By Jessica Keller, The Courier-Herald

For Patty and Al Turnbow, their upcoming journey to Guatemala and then Spain is more than a mission to share the Christian faith with others, it's a way to accomplish all their life's dreams and goals in one experience.

In June, the Turnbows and their two children - Torianna, 7, and Taylor, 5 - are leaving their home in Enumclaw, friends and family for a three-year mission trip, in what they hope will be a satisfying and strengthening experience that combines everything that is important to them - family, religion, teaching and sharing their faith.

The ultimate goal for the Turnbows is to end up teaching in a Christian school in Madrid, Spain, and also doing outreach work. Another alternative, if there is not enough money to open the school, is for them to move to Seville, Spain, to help form and run a church.

While many missionaries travel to underdeveloped or third-world countries, Spain is an ideal place to be doing mission work, Al said.

"When you think of missionary work, people think you need to live in huts and stuff," Al said.

He explained Spain actually is a country with the fewest working churches, as many churches and cathedrals are now tourist attractions instead of places to worship.

And while there are more than 6,000 towns in Spain, less than 1,000 of them have a Christian church.

Spain is a predominately Catholic country, Al said, but mostly Catholicism is culturally and traditionally based, and many have fallen away from the teachings of the church, especially younger people, even though they may consider themselves Catholic.

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The first leg of the Turnbows' trip, however, starts in Guatemala City, Guatemala, where they will spend six months perfecting their Spanish and taking leadership classes through El-Shaddai, a nondenominational Christian church, which is responsible for the mission "Project Spain."

The classes will be almost like attending Bible college again, Patty said. They will be receive cultural and language training, strategies to open up a school at the ground level and learning ways of effectively sharing the Christian faith while in Spain. They also expect to perform some medical and poverty relief outreach.

Then the Turnbows will proceed to Spain, where Al and Patty spent five weeks for their honeymoon, and they will either begin work at the school in Madrid or the church in Seville. Their children will either be homeschooled or attend the Christian school where Al and Patty hope to teach.

A lot of time, however, will be spent building relationships. Patty said they hope to work closely with the Catholic church, and anticipate some of their time in Guatemala will be spend learning effective ways to communicate and share ideas with church officials, in order to find the best way to share the teachings of Jesus Christ and the gospel with the Spanish people.

"We just feel really strongly the Christian church has to have unity," Patty said, adding they will be working to tear down those walls. "We don't want to come in, the Americans saying 'do everything our way.'"

The Turnbows also hope to do Christian counseling while in Spain, for those who are interested, in the form of a home group. Patty said they would like to focus on marriage counseling and perhaps children, showing how the Christian faith can be a guide.

While deciding to go on a mission is a big commitment, the idea of doing such work was not new to the Turnbows, who attend the nondenominational Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship in Buckley. Patty said she and her husband have been considering mission work for the past 15 years.

They had been looking into different mission programs for awhile when Patty heard about the Spain mission while attending a conference in Portland, Ore., about two years ago. After looking into the mission, it seemed like the obvious choice for the Turnbows.

"For this season in our lives, we feel it meets what we need to do," Patty said.

The Turnbows had been looking for practical ways to share their faith and do what they felt God wanted them to do. Both Patty and Al have had an interest in living overseas and doing some sort of work, and Al, who has been teaching for the past 20 years, was ready for a new challenge to renew his creative juices.

After much discussion, praying and talking to others, they decided to go on the mission because they felt it was the right time in their lives and their kids were the right ages. It was now or never, Patty said.

"It just all kind of clicked into place," Patty said. "I think you have those moments in life when everything just becomes clear."

But to be sure, they prayed a lot and received encouragement from outside sources. They also came up with a plan, working out all the details and logistics before presenting it to leaders at their church for their input.

"It's just taken two years to pull everything together," Patty said.

The last two years have been spent on preparatory work and the logistics involved, such as getting their passports and visas and getting their affairs in order.

As a requirement of the mission, they also had to raise a prayer support group, which is a group of people who are committed to praying for and with them and offering the Turnbows spiritual support while they are on their mission.

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Because they are giving up their jobs as teachers and because they won't have incomes on their mission, they also needed a financial support group, mostly made up of family and friends and their church, to help finance their trip, which is very expensive because they must find vehicles and places to live, in addition to buying other necessities, while in Guatemala and Spain.

"So it's called 'living on faith,'" Patty said with a laugh.

For the mission, the Turnbows are selling almost all of their belongings because they can't take many things with them. They intend to have a garage sale in May to sell their household items, and they will give up most everything but their house and their boat.

Patty said she will miss the family's two dogs, who they must give away, and they are currently trying to find homes for them.

But still they believe in what they are doing, and feel it is something they need to do in their lives.

"I mean we really believe that God is calling us to do this," Patty said.

Patty said she and her husband believe God has a calling for everybody and helping to establish a Spanish school is what they think their calling is. If everything goes well, they will also be able to teach at the school, which Al said works out nicely as both of the Turnbows are teachers - Al a junior high teacher with the Kent School District and Patty a former teacher with the Kent and Tahoma school districts who now teaches voice lessons.

The mission, Al said, is an extension of their faith and their professions.

"And to meld it all together is just an extra blessing on top of it all," he said.

But while the mission is an adventure that seems to be perfectly molded for the Turnbows, it is also scary, and both Patty and Al agree all of the unknowns involved are the most stressful part of the plan.

"It's one of the best parts and one of the hardest parts," Patty said, adding their upcoming adventure has left them unsettled and unsure at times.

"But it's exciting too," Patty said. "But we can't say we haven't woken up in the middle of the night saying 'what are we doing?'"

But when things get really tough for the Turnbows, they say the encouragement they receive from their family, friends and church helps keep them going.

Like their parents, Torianna and Taylor have been apprehensive about the trip, and their feelings about the mission have varied.

"It depends on what time of the day it is," Al said dryly.

When they thought they were leaving for the mission in January, Taylor was really excited to go, while Torianna wasn't. Now, Torianna is the one who is excited to leave, while Taylor is not.

"And it's hard for them because they don't know what to expect," Patty said.

"And we can't tell them what to expect," Al added.

But those unknowns, and the trip itself, will also help them grow stronger as a family, which is one of their ultimate personal goals of the experience.

Patty and Al also hope living in different countries and experiencing their faith in a new way will help broaden their horizons as they will be seeing a completely different world than they are used to. They will also learn a second language and have a better understanding of the world from their cross-cultural experience.

"It's the out of American box experience, I think," Al said.

"And we want them to grow in their faith too," Patty added, stating the experience will allow Torianna and Taylor to understand others share their beliefs, and share their beliefs with them.

When the Turnbow's three years are up, they will evaluate how they are doing as a family, what God wants them to do and explore their options. They may choose to continue with the mission, or they may choose to come back to Enumclaw.

But when they are on their mission, Al and Patty both agree leaving family and friends will be the hardest for them although many have already made plans to visit them.

"I'm inviting everybody to come," Patty laughed. "They may have to sleep on the floor, but they are all welcome."

For more information about missionary work, contact the Turnbows through Rainier Hills Christian Fellowship at 253-862-2163.

Jessica Keller can be reached at jkeller@courierherald.com