Every year, several churches within FEC host exchange students from the Basque Country in Spain. This June, a group from Crossview Church who’d previously hosted students, traveled to connect with many of those students and their families, study the language, and develop relationships that could lead to sharing the Gospel.
Jared Mehrle, FEC’s Director of Church Multiplication, and his daughter Alyce journeyed with the Crossview group to the Basque Country after hosting their own exchange student last summer. For the better part of 20 years, Kaixo USA has had an arrangement with FEC for families to host a student for a month. “It is so important because every summer students from the Basque Country come here and learn what it’s like to live in the USA, and experience Jesus for the first time or in a radically different way than back home,” says Jared.
Throughout the exchange student’s visit with Jared’s family, she experienced everyday life like shopping, sharing meals, and watching movies together. One of Alyce Mehrle’s highlights was experiencing what it was like “having a sister.” “My favorite memory,” Alyce says, “is when we would binge every possible Disney movie we could while eating popcorn and candy after the rest of our family had gone to bed.”
During their visit to the Basque Country, the Crossview group was able to reunite with several students from Kaixo USA, including Lena, the student who stayed with the Mehrle family. “It was very special to be able to learn to love her family after almost a year of knowing and loving Lena,” says Alyce. They were able to eat meals with families, talk together, and see places their students had described.
“Hearing from the Basque team about how God is working in and through them was so encouraging,” Jared says. “They are working so hard to build relationships with Basque people in their communities…working to build trust with them so that they can share Jesus with them.” Alyce felt inspired by the dedication of the team towards spreading the gospel. “They are changing lives one by one in the Basque country.”
