June 6th: D-Day in Normandy, France

On this date in 1944, troops from the United States, Great Britain, Canada and Free French forces invaded the Normandy coast of German-occupied France. 11 months later, what was left of Germany surrendered unconditionally to the Allies.

Getting ashore with enough troops, equipment and supplies to effectively continue the fight was a challenge that is still unparalleled in its scope. As in every war, mistakes were made that increased the loss of life. Both soldiers and civilians perished in the invasion. Yet the landings were successful, paving the way for Nazi Germany’s destruction and the rebuilding of war-ravaged Europe.

65 years later, there are few alive who remember the events of this day. Let us always remember and respect the sacrifice so many have made, and continue to make, for others’ freedom.

I had the privilege of visiting the beach areas in 2004. Here are some of my photos from that trip.

The top of the cliffs of Pointe du Hoc, still showing the effect of the aerial and naval bombardments. U.S. Rangers, under fire, scaled the beach cliffs, took this ground by frontal assault and held it against several counter-attacks over the next 2 days. They suffered heavy casualties. Out of 225 Rangers, 90 came out still able to fight.

 

 

The remains of a German bunker in a massive crater on Pointe du Hoc, near "Omaha" Beach. The rubble remains undisturbed since that time.

 

"Pegasus" Bridge, site of the first D-Day assault. British glider troops landed nearby and captured the bridge intact before the beach assaults. The bridge in this photo is a replacement, but the original sits nearby. The building on the other side was there in 1944, and was the first café to be liberated in occupied France.

"Utah" Beach, which was assaulted by U.S. troops from the 4th Infantry Division.

Reflections on Spain after returning home

We arrived in Tampa last night and made it to our homes. I would have posted last night, but my wife and kids (for some reason) took pretty much all of my time.

It was a very good trip by several measures. The Christians all seemed to be encouraged by our visits. The Spanish brethren described to us the difficulty of their work a number of times. Our desire was to encourage them to be strong, steadfast and hopeful in spite of the challenges around them. We were able to spend more personal time with brethren than my previous trip two years ago. It is good to connect with people in such positive ways.

I know of two web sites maintained by these brethren in Spain. Neither one has English content,  but some readers of this blog may find them useful. Brethren near Sevilla have Buscad.com, and the Badalona church in Barcelona has Sembrad.com.

The London visit was a useful by-product of our itinerary, since we had to connect there to/from the U.S.  Lingering for a couple of days on our return didn’t change the price of the flights, so we used the time to rest and visit the British Museum before attacking the pile of work awaiting us at home.

I do not know at this point when I may return to Spain, but hopefully it will be possible within the next couple of years. In the meantime, I have to catch up on things at home. The first part of that will be a sonogram this afternoon that should reveal whether we’re having a boy or girl this summer.

Worship in London

We worshiped with the King’s Cross Church of Christ in London today. Thanks to their web site we found their meeting place without any trouble.

The Kings Cross Church of Christ in London.

David Cambridge is the evangelist for the congregation.  He and the brethren were very kind and welcoming. (For the first time in 2-1/2 weeks, 1) we had a worship service all in English, and 2) none of us preached a sermon.) The congregation has a “Visitors” page with thumbnail photos of everyone who’s visited since 2004. Check it out here and find someone you know.

The meeting place for the King’s Cross congregation is next to the British Library, which has countless numbers of wonderful volumes ready to be explored. (They seem to have actually counted them. The library’s website claims there are “14 million books, 920,000 journal and newspaper titles, 58 million patents, 3 million sound recordings, and so much more.”)

Going back via the British Museum

We are in London this Sunday morning, our first stop on the way back to the U.S.  We are leaving our hotel in a few minutes to worship with a group of Christians here.

Tomorrow we will spend a large part of the day at the British Museum. This museum houses many Bible-related artifacts, along with a plethora of other historical treasures.  There is currently a special exhibit titled Babylon: Myth and Reality, which should be quite interesting. Babylon is a major player in the Bible, and is spoken of long after its fall (i.e. Revelation). I have been to the British Museum before, but my photos are relatively few. I use photos of the artifacts in many of my classes and lessons, so I plan to fill up my camera memory tomorrow. (Hopefully a few may even turn out well!)

We fly the rest of the way home Tuesday morning.

Sevilla Meetings – Finished!

We finished up our last evening with the church in Dos Hermanas and got back to the hotel a little while ago. I presented a another archaeological lesson while my father taught on the question, “Why doesn’t God use people to do big things today as He did in the Bible?”  (Part of the answer: 1) We may not ask big enough things of God, and 2) We may not ask big enough things of ourselves.)

I’ve been posting photos during the week of people with whom we’ve had the privilege of spending personal time. We’ve had more of these opportunities this trip than two years ago. It really is the best way to know people.  

(l to r) María Jesus, Chari, Sergio, Manolo and Marcos

Manolo records every lesson on an MP3 player then backs it up on his computer. People who want an audio copy of a sermon go to him.

Enrique, Eva and Ana

Eva is a rather… vibrant … student who enjoys practicing her English vocab on you.  Her father, Enrique, was a special favorite of my (then) 1 year-old daughter two years ago. She walked over to sit with him for an entire worship period – and this before we had made any formal introductions.

(back) Ani and Juan Garcia (front) Raquel and Miriam

Juan Garcia is gracious enough to personally provide most of our transportation to/from the meeting place, as well as the airport.

