Lisbon region, Portugal
For the past week I've been with 80 believers from the southern Europe region. All of them are involved in some form of church expression, from the static, building and program based church, to the ultra liquid form of believers' community. They came together under the scope of Christian Associates to connect. In fact, the event was called the Southern Europe Regional Connect. We met along the coast of Portugal, on a beach front called Sao Pedro De Muel. The photo is a sunrise shot from my first day there. Chock this one up to jetlag...

Our retreat center was a Baptist encampment. The dormitory style housing placed 4 of us men - large men - in a room with two bunk beds and 3 square feet of floor space. The snoring was indescribable. Mix older, slightly overweight men with a severe lack of sleep and you’ve got a 3am philharmonic. The sleep apnea drug world is going to make a killing on us someday. At one point I lay on my bunk laughing at the noises coming from the other 3. They were actually "talking" to each other, alternating their breaths in a way that created a rhythmic conversation in the night. The volume escalated as if they were disagreeing until one man gasped for breath so loud that it jostled the rest and created a space of calm for me to rush off to sleep. Thank the Lord for conflict resolution...

The retreat was a beautiful example of believers coming from multiple countries, speaking an array of languages, thriving in a diversity of church styles, with one Lord. A glimpse into heaven.

Thanks to all of you who have prayed and made this trip possible. You, too, will someday join the chorus of believers from every tribe, every language at the throne of heaven. And may you never join us for a night in the dormitory...

Dudley