Sabbatical Reflection 3: Vinaros and the Templar Castle.

Hi Bridge Church family! Here’s update #3 on our sabbatical adventure.

We’ve been in Alcossebre now for a couple of weeks. If you missed my last update or forgot, this is a small town on the coast of Spain 2.5 hours south of Barcelona and 1.5 hours north of Valencia. It’s relatively unknown, but stunningly beautiful (and very quiet now in the offseason). It has been a tremendous gift from God for us to be able to stay here. We’ve loved exploring the area and doing all kinds of non-typical touristy things. Staying for a month in a place is a very different experience than the usual, “see everything you can as quick as you can because you’re only here for a few days” visit. On most days, we spend the morning and late afternoon doing work (Carolyn leading the kids in homeschooling, and me writing my book) and do some kind of excursion in the afternoon. In terms of my book, I’m happy to say that I’m wrapping up Chapter 4 (out of 9). Overall, I’m very grateful for the progress I’ve made and the pace it’s going. We’ve also been watching a bunch of Olympics, though we’ve only got access to European channels. We’ve learned that the British commentators for all the freestyle skiing and snowboarding events are perhaps the most entertaining commentators in the history of television, and that German commentators are extremely excited about sliding events (though we have no idea what they’re saying). Spanish commentators seem profoundly disinterested in winter sports and unimpressed with everything they see on ice.

Although it’s been a relatively chill time here (not meaning the weather, which has been very warm, but the pace- which will change when we start the Italy and Greece legs of our trip in March), there are a few highlights I wanted to share with you. One is our church experience. The first Sunday we were here, we drove all the way to Valencia where there was an English international church. It was good to be with them, but the drive was significant. We decided to look for an evangelical Spanish-speaking church in the area and found one called “La Roca” in the town of Vinaros, which we’ve now joined the last two Sundays. Although I probably only catch 10% of what is said (and the rest of the family is much lower, of course), I’ve been so, so thankful for our time there. We’ve said it reminds us in many ways of The Bridge- similar size and feel. Times of worship have been so powerful. Though the songs are of course in Spanish, they’re all familiar- we’ve sung songs like “Goodness of God”, “How He Loves Us”, and “Do It Again”. (The pre-service music is often straight up English Christian music, featuring Forrest Frank, Toby Mac, and others- a huge highlight for the kids.) For me, joining with other believers for worship and not being the pastor is often so refreshing. I’m not worried about who is or isn’t there, I’m not worried about the lighting or the sound, I’m not thinking about what I’m going to preach, I’m able to be present with the people and most of all with the Lord. Our first Sunday there, one of the ushers figured out we were English speakers and brought someone to interpret the sermon for us. We’ve been so blessed by the service this woman has given us the last two weeks, enabling us to understand what is being taught. The people love one another well and the place is packed. Our default impression of Europe is that it is spiritually dry. This church is anything but that! Pray for La Roca and for its ministry here in Spain.

The other major thing we’ve done the last two weeks is explore a bunch of castles. Nearby to us is the Templar Castle of Xivert. It was a bit of a hike to the top of a ridge, but so worth it. It’s free and open for anyone to explore the castle grounds. Templar Knights, after being expelled from the holy land in the wake of the Crusades, created a base of operations in this area in the middle ages. This castle was one of them. 20 minutes away, on the other side of the nature reserve that Alcossebre borders, is a town called Peniscola. It is one of the most incredible places we’ve visited. On a little spur jutting out from the rest of the town are these old city walls and within that an ancient castle. I had forgotten this history before coming here, but back in the 14th and 15th centuries, there were a number of competing Roman Catholic “popes” at the same time. One of them, a Spanish cleric who went by Benedict XIII, was eventually excommunicated and fled to Peniscola and took up residence in the castle there, where he maintained his claim to be the true pope until his death. When you tour this castle in Peniscola, you see the rooms he would have used for his bedroom, his study, his library, and so on. I’ve got to say, I felt more than a little envy about his office space. And then yesterday, we did a hike to an old watchtower overlooking the sea and the general area. From this tower you can see the castle in Peniscola and a short walk away from it is a view of the Castle of Xivert. Apparently, these were all part of a network of castles and watchtowers that formed a medieval defense system. Those who were stationed there would communicate with each other and keep an eye out for possible threats.

I’m a pastor, so I can’t help but try to draw out an illustration, right? This network reminded me of the body of Christ in various ways. We all have the same goal, but we each have different vantage points. There are certain things we’re able to see that others may not be able to. This is true of individuals, of denominations, of the church throughout history. It’s crucial that in the body of Christ we communicate with each other and alert each other to various pitfalls or dangers. If we cut ourselves off and isolate ourselves, we become much more vulnerable to attacks of various kinds. Maybe you see another illustration or can expand that even further- let me know!

We love you and continue to pray for you often. When we’ve talked about what we miss about home, our church tops the list. We continue to pray that the Lord would keep us all united, that He would fill us with His love, and that He would lead people to Himself through our church. We know that The Bridge is in His strong hands. We are so grateful for your prayers and for the gift that this sabbatical is. Keep praying we will be refreshed, that the Lord would give me the strength and wisdom to complete these writing projects, and that this will be everything He wants it to be.

In Christ,

Craig, Carolyn, Natalie, Zachary