We’ve literally preached for 14 days straight. A little tired at this point, but still kicking. It’s been a blessing to be with these special people who have taken time out of their lives to arrange this meeting. From a spiritual perspective,  they exist in a difficult place. There is currently no full time evangelist. Men share the responsibility to preach and teach, but it is easy to become discouraged. Our hope for this trip was to refresh and strengthen all of these Christians in their service to God and each other. Everyone was gracious and encouraging to us as well. If they gained as much from this week as I did, it was a very beneficial effort.

Sevilla Update, with Pics

We continue to meet every night with the church in the city of Dos Hermanas, a suburb of Sevilla. The weekly meetings are one hour long, so my father and I alternate the preaching. I will be speaking tonight (Thursday), but both of us will speak Friday evening since the weekend permits a longer service.

The López family - Cheri, Sara (11), Miguel and Marta (14)

 

My father Royce began with a series of three lessons on “Why did Jesus have to die?”  Last night he presented, per request, a history of the Lord’s work in Colombia, South America. They asked for this lesson because they find this story of faith to be very encouraging, especially in the face of the secularism that dominates so much of Europe.

My lessons have included Bible Principles to Make Righteous Judgments, The Complete Definition of Evangelistic Work, and various lessons on Biblical Archaeology. My hope is that these subjects lend encouragement to brethren who frequently tell me how difficult it is to be a Christian here.

(back) Jorge Louis and Maribel, (front) Daniel and Jorge, Jr.

We have been able to spend a lot of time with people here. The number of young people is particularly encouraging. May they grow up free of the humanistic and Post-modern attitudes that shape so much of current Western culture.

Perhaps Gaudí is not so Gaudy

The English word gaudy is basically defined as ostentatious, tastelessly decorated, or overly ornamented. Its origin may be from Old English, but some say it derives from the name of the Spanish Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí, whose designs are interpreted by some as, well… rather gaudy.

Gaudí (1852 – 1926) lived and worked in Barcelona. His unique style is imprinted on numerous sites in the city. He possessed a love for nature, which produced a very organic look in his designs. He avoided straight lines, favoring fluid, flowing shapes.

We regularly passed two of his buildings on our way to/from Metro stations. Here is the Casa Milá.

The Casa Milá in Barcelona, designed by Gaudí in the early 20th century.

Another location is the Casa Batlló, a building restored by Gaudí from 1905 – 1907. It was originally a residence but is now a museum. We were not able to go inside, but I saw photos of the interior, and it is equally distinctive. I could not take a face-on photo due to construction front of the building. This is the best full-view I could get on this trip.

The Casa Batlló en Barcelona.

Notice the skeletal appearance of the lower facade.

The lower facade of the Casa Batlló. The inside is even more interesting.

The facade is intended to appear organic. Some deem it to simply look strange. (I am a former member of this group.) I am now beginning to appreciate Gaudí’s style. It is certainly interesting to study, especially when one understands a little of what influenced the design.

The upper levels of the Casa Batlló.

I will post later on Gaudí’s masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia cathedral. It has been under construction since 1882 (as in the 19th century), and should finally be completed in the next couple of decades.

Sunday report from Sevilla, Spain

We spoke for two churches in/around Sevilla today, for a total of 4 hours’ assembly. I was with both congregations two years ago, and it was good to renew friendships. Unfortunately, none of the churches in Spain has a full-time evangelist with which to work.  The men in each congregation divide the responsibilities as they are able. They hope this situation may be able to change.

The congregation in Sevilla, Spain

The church in Dos Hermanas, Spain

The brethren plan for us to meet with them every night this week through Friday night, which is perfectly fine. When we complete our visit here, we will have met with churches for 14 days straight.

We spent part of today in the home of this family, with whom I was also fortunate to spend time with two years ago.

(l to r) Javi (15 yrs old), Javier, Sara and Ruben (12 yrs old)

 

We will spend a good part of tomorrow with another one of the families in Dos Hermanas. A highlight of any evangelistic trip is the personal time spent with other Christians. I believe these occasions offer the greatest potential for encouraging each other.

From Barcelona to sunny Sevilla.

We just arrived in the city of Sevilla, which is often rendered “Seville” in English. Sevilla is in SW Spain, near the border with Portugal. We will be spending time with two churches here over the next week.

Our final assembly in Barcelona was yesterday evening. We spent a good bit of time taking pictures and visiting after the service. Some of the members had to leave before we took this picture:

One last picture with a few of the brethren in Barcelona.

Our time here was a highlight. They invited us back, and I hope I may take them up on it the next time I am in a position to plan a visit.

We went out Friday morning for our only visit (on this trip) to a popular Barcelona site – La Sagrada Familia cathedral. Quite an interesting place. Since this blog covers various subjects, I plan to post on on it soon.

Meeting report from Barcelona

We continue to meet with the church in the Badalona district every night. The rotation we have used had my father speaking tonight (Friday) but the brethren surprised us by extending the time so both he and I could present lessons. I am using my final two lessons to discuss Biblical Archaeology – a frequent subject of this blog.

On Wednesday evening, my father Royce concluded his lesson after only 20 minutes. (Jokes, anyone?) We may be accustomed in such a circumstance to dismiss our service a few minutes early, but the brethren here asked if he could teach another lesson to completely fill the time.  I don’t believe I have ever experienced this reaction in the States. (Okay… my lessons don’t typically end after 20 minutes. That must be the only reason.)

The three people on the right are (l to r) Elena, Enrique and Louís. They are originally from Cuba.