New Years 2024 Newsletter
Sunrise photo I took during First Termer’s retreat in Malaga, Spain
Hebrews 6: 19-20
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul,
firm and secure.
It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
where our forerunner, Jesus,
has entered on our behalf.”
My precious team from our Christmas party with our hot chocolate!
Looking back on 2023, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude for everything the Lord has done. First, I want to thank you for your prayers, love, and support. On the hardest days here, I’m reminded that you are praying for me and supporting me here in Spain. It’s encouraging, and I pray that the Lord would return the comfort and peace to you through his Holy Spirit.
Second, I’d love to recap a few things from this year and lay out a general vision for the new year.
As we had a bonfire to celebrate the end of summer, our neighbors rang the doorbell and warned us of fire in our front yard. I guess bonfires like this aren’t that common in Spain!
Our favorite Spanish tradition is the Medieval festival! But mostly we just love the food. (Rachel left, Hannah right)
We’ve filmed a lot this year, and most of our filming is small scale in our studio, simple interviews and translations. (Kerry left, Denise right).
The Esther Reveal: January - May
We started the new year at full speed. Years ago, ministry partners from Iran expressed interest in seeing the story of Esther produced for their people. Esther is not only a biblical queen, but a historical Persian queen as well, with her existing tomb in Iran and remains from the palace of Susa in the Louvre.
Originally, it would be a movie. But with the unrest in Iran last year, our director felt it urgent to produce at least a piece of the story as soon as possible. We spent about 6 weeks in pre production and filmed The Esther Reveal the second week of March. The final edit of the short, 10 minute Reveal was finished by the end of April, and the full Esther Reveal was finished on June 1st.
Since then, the Esther Reveal has been sent to our ministry partners in Iran and used to fundraise for the larger, upcoming Esther mini-series. We saw several of our actors learn about the gospel through the filming, and one woman even share her story and pray with our team. It was a hard process, but the Lord used it every step for His glory.
The watch party was a big success! We couldn’t help but take a team photo after it was finished using the video camera and Watch Party Banner.
Filming an Arabic piece for women this fall
Weekly coffee before our language exchange on Thursdays
Conference Season: May - October
Summer of 2023 was full of preparation for conferences IMM took apart in. We had 3 summer interns who helped at different parts of the preparations, and spent the longest working on the booth and fundraising dinner for General Council in Columbus, Ohio at the beginning of August.
At GC, our team made dozens of connections and had over $150k pledged for the Esther mini-series. This was such an encouragement, since we had only expected $50k at the maximum. There’s an incredible amount of support for the project, and our team was so humbled by this event. Our ministry partner also was able to share her testimony about the Lord saving her from persecution in Iran!
We also attended CEVMA in September and Shine Congress in October. I went to CEVMA last year, and loved reconnecting with different European filmmakers who glorify Jesus with their creativity. IMM also connected with several international ministries at Shine and we are now working on new language translations for Dutch, Norwegian, Spanish, and others as a result of that conference.
Each year, those who are in their first missionary term gather for the First Termer’s retreat. Here we all prayed for our leadership and upcoming year on the field as we left.
Bianca and I at Field Fellowship Retreat
Ministers from around the world came to Madrid for the Shine Congress, and we were able to share vision and pray together
Our full team went into Madrid in the middle of a week of filming for our Christmas lunch. This is the fullest our table has been in a while!
Personal Updates 2023
As for major personal updates, in January I started volunteering with Brilla, a local coffee shop ministry that hosts English language classes every week. I was able to meet a ton of Spaniards this way and because Brilla is missions focused, each class focused on topics that lead conversation close to faith. I’ll continue this in 2024, and have loved getting to learn more about culture and make friends with locals.
An answer to prayer, in March my teammate Bianca and I were able to move into an apartment together. Our place is in the city center and both of us are so blessed by the independence it has given us. My mental health and physical health have improved a lot since having better access to the city, transportation, and businesses like doctors and gyms.
In spring I was able to spend a month in the States for a wedding and my sister’s graduation. With my vacation time I’ve been able to do some personal travel and even see friends who have visited Europe. I took a personal prayer retreat in September and have spent a lot of time reflecting on the past years as well as planning for the future.
This year, we said goodbye to several missionaries. It’s always hard to see people leave, even when more are promised to come in the future.
This fall, my Uncle Mark unexpectedly passed away after a several years long battle with cancer. He loved his family until the very end, and all of us miss him tremendously.
The Future: 2024 and Beyond
Until the end of 2024, I’ll be at IMM. As I decide next steps, I’ll send updates. For now, all I know is around the holiday season I’ll come back to the States. If you’d like to see me then or talk before, don’t hesitate to email, message, or otherwise contact me!
As far as projects, I’m honored to be producing new children’s programs in 2024! These will be animated and meant to reach children in unreached countries with the gospel. IMM will also be beginning production on the Esther miniseries and we hope to start filming this fall. We have three new team members arriving before the summer, and hopefully more interns this summer!
Personally, I’m hoping to focus on my community involvement and language learning, serve more at a local Spanish church, and work on my health. All of these things I believe the Lord has prepared me for this year, and I’m excited for growth and new adventures this year.
Prayer requests:
- Pray for language learning, I hope to be close to fluent by the end of the year
- Pray for my family. With recent loss, it’s hard being away from them as my grandmothers get older.
- Pray for the team at IMM, that we would learn deeper dependence on Jesus and grow in unity.
Three generations of women in my family - I miss them when I’m in Spain
