From Mississippi to Missionary

Dear Friends and Family,

As some of you may know, I´ve been ministering in one of the greatest cities in the world, Barcelona, Spain, (behind the great cities of Bude, Star, and Bogue Chitto, MS of course) since the end of June. I had the privilege of living here last year for around 11 months being an English teacher. To be brief, I absolutely fell in love with this city and the people that live here. At first, I thought that it was only because I loved the culture here but little did I know, God was calling me to a huge mission field. I was blessed to go on a youth camp this summer with the church that finally nailed down my calling to follow my Dad´s incredible ministry with teenagers. If I can make half the impact that my Dad has made in the states here in Barcelona then this will become a radically changed city!

I returned to Mississippi last December because I thought that I had gotten my travel bug out of me. I took a worship leading job at FBC Jackson and worked at a coffee shop during the week. Trust me when I tell you that I tried my darndest (you can take the boy out of Mississippi but not the Mississippi out of the boy) to fit back into Mississippi culture, work in a church and be the minister that I feel like most people wanted me to be. However, it was very obvious that it was not God´s plan for my life.

As much as I love a nice glass of Sweet Iced Tea, God was calling me to get back to Barcelona. He has put a compassion for the people of this city, especially for teenagers, that I´ve never felt in any other place I´ve ever lived. He´s given me a desire to see the people of this city come to know the grace and love that I underservingly receive every day.

So some of you may be wondering exactly what I do here in Barcelona specifically. I get the privilege to work in various areas of a church called El Lokal (The Local) with a pair of wonderful pastors. (Curtis and Patti Clewett) They are 2 Americans that have been living here in Barcelona for over 20 years and it´s great to see their ministry flourish here.

I have been given the opportunity to start a youth ministry from scratch. And when I say scratch I mean that on a great day we have 3 students! It´s a blessing to love on the kids here. This church is very geared towards young people and God has given me such a fire for the young people of this country.

Secondly, I help with the worship band in the church. And you may be thinking, Josh why aren´t you leading the worship band? I tell you that there are such talented musicians in our church with such incredible hearts that it is just a blessing to just be apart of their worship ministry. Another way I help is that I am doing all the finances of the church. (Yes Mom, all of those Dave Ramsey radio telecasts you listened to in the car are finally paying off!)
Also, I am very involved in the culture outside of the church here in Barcelona. Every Thursday, I started a language exchange in a very famous area of the city called Gracia. Basically we meet 2 hours every Thursday (1 hour of English and 1 hour of Spanish) and it´s a really great way to minister to the people in a very non-churchy way. I get to invite some of our church members to come meet people and share the love of Christ without people having to come to a church building. It´s been a really neat way to minister to people in this city! So to say the least, I have my hands full with different ministries in the church but it´s such a blessing to finally get my hands dirty doing the Lord´s work!

God is ready to do major things in this area and I can see it so clearly now. I have committed to being here for another 2 years and it´s so exciting. I want to invite you to join me in this wonderful adventure to spread the love of Christ in a city that is desperately in need of it. I want to ask you to remember the people of this incredible place in your prayers and to pray about supporting me here. I will be home for Christmas for a few weeks and I would love to meet with anyone over a coffee or come to your church to speak more about the ministry here. Also, feel free to ask me any questions through email here. I´d love to stay in touch with you all. God bless from across the world and I hope the sweet tea is still as sweet as I remember! Muchimas gracias!