Sailing the Spanish-Portugese Coast

We sailed from Bilboa, Spain with the excitement of knowing we were about to embark on our longest sail of the next 4 months. From Bilboa to Lisbon, Portugal, we were told the sail would take approximately 4 1/2 days. Last night we were sitting at a cafe overlooking our ship in the Lisbon harbor realizing that at 6 knots an hour, we have taken about 3 weeks to travel from Liverpool to Lisbon. If we jumped on EasyJet, we could all be back home in about one hour. The wonder of modern transportation!

But at the moment, I wouldn´t trade an easy plane journey for the lessons that I am learning aboard the Next Wave. Sailing down the Spanish/Portugese coast, we have talked a lot about the conquistadores who sailed to the New World from these shores. How amazingly bold they must have been to set sail across the world in ships that dídn´t have the conveniences of our modern ship. Aboard we have two from South America..one from Argentina and one from Paraguay. Both shared with the group that the conquistadores slaughtered most of the native people of those countries as they stripped the wealth from the region for the glory of their rulers. The Portugese would also bring thousands of Africans to the New World as slaves. Unfortunately their colonies suffered severely from the conquest of those cultures.

They would also have brought Christianity with them but the mixture of state power and religion has not been a blessing to the people who were forced to convert. Throughout this time period of the explorers of the 15th century, the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal enforced a Christianity that would eventually lead to the Jewish community being expelled in 1492. These Jewish communities fled to the Ottoman Empire where they lived safely under Muslim rule.

Thousands of people in Spain and Portugal died as inquisadors investigated the Christian walk of the ordinary and famous alike. None were safe from being sent to prison or to the stake if their observation of the faith was found wanting.

As we have been sailing along the coast, I have found myself praying often for revival in these two countries and for the scars of the past to be healed.

Today Portugal is a poor country in comparison to most of Western Europe but from our two days here, there is such a wonderful warmth in the welcome we have received. It is a treasure of a country to be explored and prayed for.

This evening we leave for our next sail to Malagar which lies just inside the Straits of Gibraltor. ...hometown of Antonio Banderas and Picasso. On the last sail, we had huge dolphins jumping out of the water and flipping onto their sides as we worshipped on deck one afternoon, so we all look forward to seeing what new wonder we will see on this next sail. One can't help, but be impressed with the beauty of God's creation and saddened by man's fallen nature in response to God's goodness. But thank goodness for the goodness of God who has redeemed us through His Son.