Wow!  It is hard to find where to begin as so much has happened since our last prayer letter. In our last prayer letter we had just left Gijón and we were trying to get settled into Granada; we definitely had a very interesting first months in Granada.

On to GRANADA. . . After arriving in Granada the end of July, we began learning some valuable lessons in patience and thankfulness.  August is usually the hottest month of the summer in Spain, and is also the month when half of Spain is on vacation (meaning a very bad time to try to get much done).  After many frustrating weeks with the gas and electric companies, we were finally able to get them both hooked up after going 3 weeks without hot water or our own electricity (the owner of the house we are renting lives right next to us and he ran an extension cord to our house so that we could have some electricity for the most basic things).  Once we had our electricity turned on we were able to use our A/C (a portable machine we can move from room to room), that was a great blessing as most of August we were hitting 100ºF.  These little things that you take for granted, like hot water, A/C, and a stove can teach much thankfulness when you have to go without them for a little while.  But this is typical Spain in August!

Time for SCHOOL. . . The devil has definitely been fighting in these last 2 months, but at the same time we have seen God´s faithfulness.  God gave us a great school for the girls while we were in Gijón, and again we are thanking God for the school that the girls are attending this year.  In Gijón, it was only by the Lord´s hand that the girls were able to attend the school that they did, and we know that it will be the same here in Granada.  We have already had a chance to meet many of the parents, and yesterday I was able to share with Juan (one of the dad´s I met the first day) a little bit of who we are and why we are here.

New CHURCH. . . Not only has God given a great school for the girls, but also has provided a great spot for the church.  If you haven´t heard, we now have a building for the church!  It is a little over 1000 sq. feet and it is on the busiest street in the neighbourhood of Zaídin (south side of Granada).  Everything about this place was perfect: the location is excellent, the size is perfect for getting started, it didn´t need a lot of remodelling, and it is a great price of 650€-$975 (we had found other buildings that were much smaller, needed a lot of work, and were not located on a main street for 600€).  We have been painting, cleaning, putting up molding, decorating the nursery, purchasing a sign, ordering invitations, and doing some work on a pulpit that was given to us.  Thank you so much to those of you who have given extra for these initial costs and for a special gift recently given to take care of the chairs.

The BIG day. . . 5000 invitations have been ordered for the first service on 7 December at 1130.  Please pray for this first service as we will spend the 6 weeks prior going door-to-door personally inviting the people to the service.  Pray for God´s leading and power, that this first service will give us many that have a heart for Him and that have a desire to build a Bible-following Baptist church.  Pray for wisdom for us and for unity among those who come.

Planning AHEAD. . . Just a note to those who may be interested in personally coming to help out in the future-you are always welcome and needed!  We have had a few individuals and groups that have expressed interest in coming for quick visits (1-2 weeks or longer) next year and we praise God for their desire to get involved.  If you would be interested in coming to help out or bring a group (youth, missions, etc), please get in contact with us ASAP so we can schedule desired dates.  There is much to be done, even if you don´t speak Spanish!!!

PRAISING GOD. . . We are praising God for 2 souls saved in the last week!  Last Friday (3 Oct), our middle daughter, Nicole, prayed and asked Christ to save her-she had been coming to us with many questions lately.  Then on Sunday (5 Oct.) we had our first visitor to the meetings we are holding in our home.  His name is Lucio and after the service he prayed and asked Christ to save him!  He wanted anything we could give him to help him grow and he promised to be back for next Sunday and to invite family that he has in Granada.  God is soooo good!!

By the way, if anyone would like to receive email updates, just send me an email and I will add you to the list.  We generally send out email updates at least every 2 weeks to keep everyone better informed.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support!!!

Laboring together in Spain,
The Stark´s