I realized that I have asked for a lot of prayer for various people and then perhaps not given any update! So, in this entry, I want to give some information about various people and items that we have asked you to pray for over the last year.

Antonio & Marguerite
Our landlords, who have been so kind to us over the last year. We have been praying for their salvation. There is nothing new in this area to report. Marguerite is always interested in things regarding our church and spiritual truths. Antonio has not been as interested. We are seeing at least Antonio tonight, as we have scheduled to see him to give him our rent. Please continue to pray for them. These two are always on my heart, and every time we are with them, I do my best to stir conversation to things of the Lord, and have as yet been unsuccessful. Maybe tonight!

The Picaduena Alta Gang
Ah, our favorite taggers! When we were gone back in the early part of the year, they gave us their autographs on our wall outside of our house. When we came back, we learned their names and had a visual reminder on the wall. This second time that we returned, we had been tagged a second time. This time, it seems the neighbors had had enough and chased them away for good. We have not seen them anywhere near our neighborhood since returning.

Ignacio & Javier, The Guitar Center Guys
Lord willing, I will get to see them again soon. When we first met them, they were both still reeling from the tragic loss of their Father. We have played music together a few times, and these brothers are very kind. I stopped by today, and must have just missed them due to Siesta time.

Mari Carmen
Since she gave her life to the Lord a few weeks ago, we have not seen her again at church. Juan Carlos and Claudia, the Bolivian believers who attend our church and work for Mari Carmen, have told us that she remains very interested and has been reading her Bible. Pray that she will be able to truly walk away from whatever might be holding her back.

Jaime, My Language Coach
Our relationship was predicated on his relationship with the young lady that Yolee was tutoring in English. Unfortunately, their relationship ended and we have not seen Jaime around. I explained in detail the Gospel to Jaime and he seemed to be surprised that I didn't already know that Spaniards believed the same thing! "Uh...no..." Pray that the seed that the Lord planted with our relationship might someday blossom.

Acquiring The Spanish Language
Can I just say "Don't Ask!?" There are days when I walk out the door with all the confidence in the world...until someone talks to me! I don't think Lela feels the same way, but I get all nervous and sweaty and I think that mostly our neighbors feel sorry for me! Our vocabulary has improved and we are employing many resources to help. The Rosetta Stone is a great resource, as are the two Podcasts that I am subscribed to. (Let me recommend "Coffee Break Spanish." All I can say is that a Scottish man is teaching Spanish. When he speaks Spanish, he sounds like a Spaniard. The cool thing about this Podcast is you get two for one; I've always wanted to learn a Scottish accent!) One other resource that I have found helpful has been my own recorded messages with Pastor Carlos translating. All that to say: PLEASE PRAY FOR THE GIFT OF TONGUES!

Pastor Carlos' Vehicle Needs
When Pastor Carlos goes into Morroco, he needs an all terrain vehicle to visit remote parts of Morroco. He is currently praying for provision to purchase a new vehicle. There is one that he found recently that is very low priced. We trust that if that is the one for him, then the Lord will provide. Please pray that God would meet that need.

Finally...The VISA Issue
Ah, the mother of all prayer requests. As of today, we still have heard nothing about the visas for Lela and the kids. If we do not hear, we will again have to leave in January. Please pray that God would confirm His call for us to remain here by the provision of these papers.

Thank you for praying. I hope that it won't take me as long to update you on the next set of prayer requests. Ah, I almost forgot: We are slowly feeling better. Elizabeth is recovering from bronchitis nicely according to her pediatrician. Renae seems to be doing a bit better herself. However, Lela could use some extra prayer, as she seems to be stuck near the border of bronchitis. We ask for her complete healing especially. If not, it's spam and cereal again tonight!

Blessings To The Friends Of Spain,
Frank Sanchez

The Joy Of Sickness

Hello All (cough, cough, hack, hack!!!),

As you have likely guessed from the title of this entry, our entire family has come down with various degrees of the cold/flu bug. We all started feeling this way around Thanksgiving Eve and the "sickies" just continued to progress on through the weekend. It has become some part of my personal tradition to get sick on Thanksgiving. I count it my first sickness of the season. Perhaps I passed it around, I don't know. But it got bad enough to consult with a Doctor on Monday morning.

