For quite some time I have wanted to write on this subject. As today is the culmination of July I thought it would be appropriate to review this amazing month in sports for Spain. As those who know me can testify, I am a huge sports fan. I was born in Spain and I didn't grow up around football (American football as I call it) or baseball, but my passion was soccer (better known in the rest of the world as fútbol). Unless you were in a cave this month I'm sure you realized that the World Cup of soccer was going on in South Africa. You may not have seen a single game but you knew it was taking place. If you've ever had the opportunity to live in another country you would know just how big an event the World Cup is in reality.  I am sure you also heard that Spain won the World Cup for the first time in all of their history. It was amazing to see the millions of people lining the streets to celebrate this historic event. For just an instant the divisions between the different provinces, especially the Basque region and Cataluña, seemed to dissipate as the whole country united under one flag and sang in unison, ♫ - Yo soy Español, Español, Español - ♫ ♫ - I am a Spaniard, a Spaniard, a Spaniard - ♫. 

Add to that the amazing victory once again of Rafael Nadal in Wimbledon, which makes a historic 8 grand slam titles for the 24 year old (to put it into perspective he already has the same amount of grand slam titles as Andre Agassi and he is far from being at the end of his career). We would have to talk about the recent Tour de France victory for Alberto Contador (his third title) and Pau Gasol winning his second championship ring with the L.A. Lakers (of coarse I understand this is a team trophy and he is the only Spaniard on the team, but this man is huge in Spain). Spaniards are seeping with national pride (as you can expect) because they can say that they are on the top of the sports world looking down at the rest of the mere mortals that dare challenge them. I want to mention, however, that although I am thrilled for my countries achievements I realize that none of these accomplishments can fill the void and guilt in their hearts caused by sin. Fame only lasts for a season and eventually all that you are is a side note on some sports history book. Our desire is to make the gospel of hope and peace available to every Spaniard so that they can experience true forgiveness of sins and a sense of purpose and fulfillment that will never go away. As the Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:8 "...bodily exercise profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and that which is to come." Pray that Spain will go from soaring atop the sports world to understanding and knowing the maker of heaven and earth and living for the one who promises to bless them on this earth and elevate them to the heavenlies to live with Christ for all eternity.

2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

Starting a church is very hard work and takes much patience and prayer.  However, there is nothing more amazing then when someone realizes their need for a Savior and accepts Jesus Christ as Lord though repentance and faith.  But not only that, being able to teach them the Word of God and watching them grow and understand the principles of the Bible is one of the greatest joys of the Christian life. 

We have had the privilege of seeing 2 people saved in the last 2 weeks and also being able to begin teaching 3 people the Word of God on a personal, one-on-one basis. 

In the photo above, Isabel, who trusted Christ last year at a family camp and Estefan, the man who was saved 2 weeks ago, have begun learning the basics of the Word of God.  We praise the Lord for His goodness. 

God has done another amazing thing in our ministry.  Last week, I mentioned that Estefan, a man who has been coming for several weeks, was born again by the Spirit of God.  We are excited about being able to disciple him and teach him through our lives and the Word of God. 

Yet again, God did a great work.  A young couple, Robertson and Laura, came to our Bible Studies two weeks in a row.  The last time they visited, they mentioned that they were going to return the next week and bring their Aunt.  They didn't make it back after that so we decided that someone needed to visit them.  On Saturday, our team members, Julio and Andrea Velasquez, went to visit them.  The aunt was there and everyone was very happy to see them.  They said that they chatted for a little bit and then Robertson went to the back, grabbed several Bibles, came back and handed one to each person and they sat there staring at the Velasquez ready to hear and learn whatever they had to say.  Julio and Andrea began to share the Word of God with them.  They showed them scriptures and explained the sin that we all posses, but also God's remedy and forgiveness for our sin.  The Aunt (Sonia) bombarded them with her own questions.   At the end of the conversation, Julio asked Sonia if she would like to accept the gift that God has given us for Salvation.  Without hesitation, she emphatically said yes.  As she prayed, Andrea mentioned that she was really broken and truly seeking forgiveness for her sin against our Holy, Almighty God.  We praise the Lord for saving another soul. 

God is truly amazing and is working here and all over the world.  God works in so many different ways.  We continue to work hard at getting the Gospel to our city, not just a few here and there, but to our entire city.  We are reminded of what Paul said: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase."  We (as well as so many before us and with us) are planting and watering, planting and watering, however, it is God who gives the increase. God is the only one who can forgive a Soul and save it from impending judgment. 

We praise the Lord for what He is doing in us and in our ministry.   

What a day it was on Sunday.  As most of you know, Spain won the World Cup.  It was indeed a historical moment as they did what they had never done before.  Spain had never gotten past the quarter finals in the World Cup...ever.  Everyone was excited, the players, the coaches, the fans, and the country. 

