At home—for now
Editor’s note: Joel Barkman grew up as a missionary kid. Kara had never considered missions. After they married, they felt God calling them to reach Spaniards through art and music. They signed on with SEND, raised support, went through training — and now they’re gone. But they’re taking us with them. Throughout their initial year on the field, Joel and Kara will share here about their experiences as first-term missionaries in Spain. Click here to read about how they felt before they said goodbye,
here for Joel’s reaction to the first time he felt entirely overwhelmed, here for Kara’s mixed feelings about living far from home, here for why they appreciate serving on a multicultural team, and here for what happened when the Slump hit.
By Joel and Kara Barkman in Spain —
One of our first goals after landing in Spain was finding a home. We had a little over one month to find a place and get settled before language school started.
As we looked at places, we had a list of things that we would like to have, but none of them were non-negotiable. When we saw this apartment, it met every “desire” on our list and then some. Since we are on the ground floor, we have a small patio with a garden — a rare find in a Spanish apartment. God saved this place for us; at least eight people viewed it before us, and several were interested, but each one fell through!
We have had a wide mix of emotions as we settle and continue to make our new place feel like home. With how well everything has gone up to this point, we have caught ourselves being suspicious, thinking, “What bad thing is about to happen?” and “Why are things going this well?”
What attitude are we supposed to have through this? We desire to settle, but at the same time, are we really ever settled? We’ve already moved six times together, and we know that we likely will not live in this apartment for longer than the two years we plan to study Spanish. And yet that will still be longer than any place we have lived since getting married three years ago.
We are so thankful for this beautiful place. Our prayer is that we can maintain thankful hearts, enjoying the good things God has given us, knowing that they are for His purpose and His Kingdom, not ours. We seek to hold them with open hands, full of gratitude, but also fighting against entitlement and expectations that things will remain this way.
Starting our studies
We catch a bus each day from our quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of Alcalá de Henares to language school.
Even though we both had some Spanish language study before we moved, it has been six or more years, and the Spanish we learned was Latin American Spanish, not Castilian. We have some Guatemalan teammates that we’ve been talking to about the differences, and the list is quite lengthy!
The teaching style is different here — the teachers attempt to “guilt” you into studying hard rather than encourage you. They aren’t afraid to compare and point out who is the best in the class and who is the worst. We’ve managed to stay on the teacher’s good side, and we are thankful for that!
There are 12 students in our class. Besides the two of us (the only Americans), there is one German, one Japanese, and the rest are from East Asia! That was a surprise to us. We had no idea how diverse our class would be!
We know that language learning is going to have its extremely frustrating moments, but we keep on praying that through this God continues to teach us dependence on Him.
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Additional Posts
Choosing a Missions Organization: Why SEND International Stands Out “Why should I be a missionary through SEND International?” Jenna, a new missionary in Eastern Europe, shared with us what she appreciates about working with SEND. The highlights for her are: - Devotion to prayer - Diligence in communication - Commitment to development - Intentionality in accountability Prayer “Back in September of 2022, the Lord reconnected me with SEND after I had met them a year prior at the Moody Bible Institute. However, before he would sign me up for anything, my Missions Coach encouraged me to pray. He said something to the effect of, "I know that you've been praying on your own for a long time. But as the Church, we are not called to walk alone. So, you and I won't talk for about a month unless you have questions. I want you to go pray with 5 or 6 others from your church about where God is calling you." That October, more than 10 friends prayed with me and we saw God answer as He directed me to Romania. From February 2024 to November 2025, I had the pleasure of being a part of team meetings in Romania with my SEND colleagues. Our meetings were four hours long, two for prayer and two for business. This has been the minimum for our team. There are also prayer meetings with the local churches we partner with, among smaller groups within our team, of course prayer with many of you across the pond, including those at our US office. The organization was built, has been sustained, and continues to run on prayer. This is my favorite thing about SEND. Communication As I mentioned above, we have a two hour block for business / ministry details in each of our meetings. This provides consistency across our team which works alongside three different churches and in a variety of ministries. It also helps us to communicate about the need for change or growth, alongside what is working well. In addition, my team director also meets with each of us, allowing us to communicate needs, considerations, and prayer requests. I've also enjoyed getting to work with SEND workers outside of my immediate region . We receive emails with the minutes from the Europe leadership team, Friday communications from our international director, and information regarding projects that affect our work among the unreached. In December of 2024, our international director at the time wrote a note to my parents for the first Christmas that I was gone. If nothing else had convinced my mom yet, this did. He took the time to care for me, but also to care well for the parents that were sending me (What it meant to my dad and mom for him to do this well has been one of the greatest ways I've been supported.). I also have some pretty wonderful regional directors. These people have prayed alongside us (while also serving in their own countries of service), they have taken time to come visit and encourage our team, and they have also taken the time to encourage the people in our churches. Development SEND has provided much in the area of development and care (spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally). At our regional conference (every three years), there have been medical check ups available, counseling options, and time for connecting with others on the field with similar experience. At our conference last October, I connected with a missionary who served overseas for many years, and is now serving on the administrative side of SEND. She has met with me since then for mentorship and has also invested much of her time recently in preparing a retreat for the singles across Europe. Accountability Over the years I have read and heard amazing stories of how God has worked through missionaries. God has done great things and great things He is still doing! However, people who have committed their lives to the Lord in this way are not “super Christians”. We are still humans with the same struggle against flesh that others have . A major challenge is in being isolated -- living in areas with little to no presence of other believers to sharpen them can cause many difficulties. SEND has been a great resource in this area too. Through my team, I have an accountability partner that I meet with monthly. When my regional director came to visit, he and his wife spent a day with me and asked intentional questions about how I lead, handle conflict, and how I am growing in general as a Christian. In addition, my teammates share their wisdom with me on a regular basis. These things and more have assured me that SEND International is a highly valuable organization and I'm excited to partner with them in service to, for, and with our great God! Interested in being sent by SEND?
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