So we all climbed into the "coche de terror," along with our good friend and very able translator Yolee, and went to the clinic. We got there around 10:30AM, which is the Spanish equivalent of 8:30AM. We got there as they were just opening for business. Thankfully, it was a short wait and the Sanchez ladies were seen rather quickly. We came out with a severe cough, minor bronchitis and tonsilitis. After a quick trip to the local pharmacy, we were equipped to fight our various viruses.

I was intrigued by the Spanish Doctor and his manner with us as patients, in comparison to what we are used to in the U.S. health care system. For the most part, there was no separation. He talked to us like any person would talk to another here in Spain. He was very bold and passionate, even for just talking about a cold symptom. For those from the States, the way they talk here would almost be considered provocative. In fact, on a few occasions, I have been observing what I thought were heated conversations, but were in fact merely a "Hello, how are you!"

The other thing I noticed, and notice quite often here is the lack of personal space. No one seems to be worried about crowding you! The Doctor was no exception. He moved right on in and was "up in our business!" It can tend to be a little claustrophobic at times, but nobody here seems to mind. In fact, they look at you a little funny when you seem to mind!

We left the Doctor's office feeling good about our chances for survival! Thanks a lot Doc! We'll see what happens, but if you think about us, pray that we'll feel better soon.

Blessings To The Friends Of Spain,
Frank Sanchez

Thanksgiving At The Casco's

Hello All,

"The Spanish people do not have a Thanksgiving day equivalent." I thought, "Ok, maybe I'm not called here after all!" While I am not a big fan of Turkey, I am a big fan of sitting down to a huge feast! How could you not have Thanksgiving!? Well, thankfully, our friends, the Casco's, host Thanksgiving at their house, with almost all of the traditional food, plus a few Spanish and Ecuadorian treats. The celebration is very similar to an American Thanksgiving. Carlos reads a Psalm and talks a bit about the meaning of Thanksgiving. Then we all went around and talked about what we are thankful for. It was a fun time of fellowship and a blessing to be together. Our thanks to the Casco family for their wonderful hospitality. Special thanks to Yolanda Casco, whose food preparation was incredible. Now, here are a few pics from the evening:
Here is my lovely wife Lela with Carmen and Angel Avila. My daughter is quite taken with Angel and just prior to my taking the picture, she reached over and grabbed his hand! Sly little girl! I really need to get to work on that all girls Christian Convent!

What Thanksgiving Day celebration is complete without a kid's table!? Renae and Elizabeth enjoyed their Thanksgiving Cuisine at the Mini!

Here is the table fully laid out, with turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, Ecuadorian stuffing and one of the largest sweet potatoes my wife had ever seen. My first thought was, "Alright, where is the food for everyone else!?"

Just a quick side note: I had to come to Spain to get my first taste of a sweet potato! Carmen prepared it and it was just delicious. I am now going to request a sweet potato every night! At least for a week or 2!



Here is my wife with our good friend Yolee, who is Pastor Carlos' daughter. Aside from being a fine singer and worship leader, she also is an incredible hair dresser. She has the exclusive haircutting rights to the entire Sanchez family over here in Spain! She has a strict "No Mullet" policy, which we are all thankful for!






Ah, the post food entertainment. Here is Juan on the left and Angel on the right. They are using the force to extinguish the candles. As you can see this was a futile effort as the force is not a real deal. So, they decided to use their fingers to pinch out the flames. Renae, not shown in the picture, was enthralled by this show of Spanish machismo. I am proud to say that despite suffering third degree burns, the boys were able to extinguish the flame. These type of events won't be held at the all girls Christian Convent!


We hope that you and yours had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday.

Blessings To The Friends Of Spain,
Frank Sanchez

What Are You Thankful For?

As far back as I can remember, this has been the question that us Sanchez kids had to answer before we dug into the blessed bird! I thought that in keeping with that tradition, we would ask the kids what they are thankful for. What you are about to watch is their response.