All those celebrations (see previous blog post) make it sound like life is all hunky dory, huh? Well, I don't want you to think that everything is coming up roses. Yes, we are extremely grateful for many things in our life and work right now and we want to give praise for those. But we also have situations and circumstances that are hard and that we are struggling through. Please join us in praying through these:

• Our team continues to struggle with the loss of two of our teammates as they have moved to Atlanta to serve in a different capacity. While we are happy for their new season, it has been a dramatic blow to us in Spain. Every day, we realize just how deep this wound is for us, both emotionally and for our work. Add to that the fact that we also suffered the loss of 3 volunteers and we are down significantly in our capacity to schedule events and serve people in the community center. Because of this loss in workforce coupled with several pandemic-related changes outside our control, our team is now forced to reassess what La Mesa can and cannot do and how to move forward. It also forces us to reassess and reformulate budgets and schedules, goals and strategic plans. While we remain true to our vision and mission here in Antequera, we are struggling to figure out our options and how to scale back until we can rebuild our team and our volunteer base. We are also trying to think outside the box... what else can we do within our current situation? What other ideas should be on the table? What other ways can we stay true to our values and our vision and mission and serve our population and community? How do we navigate this as a team and remain strong and committed and not get discouraged? Please pray in to this situation with us!
• We are entering a busy season of projects and travel. Now that we are able to travel a little more freely, many of the doors that were closed to us in the past couple of years are reopening. Billy will FINALLY be able to lead a 10-day men's retreat for CCW men and ministry workers on the Camino de Santiago at the end of October. This retreat has been cancelled and rescheduled at least three times, so it is exciting that it is finally going to happen! He is also going to need to travel in November to Athens, Greece for a leadership meeting and to visit several leaders and workers who are working in active refugee camps in the area. Please pray for safe travels for Billy. Pray for the retreat that he is leading and for the men it will impact. Pray for the leadership team and for the CCWs who will be impacted by his care and visits to their refugee work. Pray for me (Laurie) as I stay behind to continue my work here as well as doing 4 runs each day taking Sarah to and from work for her crazy work hours. ​

What do a wedding, a dissertation, an anniversary, and a job have in common?
They are all celebrations we have enjoyed in the past few weeks!!! Those and more!
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At the beginning of September, we were honored to participate in the Spain wedding of Nathaniel Foster (son of Judy and Tim Foster, College Station, TX) as he married his lovely bride, Ana. Nate and Ana are both serving in the United States Navy and are stationed in Rota, Spain. They contacted Billy to see if he could officiate their wedding in Spain. With a marriage certificate flown in from the Brazos Valley and a wedding celebration comprised almost entirely of naval officers and shipmates, we celebrated a beautiful wedding at sundown in the Spanish countryside outside of Ronda. We were so blessed to be a part of their big day, and to see Tim and Judy, Dottie and Nathaniel, and several other Brazos Valley folks who traveled to Spain for the occasion!

September 20 was a big day in the Drum household - it was the day that Billy finally hit "SEND" on the final copy of his dissertation!!! Trust me, the entire family and our Spain team breathed a huge sigh of relief as the final words were written and final touches were placed on that baby! It has been several years in the making, but it's now complete! His research was titled "Burnout Among Cross-Cultural Workers: An Analysis of Systemic Issues that Lead to Burnout Within Medium-Sized American Mission Organizations". Everybody, all together now, breathe and smile... *sigh* :)

In June, we celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary. Our intention was to take a special vacation cruise in September to celebrate (we did the same thing for our 25th). However, thanks to Covid and travel issues and crazy port restrictions for cruise ships, our anniversary trip was cancelled. Boo!!! But we did go ahead and take a few days after Billy's dissertation was turned in and go up to Belgium to meet up with friends Ron and Amanda Phillips (formerly College Station, now living in Austin) for a short break and retreat. Not just anyone will fly across the ocean to celebrate with you! Ron and Amanda are troopers and we loved getting to spend a few days together wandering around with absolutely zero schedule. It was marvelous!

While we were in Belgium, Billy received an email with an awesome opportunity. He was asked to be on the Refugee Highway Partnership leadership team and to help develop a care program for cross-cultural workers who serve in refugee camps and outreaches throughout Europe. The timing was awesome (just after his dissertation was complete) and this fits perfectly with his strengths and gifts and his vision for building up care and training for CCWs. He now has his hands full! Developing a comprehensive care program for hundreds of CCWs working with refugees, plus working to build up La Posada Training and Care in Spain, plus leading the team in Antequera... he has plenty on his plate!

Our other big celebration revolves around Sarah. She completed her certification for Equine Sports Tech (trainer/coach specializing in equine Olympic Disciplines). In September, the center hired her to work as a trainer and coach in their riding school. She is working hard 6 days a week, training people from 4 years old through 50+. And because of her level of certification, she is also now working with a local physical therapist and together they are offering Equine Assisted Therapy for people with a variety of special needs (physical and emotional). Somewhere, in her non-work hours, she continues training her newest competition horse and they made their debut in the show jumping ring at the end of September. Watch out, World... this kid is on FIRE! PS - Sarah turns 18 this month!!!!!