Dear Co-laborers in Christ,

The months of April and May have been exciting for us as we have had the privilege of distributing 12,900 Gospel DVDʼs to homes here in the city of Parla. Every Tuesday and Thursday morning we meet at the church and then head out to a different area of the city and begin the process of putting these DVDʼs in the mailboxes in houses and apartments. Six of us have been participating in this endeavor and it is truly an exciting project. We have received a few requests for Bibles and we trust that we will have some solid contacts in the days and weeks ahead. We pray that as the people watch this DVD, their hearts will be touched by the message, they will see themselves as sinners and in need of a Savior. We still have over 35,000 DVDʼs that we will need to distribute in order to reach every home. We have duplicated over 5000 more and are in the process of doing another 5000. After that we will need more money in order to continue duplicating more DVDʼs. Remember that each DVD costs us .50 cents. If an individual or Sunday School class or church would like to send a love offering to help us duplicate more DVDʼs, please send to us at BIMI and designate for DVD project. For the past two Sundays we have had a man visit our services. He is of Romanian and Greek descent and has shown an interest in hearing the Gospel. Pray that Esteban will come to know Christ as his personal Savior. Also pray for our neighbors who are Colombian. I have had the opportunity to visit them several times and just recently gave them a Bible. Pray that they will come to the church and also come to know the Lord. We know that the process of sowing is necessary and it takes time and we pray that God will bring in the harvest in His time.

The second week of April I was on my way to Madrid to renew my resident visa, when my leg went down hard on the first step of the escalator at the train station. That simple motion caused me to tear the ligaments in the calf of my left leg. After two weeks of complete rest, several doctorʼs visits and 20 sessions of rehab I am beginning to be able to walk without crutches. The healing process is long and tedious, but praise the Lord that I am getting better. I have been able to witness to several doctors at rehab and that has been a real blessing. Last week when I visited the main doctor, he found that I have also developed an inguinal hernia. This was probably due to the stress from my accident the month before. I will have to have surgery to repair the hernia sometime before the end of the year. Please pray that all will go well.

Please pray for our son David and his family as they have set the date for their arrival in Spain for December 1. They have 80% of their support and are trusting the Lord to bring in the remaining 20% by that time. Pray that they will be able to obtain their resident visas without any complications. Also pray for Jeff and Deanna as they have been approved for adoption of a baby and are now waiting for the agency to call them about an available child. We want to thank each of you for your faithful support for our ministry and for your prayers. We need you to pray specifically that we will have boldness to share the Gospel with the lost around us. Spaniards are usually very closed when talking about spiritual matters, but we pray that God will open hearts that only He can open. May the Lord richly bless each of you as you serve our Lord in your area.

In His Service,

Julio and Andrea Velasquez

September 2009

Dear Co-laborers in Christ,

We are close to the end of a very hot summer.  Most days temperatures were in the high 90’s and nights would be very warm also.  Spaniards usually enjoy one full month of vacation time, either in July or August.  Now most people have returned home and within two weeks school will begin again.  This is the time we have been waiting for to begin distributing the DVD’s with a Gospel message.  We would like to thank all of those individuals and churches who have sent offerings for this project.  This will really help us purchase more DVD’s. If you have not sent in an offering yet, there is still time, since this is an ongoing project.  We will continue to give out these DVD’s until every home in Parla and the surrounding areas has heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

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Since Deanna's parents have arrived, we have been busy from morning until evening running around, looking for apartments, doing paperwork, etc.  The days have been very productive.  They were able to begin their paperwork and they got an appointment scheduled in 2 weeks to submit their papers.  This is amazing considering it normally takes 2 months to get the appointment.

We found a great apartment the other day.  Everyone fell in love with it.  It was a nice size place (for Spain standards) and it had a patio and a yard which is very rare here.  The price was reasonable and it comes with several appliances that noramlly aren't included.  The owner mentioned that he liked Deanna's parents the best out of any of the other potiential renters that have looked at the apartment.  When we went to the agency that handles the rental agreements, they told us that they may not be able to accept them because they do not hold a job here in Spain.  The reason being if they were to default on there agreement, this agency could actually go directly to the tenants workplace and take the money owed by the tenant.  This was odd to use since Deanna and I went through the same agency and they approved us.  The agency still took their information and said they would review it.  Please help us pray that they get accepted.  This is a very nice place at a reasonable cost, especially for all that it has, and they really like it.  Moreover, the container that was shipped is suppose to be here in 2 1/2 weeks and if they don't have a place, a storage unit will have to be rented and it will make things much more difficult.  

Tomorrow is another day to accomplish many things.  We praise the Lord for the opportunity to be here and to serve Him.  It is an honor to be God's servant and to be doing His will.  

Thanks for your prayers.  Julio and Andrea Velasquez landed in Madrid at 8am this morning.  They are excited to be here but extremely tired.  They weren't able to sleep on the plane so they have basically been awake since yesterday morning.  The trick is to try to stay awake until 8pm or 9pm Spain time.  That will help get your body adjusted to the time change sooner.  We will be busy over the next few weeks helping them get settled in, doing paperwork,finding an apartment, etc.  We are looking forward to starting our work together. 

We give thanks to the Lord!  Julio and Andrea Velasquez officially have their visas in hand.  They have only 4 meetings left and are preparing their things to come to Spain.  They have bought plane tickets and will be arriving on April 1, 2009.  Thank you for your prayers.  Please continue to pray that the rest of the paper work process will be just as smooth. 

Julio Velasquez is a product of missions.  Because a missionary accepted the call from God and went to His town, Julio was able to hear the message of the Gospel and be saved.  It was a message that he had never heard before the missionary went to his town.  God has worked in Julio's life in a tremendous way and it has resulted in almost 30 years of faithful service on the mission field and 3 Godly children who are serving God.  Listen to the radio broadcast of the testimony of Julio Velasquez on "Unshackled."