Day 20 - June 2nd - Sunday

Today was really exciting and fun! We drove to Toledo to perform at a church there. We had a long performance with lots of dramas for the Sunday School group, then a short break, then a slightly shorter set for the whole church. Apart from the usual Spanish crowd, there were a couple of Nigerian families there who spoke English, and they were very excited about us being there! God definitely opened the hearts of the people to us in Toledo. After the service we went to the pastor's house for lunch. It was a refreshing time of rest and fellowship both with the pastor's family and within our own team. After that we went to another church in Toledo, this time a super conservative church consisting primarily of Romanians. It was a very long collaborative service. First they facilitated worship, complete with a whole choir of lutes. Then we gave our presentation of songs and dramas. Then the Romanian pastor gave a sort of introduction to Larry Thornburg, who preached a message on the difference between good theology (which is faith in God alone, from and for Him) and bad theology (which is putting your faith in man and his works). That was one of the highlights of my day, because the entire message that I just described was preached in Spanish! And I understood the majority of what he said! It was so exciting! Even more exciting, after the service was over and we were all packed up and heading out the door, I actually got to have my first normal conversation entirely in Spanish! The pastor said "God bless you" in Spanish, and I said it back. He got really excited that I knew a little Spanish, chatted with me for a couple of minutes, then said "You have to meet me wife!" and dragged me over to a circle of about five women who were chatting with one another. He pushed me into the middle of them, exclaimed "She speaks Spanish! Talk Spanish to her!", and walked away. After a couple of awkward moments and a brief introduction, his wife and another woman there started up a regular conversation with me, asking and discussing what I was studying in school, what the weather was like in San Diego, the beach, how I learned Spanish, whether my family were believers, what I planned to do with my life - all in Spanish! And I was able to keep up with almost everything they were asking/saying, and say what I wanted to back! It was so thrilling to be able to use what I had learned in high school in a practical way, and to be able to do so well at it! It was definitely a God-ordained meeting. And, ironically, today is my high school Spanish teacher's birthday. :) Anyway, it's after midnight right now, and I still have some packing to do, so I'd better finish up this entry. Tonight's performance was our last ministry event and our last night with our host families.  Moving to a hotel for our last night as a team. Goodnight!