Halfway There

Posted on March 8, 2013 by Rosalie

The one who calls you is faithful, and He will do it.
-1 Thessalonians 5:24

50 yard line I am bursting at the seams to announce that we are officially halfway to our goal! Next we’ll be invited to Essential Missions Components, the next required training at our mission agency, so long as we complete our assignments in time.

This has felt like a long time coming (two years since we started building our partnership team but who’s counting?).

Now we are praying to be fully supported by the end of 2013 so that we can be on our way to the field in 2014.

If you are part of our financial partnership team, thank you! Your contribution is the literal moving sidewalk that will get our feet on the ground in Spain.

If you pray for us regularly, thank you! Your prayers have enabled us to meet people, share our ministry in unexpected places, kept us encouraged on prefield, and set up a hedge around us to protect us from sin’s desires.

If you have written us or called us to encourage us in our walk, thank you for blessing us with words. Prefield can be lonely because partnership meetings trump any other kind of outing or get together, so your words of encouragement reminded us to keep our priorities in line.

If you have recommended books, classes or resources for church planting, thank you! You’re helping us fill a toolbox that will make us effective long-term missionaries.

If you read this blog, thank you! Sometimes it seems like I send words out into the universe and they just turn to dust.

Finally, if you’re interested in being part of our team in some way – through finances, prayer or any unique way (we have lots of ideas!), please contact us.

A Cemetery for Missionaries

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Rosalie

Spain has been called a cemetery for missionaries. Around 80% of missionaries who come to serve in Spain return home or go to another field after less than four years on the field. Why is that?

Author José Martínez writes, “[Spain] is a neo-pagan field, much more difficult to evangelize than in any previous period of time…it seems as if it is immunized against the gospel.”

A number of factors play into the existing cultural, moral, and religious context of Spanish people.

Although Spain has one of the richest religious histories in the world, only 3% of Spaniards list religion as one of their top three values. This, from a place once known as “more Catholic than the Pope!” (80% of the population identifies as Catholic, but less than 10% practice or express traditional Catholic views)
There are more than 1.5 million Muslims in Spain, most of whom are immigrants. There are far more people praying in Mosques (over 1,000 of which are illegal) on Friday than churches on Sunday.
The severe counter-reformation prevented the Reformation from taking root in Spain.
For the better part of the last 500 years, the Bible was a forbidden book. True religious freedom in Spain is as recent as 1977.
Spain leads Europe in unemployment, AIDS, addiction (drugs, alcohol and gambling in particular) and abortions, and 95% of young people ignore conservative views on pre-marital sex and sexual orientation.
The church in America considers Spain to be “reached,” with the Gospel, but 200,000 believers among 50 million people is about .3% (3/10s of 1%!)

Make no mistake: Spain is unreached, lost, and suffering. But, by the grace of God, our family is being prepared by the power of the Holy Spirit for long-term, effective ministry in Spain that envisions Spaniards, especially influential young people, putting their trust and faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation.

How Funds Are Used

Posted on June 5, 2012 by Rosalie

We are dependent on our financial partners for the thing we’re most focused on right now: clearance for the field. We will be able to purchase those one-way tickets to Spain once we have partners committed to 100% of our financial need.

Here’s a breakdown of how your financial investment works:

Prefield

Regular gifts go into our support account, and we can draw from that account for ministry expenses only. Ministry expenses include prefield travel, materials and preparation for the field. The money is our support account that is accumulating will be used for ministry on the field and/or during language school. When we are no longer bringing in income other than support, we’ll be able to draw a certain amount from this account to pay for housing, salary, etc. We never use our support account to pay for entertainment, vacations or personal items.

One-time gifts and love offerings go into our Outfit & Passage account, which is a set sum of money that will help us get to and pay for language school, store/pack/ship our things, travel to Spain, purchase a vehicle, and set up our home.

On the Field

Once we are on the field, our support has been allocated to a variety of categories: ministry, salary, housing, children’s education, healthcare, retirement, furlough ministry are some examples. We receive the funds covering some of those items regularly, and other times we submit expenses for reimbursement.

One-time gifts when we are on the field will be used for ministry unless the gift is allocated for personal use.

What We See When We See 100%

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Rosalie

One
Hundred
Percent

…an extra set of hands for a tired team of servants leading Bible studies, keeping a church clean and running smoothly, planning outreach events, discipling believers, serving the needy, running English camps, teaching English, sharing testimony of the hope found in Jesus Christ, caring for the downtrodden and proclaiming the name of Jesus

…two new people making friends, building relationships and showing interest in the lives of people God is calling to Himself

…an emphasis on youth: a new passion for reaching and teaching junior high, high school and college age students

…an opportunity to start a club at the University of Alcalá

…young people putting their trust in Jesus Christ, telling their friends about Him, and influencing their culture for His glory

…Spain, transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, no longer last in line because of financial struggles and economic downturn, but boldly speaking out in defense of the poor, the hungry, the widows and the orphans

…a Spanish national stepping out in faith to lead a Spanish church

…a team of partners who made it all happen getting credit in Heaven

…two or more gathered in His name, praying for the salvation of Spanish people loved by missionaries

…our sending church, inspired, sending out more missionaries to Spain, to Western Europe, to the unreached

…saying, “Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.” (Philippians 4:17-20 ESV)

Join us in fulfilling this vision?

Milestones in Spain

Posted on December 6, 2011 by Rosalie

Our coworkers in Spain have many opportunities on the horizon to share Christ’s love with their friends and neighbors.

In children’s ministry, they are pleased to report that Friday Bible Clubs have an increase in attendance and that some of the new students are from English camp. We are praising God for this because He is affirming the hard work done for English camp by our team.

A three-day Family Life Conference resulted in two confessions of faith and one of those is interested in Baptism. Our teammates diligently follow up with people with whom they share the Gospel and they are bearing fruit!

Hosting friends for a showing of the movie Amazing Grace during Movie Night produced great discussion and conversation.

Finally, this month our coworkers will be hosting several of their friends in their home for coffee and cookies and a video series showing Spanish Christians sharing their testimonies. After the video, a local believer will also share how Christ transformed his or her life. Pray for this Evangelistic Campaign. Perhaps God will draw new believers to Himself just before Christmas.

The work is by no means complete. When I read of all the ways our teammates are sharing Christ, I am excited and thankful. But I notice something significant missing: youth. It’s not that our coworkers have neglected the youth. Not at all. The movie Amazing Grace is about a young person who follows God and changes the world. But these are the opportunities God has directed for our teammates, and they are being obedient to His direction.

We (Chris and I and our teammates in Spain) believe God is directing us to Spain to fill the spot for youth and college outreach. While we are raising support to get to Spain, we are also engaged in youth ministry in the states. God is teaching us how to do what He wants us to do in Spain. But we aren’t the only ones doing it here. We’re part of a team at our church that does youth ministry – not to mention the local community full of youth ministry resources.

We desire to meet the need in Alcalá. We envision growing a thriving youth ministry there that will in turn enable Spanish Christians to reach youth all over the country, without missionary help. Will you consider impacting young people in Spain for Christ by joining our monthly support team?