2017-08-31 10:55:14
I was hoping to blog each day but with challenges on internet, access to electricity for re-charging I have decided to get a summary blog out there bringing our travels up to date, and will major on the time (9 days away) in Gibraltar when I return home. Sorry no pictures – and that is your loss as the landscapes have been spectacular. Over the mountain pass Via Puerto de la Ragua (2000metres / 6600ft) just has to be done! This is our third extended time away and by tonight we should be across the border and in Portugal.
We are also trying to pace ourselves with an occasional down day. We had one yesterday in the national park just west of Huelva. This was the scene of a huge wild fire this summer, the evidence of which is clear. Today is Thursday, we left home last Sunday. Our first place was
Polop, one of many mountain villages in Valencia (Comunidad). In one sense we could have chosen any number of others as the history varies but there is such a pattern of hostility and violence. We chose Polop because of a very perverted response. After ‘converting’ from Islam to Christianity and being baptised local Christians then attacked and killed 300 Moriscos with the shout of ‘Now we will raise their souls to heaven and fill our pockets with their coins’. While praying by the church Gayle felt strongly that somehow not only is the memory held in the land, but that descendants – knowingly and unknowingly – continue with the memory in their ‘blood’. These things are challenging to wrap one’s head around but the complexities of generational relationships are probably much more complex than we realise. So our prayers also went for the descendants many of whom are probably in Morocco, where there certainly was a strong connection to the Barcelona attack.
Las Alpujarras: second visit
From Polop we travelled to Caniles (east of Granada by about an hour. We were deeply privileged to be introduced to Antonio and Antonia who live there on the north side of the Alpujarras. Truly people of the land. Antonio found Jesus while deeply searching in all kinds of directions while living as a young man in the Alpujarras. He understands the deep spirituality that is there, the searches that end up with the seekers mostly ending in despair. Connecting with the land and also history. Antonio is in charge of the water supplies to the fields of the area, with the same system of diverting water that has been in place for 1500 years. We slept the night in their house – sleeping in a literal cave! That was a first for us. In Caniles before we began our journey into the Alpujarras we prayed at the monument marking the Civil War. An interesting parallel again with the ReConquista is that many Republicans were on the high ground (like the Muslims) and they were thrown of it by Franco’s forces. Evictions carried out by the ‘Christians’ and throwing off people who were not looking (on the whole) to be antagonistic but were the stewards of the land. Again it underlined for us that we need to continue as Spain could be coming to another cycle. In a few days time with a referendum in Cataloñia, with one politician suggesting that if there was Independence then Cataloñia would raise its own army.
Last time we were travelling the Aplujarras we were using GPS, particularly when we were going to a small village up narrow roads up the mountain gorges. Not so with Antonio. We probably covered 200 miles. No map in sight, tracks that frankly were only at times just wider than his (small) car. I even think at one point he was relieved that we made it. That was after we had climbed to the highest point amidst thunder, lightning and rain. We prayed at:
Guadix: where there is an impressive castle built for the ReConquista. Built to control and then advance from the whole area.
Laujar de Andarax: this was one of the most marked places in history. A priest was tortured, Eventually his eyes gouged out and he was forced to eat them. On the other side when the Christian army arrived they massacred many, including blowing up the Mosque where 200 women and children were taking refuge. No plaque in the town that we could find that made a record of this.
Cadiar: here there was the exchanging of whose hands the town was in numerous times over. At one stage a regiment of Christian soldiers were murdered while sleeping. And of course the response. Blood upon blood, and truly it cries out from the ground.
Juviles: here a number of prisoners tried to prevent a ‘Christian’ soldier from raping one of the Muslim women. Scores of unarmed prisoners were then killed in cold blood.
One aspect that had been with me all day was that as well as there being a curse on the land by all the bloodshed and for evicting the stewards that I could hear those who were evicted specifically cursing the land for those who would come replacing them through conquest. I heard the ‘you will have no rest, you will not find peace, but will face destruction’. Gayle reminded me later that are words from the latest Dayesh video targeting Spain. It is the sad story of so many who come to the Alpujarras seeking an alternative future. Going from one search to another, with many ending their lives either in meaningless or literally ending their lives. It was great to be with Antonio a true steward of the land, knowing every inch of the territory, the animals, the vegetation, herbs and fruit. We prayed into that curse but I do not sense that it is yet broken. More to be done!!
At the end of Monday night we came to Granada, and on the Tuesday drove almost to Huelva. Yesterday we walked a good part of the coastline, and today plan to get to Niebla, Huelva and by night time to be in Portugal.
Niebla is very interesting. Around 2012 /13 (don’t have the dates on me) we went with Simon and Amy following a word that had been given to us about the eviction of Jews from Cadiz and of finding angels. We came upon Niebla and were deeply impacted there. In the town square Gayle photographed a statue of ‘the last (Muslim) king of the Algarve. This was long before we were on the ReConquista journey. A few days ago she remembered this. We tried to find it on google maps, and eventually found the square where the photo was taken. However no king of the Algarve in sight, rather a ‘Christian’ king… Yet the palm trees in both images matched up. We found that between the time of the google map images and the photo the Christian king had been replaced by history that was further back. Replacing the ReConquista image with something more ancient to us indicates a place owning its history, and probably why we found the angels there. We will revisit as this is our door in to the Algarve. Then Huelva – a Christopher Columbus location… 1492 and all that.
So off we went to Mojácar. Gayle says – so why are we here? To that point of time we had not read too much about how Mojácar fitted into the historic scene we were looking at. Not too much later we were reading one perspective that what took place in Mojácar was the root of what sparked the rebellions of the Alpujarras. We would not place such weight on it as that but the key event that we prayed into and were very moved by was the story surrounding the Muslim mayor (Al Avez) of Mojácar in 1488, in the immediate era when the Christian forces were closing in on Granada.
It was a prominent city during the Islamic period and was also one of the ports that Muslims were expelled through. In visiting these places, not as a tourist, but with a focus on prayer it is always surprising what kicks in. Slavery through the port was one aspect we prayed into, but the bigger situation was regarding the Pauline gospel. I do not believe Paul made it to Spain – of course there is no proof either way. Part of my convictions goes back to 2001 when in response to a question in Hanover about what wells to re-dig in Spain, I heard myself say that ‘You do not need wells of revival in Spain to re-dig. What other nation on the planet can we say with biblical authority that has unanswered first century apostolic prayer in the soil?’