Jesse & Sophie Bentley

A word or two from Salamanca…

So our new semester has begun and we are busy planning events, leading Bible studies, and spending time with students from around the globe.  This semester we´ve been blessed to meet new students from Spain, France, Belgium, Hungary, Kyrgyzstan, Colombia, Peru, Panama, Chile, and even the US.   We pray that God will use En Vivo as a place for these students to find friends, fun, and faith in Christ.

Helping Haiti…

Every January we host a special event called la Cena de Tortitas (Pancake Dinner) during the weeks of final exams.  It´s a fun way to encourage students to take a study break and to grab something quick to eat at the En Vivo house.  And Spaniards love the American style pancakes, so it is always a popular night.  This year we decided to take donations for Haiti during our pancake dinner, and announced it among our students and at the local church we attend as well.  We were ecstatic to have raised €554 ($775) for Haiti in just two hours!  We pray that God will use even this small amount to bless the reconstruction efforts in Haiti through the work of Lifeline, the organization that we chose to receive our donation.

Having fun…

That has a lot to do with what campus ministry is all about.  Of course, we think it´s also an important part of our lives as Christians, since the joy in our life is directly linked to the hope and faith we have in Christ.  And we hope that joy and hope is contagious… because if it´s not, there´s probably something lacking in our day to day trusting of God with all aspects of our life.  One thing that we enjoy students getting to see is that a Christian life is a life filled with joy, and believe it or not… is actually fun!  Too often, especially here in Europe, anything related remotely to religion is immediately considered old-fashioned, weird, or just boring.  So we try to incorporate fun into a lot of our activities… like doing a game of group trivia after our Tuesday devotional lunches, or watching an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. during our English nights, or just hanging out and grabbing a coffee after Bible Study.

This is a great job…

As we start a new semester at En Vivo, we are reminded of the privilege it is to be working and serving here in Salamanca!  It is a beautiful city with thousands upon thousands of university students… they literally dominate every part of life of the city.  Though at times our task of sharing Christ with them seems daunting, we know that God is slowly but surely working through us and En Vivo to see students come to know Him.   We have an absolutely fantastic team that we work alongside; and God has blessed us with some amazing student leaders this year.  Our student leadership group, the Núcleo (or Nucleus), is our student leadership/service group.  This semester we have 15 student leaders whom we meet with every two weeks.  In each meeting we unpack a passage of Scripture, talk about opportunities to serve their fellow students, share ideas for new events and outreaches, and spend time in prayer.  Please pray with us that these 15 students will desire to see En Vivo grow and reach out to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of their friends and other university students in the city.

Going Deeper…

One student that we have had the joy of getting to know over the last year is a Muslim girl who we will call Susan.  She  has been an occasional attender at our events, and typically enjoys coming to our Wednesday English nights, or Café Inglés.  However, recently she has shown a greater interest in wanting to know more about Christianity and what Christians actually believe.  We know that Susan is a person who deeply respects and loves her heritage, but at the same time is intrigued by her Christian friends who seem to live out their faith on a daily basis. Please pray for Susan as she is starting to read a Christian book with some friends in her desire to get to know just what Christianity is all about.

Thank you for your prayers and support that make En Vivo possible!!

Love,

Jesse and Sophie

Juliette and Liam dressed up for the En Vivo Costume party… an angel and Zorro!

…and with it we feel the coldness of winter just around the corner. That´s right, in just a little under a week, we have gone from sunny skies and 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) temperatures to a sad 8 degrees C (46.5 F). And with this change in temperature we´re experiencing a cold wind, leaves falling off trees, and even some rain… It surprises me every year how quickly the weather changes here, and how in the space of about two weeks we´ll go from summer weather straight to the depth of winter. But even though the cold weather can get us down, we do have many reasons to celebrate! We are having a great year so far, seeing many old faces from last year and many more new faces come through the “blue door” at En Vivo. It energizes us to see these Spanish students, as well as many students from so many other countries, come in to En Vivo and immediately feel accepted and loved. Salamanca is known for its outstanding university, and as a result not only do we encounter some of the brightest Spanish students, but we also encounter hundreds of students from all over Europe, Latin America, and even North Africa who are here to study at this prestigious university… and the incredible thing is that while these students are far away from their homes, we get to be a home for them. A place where they can relax, come in out of the cold, and get fed both physically and spiritually.

The Kiddies:

The kids are doing well. Liam and Juliette are both at the same school now, so they get to see each other during the “recreo” (recess) every day. Juliette is taking good care of her little brother as he adjusts to the “big” school, and we feel especially blessed as Juliette´s old teacher is now Liam´s new teacher. Juliette is thriving in school as well, learning to read and write in Spanish, as well as some addition and subtraction. I maybe a little biased, but I think she´s one of the smartest 5-3/4 year olds I know! Alina is also in daycare in the mornings so that Jesse and I can go to work together for a few hours together. She´s doing very well, although is very hesitant to take her first steps. We know that when she´s ready, though, she´ll be running all over the place after her brother and sister!

Upcoming Events:

We have some exciting things coming up  at En Vivo this month. Next week we´re doing a special event called “Esclavitud XXI“, which is a focus on the problem of slavery that is still taking place all over the world. It is estimated that 25million people are in a state of slavery today, ranging from child slavery workers to sex slaves forced into prostitution. To find out more about this global problem, please visit the web site, “Stop the Traffik.”

On November 20-22 we will also have our fall retreat, so please pray for many students to come be a part of that special weekend and to be impacted by and for the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. For a more detailed view of what is going on this month, check out our calendar of events.