As exciting as that was, I am not referring to that when I say, "What a day it was on Sunday."  For the first time in our ministry, we had someone come to Christ as a direct result of our ministry.  We are still in the very beginning stages of our Church Planting ministry, but God has blessed us with Estefan, a man who has been coming for the last 7 or 8 weeks.  If you remember, he is the man who I have asked everyone to pray for.  He passed by the building one Sunday morning and saw the "escaparate" (window with information). Isabel, one of the ladies who faithfully comes to our bible studies walked up and said, "Do you like what you see?"  They began talking, she invited him to stay, and sure enough, he did.  He came to every service since that time except for one.  Before and after each service, my father-in-law and I would talk to him extensively together and separately about the Lord, sin, salvation, repentance, the Bible, etc.  Every service he heard sound biblical preaching and teaching on salvation.  We took him out for coffee and went over to his house.  We have prayed for him ever since the first day we meet him. 

This past Sunday, he came into the church and said he had a surprise.  He said he was reading his Bible and he read a verse where Jesus said, "Come to me."  He told us that that day he accepted Christ as his Savior.  We were excited.  Today, he came out with us for the first time to deliver the Gospel on DVD into people's homes. 

It is always exciting when someone comes to Christ, but this one is special, being our first.  Lording willing we will be baptizing him soon.  Continue to pray for him as he grows in the Lord. 

The DVD Project

A little over a year ago, I was talking to David Velasquez (the other member of our team) and we were discussing plans for the ministry and how to effectively reach the people with the Gospel. I expressed to him my belief that Spain has not been seeded like other countries. For years there has been “pockets” with the Gospel message, but a constant seeding of the Gospel year after year has seemingly eluded Spain. In our discussion, David mentioned being in a mission’s conference and hearing the preacher talk about going door to door and leaving a bag full of goodies on each door handle. Inside the bag was information about the church and a cassette tape containing a clear message on Salvation. The preacher mentioned that the next Sunday, 40 new visitors showed up. As we went back and forth, based on this idea, the DVD project was born. Shortly after our conversion, we set the wheels in motion. We came up with a script, bought the equipment, recorded the video, and there began our DVD project. It has taken some time to get everything set up, duplicate the DVD’s and strategically plan out our attack, but with the Lord’s help, we have been able to get the Gospel DVD into 22,543 homes. So what does this mean? We calculate that on average, there are 3 people per household. That means that we have given 67,629 people the chance to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel. Why is this exciting? If a person on average talks to 2 people per day 7 days a weeks, 365 days a year about the Lord, in a span of 50 years, that person would have talked to 36,500 people. That is great. With this DVD project we have been able to give almost double that number of people a chance to hear the Gospel in less then 3 months.

So is the DVD project working?

That is a question I get a lot. What results have we seen from it. Actually, our primary goal for this project was not to fill our church, although, we hope people come because of a result of it. Our primary goal for this project was to give everyone in our city a chance to hear a clear presentation of the Gospel. You ask, “Isn’t that what church and the preaching is for?” We would love it if in 30 or 40 years of ministry, every single person in the city walked through the door of the church to hear a Gospel message, but ask any pastor or missionary and you will see that it just doesn’t happen. As a matter of fact, the number of people from your city that will visit the church will be a very low percentage. Understanding this, we decided to take the message of the Gospel to them. By placing it in their mailbox, every home and the people in it, will have a chance to hear a Gospel message on DVD even if they never grace the doors of the church. So, yes, it is working because we are fulfilling the purpose that we set out to do. At the end of the DVD, there is a website that they are directed to so they can learn more about the Bible. We have averaged 400 to 500 hits per month on the website. The message is being heard.
We have been able to get the DVD to half of the homes in our city. Lord, willing, we will finish the other half very soon. We don’t plan on stopping there. Part of having a good harvest is continuing to seed and seed. Our plan is to continue getting the Gospel to our city, not just by way of DVD, but in many different ways. We want to thank every individual and every church that has given towards this project. Rest assured that every dime went to the cost of producing this DVD.

THE CHURCH

We are not “officially” a church yet, however we have been holding Bible studies. A lot of work has gone in to readying the building and preparing and doing the DVD project. However, the Lord has been so good as over the past 6 weeks, we have had visitors every week. Stefan walked by the building and saw our “Escaparate” (window with information) and was interested and came in for the service. That was 7 weeks ago and he has been back every Sunday except for one. He has heard the message of the Gospel many times and my father-in-law and I have had good conversations with him about Salvation. Please pray that the Lord would work in his heart. Last week we had 5 visitors with a total of 12 people. We are very excited about what the Lord is doing and is going to do here in Spain.