Worship in Barcelona

We met with the Badalona congregation for two hours on Saturday evening, and another two hours on Sunday morning (today). My father Royce and I presented lessons on both occasions.

Following Saturday evening’s meeting, we went out with about 15 of the brethren to get a bite and visit. The church is small – around 25 or so – but diverse.  Besides Spaniards we met people from Ecuador, Cuba and Ghana. There may be another country represented here that I haven’t picked up on yet. The church has young people from early teens to twenty-somethings. Here are some of the people we have been with:

John Umber with Elena (l) and her daughter Lisette (r). Lisette is studying Art & Architecture in the University, but also has an interest in languages. Besides Spanish, she speaks Catalán, English, and is studying Japanese.

Kristina (2nd from left) with her daughters Judith (l) and Dámaris (r) along with Dámaris' boyfriend, Alex.

Judith and Dámaris are also in a 2 year-old photo at the bottom of this post. (Dámaris is at the far right of the linked picture.)

It has been very enjoyable to reconnect with these friends, and to form relationships with others we have just met.

The congregation has invited us to be with them for an hour every evening this week, through Friday night. That is a bit of a sacrifice for them since they have work, school, life, etc. They have said that they are fairly isolated from churches of Christ in other places and thus appreciate our being with them. Their situation is not one I can yet relate to, being close to so many congregations of Christians in the U.S.  We hope to encourage and strengthen these brethren in a meaningful way during our time in Barcelona.