Arrived home in Chicago yesterday afternoon with lots laughs and stories to tell! The last concerts were great followed sight seeing in Toledo and Segovia on Saturday, our last day.
Roman aquaduct in Segovia.
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Castle in Ponferrada
Yup, the real deal: a castle of the Knights Templar. Unfortunately, we could not locate the map to the hidden treasure, however.
Spain is full of castles, but this one is particularly well preserved. Approaching 1000 years old. They don’t make ’em like they used to.
Concert last night was in Valladolid.
The view from the percussion section just before they opened the house. Sold out crowd. Concert went very well. Seven churches coordinated to present the event.
Pueblo
Stayed in a pueblo 2 nights part of which which serves as a camp/conference center. Buildings are nice on the inside.
Saw a restored missionary apartment as it existed in the 1930s before persecution drove them out.
Sights, sounds, and smells…
La Concha bay at San Sebastian where we have been the last 3 days. Today MSB members had pizza on the beach with the the youth group at our hosting church.
Tonight we played a concert in Hernani in a small church. A bit cramped but great acoustics! Very well received by the audience.
A demonstration (small concert, actually!) of a Basque instrument. It’s a flute-like instrument that sounds like a piccolo and can be played by the fingers of one hand leaving the other hand free to play the drum at the same time. He was quite good and the local people sang with gusto!
Impromptu sax trio in the park. Jazz lives!
Ham anyone? (Spaniards love ham!)
A quick update:
We’re doing fine! Drove from Pamplona to San Sebastian yesterday along a beautiful route then played a recital with chamber music in downtown San Sebastian to a nearly full house. Audiences have been very full in general. Stopped at an amazing buffet for lunch – there was something for every taste.
This morning we’ll play two simultaneous educational concerts for 9-12 year olds then we’ll drive an hour to Tolosa for a standard concert.
More info and photos to come!
Peace in Zaragoza
•March 6,2018•
This morning some of us woke up early to explore the town of Zaragoza. The Cathedral-Basilica of Our Lady of the Pillar in Zaragoza, is the 9th largest church in the world! We were unable to take pictures of the inside, but the interior was indescribable. Walking into the large Cathedral you could feel God’s pressence in your midst. There was a sence if peace that was overwhelming. This was a good way to start our day as we had God’s pressence with us. We felt at peace.
Hola de España!
Greetings from Spain!
If you read our last post, you were able to see that we made it successfully to Spain!
Yesterday, we were still working to adjust and get over jet lag, visit a local church and prepare for our first concert. We have been completely blessed with the camp we stayed at that hosted us and showed us much love and graciousness. We are on another leg of this tour as we now head to our next location for our second concert.
We thank you so much for your prayers as we continue this trip, we have come in contact with many people and grown in friendship with many of the locals.
Side note:
On our travels to Spain, one of our members prayed on the bus that when we brought our instruments to customs the carnet would only take 3 minutes and it took only THREE minutes.
How cool is that?!
Again coming into Spain we had to go to get them all checked and one of our band members was praying it would only take 5 minutes and this time, they had looked at the computer screen and saw the time and the entire process only took FIVE minutes.
God is working in Spain, on this trip and in us.
Thank you all for your support and continous prayer.
Here are some prayer requests from us:
* Pray for one of our band members who misplaced/lost their passport that retrieving a new passport will be a seamless and easy process in a foreign country.
* Pray for one of our band members who is struggling adjusting with jet lag and stress which is on top of their persisting medical issues.
* Pray for the Spanish members of the group that we would be able to be the vessels that the Lord uses to strengthen them in their walk/grow in their knowledge about Him so they could accept Him personally.
*Pray for missionaries Dan H. and his wife that they would be encouraged by us serving in Spain and that we would be able to give God the glory.
*Pray for Dr. Gauger and his wife that they may find rest where rest is needed and be able to focus on Him.
*Pray for the entire band that we would recognize this trip is made to glorify God and serve the country of Spain.
-Pictures will be posted once there is an established connection to WiFi.
Here We Are!
Hello everyone! Welcome to our blog! We will hopefully be updating this site every day or two, so be sure to check back regularly to keep up with where we are and what we’re doing!
Well we have arrived in Spain! All of the processes that had to happen for us to leave America and enter Spain went very smoothly and without issue, which is a direct answer to very specific prayers and something we are praising the Lord for.
It’s almost 2 in the afternoon here, and we just finished spending a couple hours in Alcalá de Henares, wandering around, getting coffee, and trying not to fall asleep! Currently we are on our way back to the conference center we are staying at for lunch and a rehearsal. Prayers would be much appreciated for strength to get through the rest of this day in order to get our bodies on Spain time and mental strength as we rehearse! See pictures below for a glimpse into our day and we’ll post again soon! 
The latest:
1. Airline tickets to Spain are paid for.
2. Applications for visas for several band members will be completed this week.
3. Information for the Carnet (customs paperwork) have been started.
4. Repertoire for the tour program has been solidified.
Prayer needed:
1. Fundraising process is behind
2. Smooth visa process.
3. Vehicle drivers needed for equipment truck for both the departure and arrival from OHare airport.
How do you get YOUR water?
This is the way the Romans got water to Segovia, Spain. Yup, the Moody Symphonic Band will be here in March!
Moody Symphonic Band in Spain 