Written by: Jeffrey Andrews

#7: Immigrants come for work, but find Christ!

The population of Spain doubled during the twentieth century due to the spectacular demographic boom in the 1960s and early 1970s. The birth rate then plunged by the 1980s, and Spain’s population became stagnant, its demographics showing one of the lowest sub replacement fertility rate (s) in the world, only second to Japan’s.

Spain currently has the second highest immigration rates within the EU, just after Cyprus, and the second highest absolute net migration in the World (after the USA).

According to the Spanish government, there were 4.5 million foreign residents in Spain in 2007; independent estimates put the figure at 4.8 million or 15.1% of total population (Red Cross, World Disasters Report 2006). According to residence permit data for 2007, around 500,000 were Moroccan, another half a million were Ecuadorian and Romanians, 260,000 were Colombian. Other important foreign communities are British (8.09%), French (8.03%), Argentine (6.10%), German (5.58%) and Bolivian (2.63%).

However, there are certain factors that must be taken into consideration with these numbers.

Immigrants from South America can obtain Spanish nationality after residing 2 years in Spain, that is why they stop being counted as immigrants.

Spain automatically grants Spanish nationality to the children of immigrants born in Spain who do not ask for the nationality of origin of their parents, unlike other countries of the EU that do not do it. It is for this reason that although the South-American immigrants of origin are most numerous, the Romanians or the Moroccans surpassed them in the official statistics.

Considering this data, there are many in Spain that affirm the true number of immigrants in Spain is 10-11 million, or about 25% of the total population.

HOW HAS IMMIGRATION AFFECTED OUR CHURCHES?

Instead of giving my personal perspective or statistical research to answer this question, I want to list “real live situations” from a few churches in Spain.  These missionaries are answering the question, “What is the ratio of immigrants to Spaniards in your church and how has immigration affected your ministry?”

Kent Albright, Pastor and Missionary of the Iglesia Evangélica Bautista de Tormes (Evangelical Baptist Church of Tormes) writes, “We have about 20 nationalities in our little church of 80—about 30% Spaniard and half of those from Salamanca.”

Pastor and Missionary, Marvin Robertson, of the Iglesia Bautista Bíblica de Mostoles (Bible Baptist Church of Mostoles) writes, “Our church has been somewhat affected but not overly affected by the most recent wave of immigrants. We have some immigrants that have been here for 20 years or longer along with several that have come in the last five years. Except for the two sisters that I baptized recently, all of our baptisms have been immigrants. Some saved before they came to Spain while others have been saved in Spain.”

Bill Williams who is a Missionary and the Pastor of the Iglesia Bautista de Leganes (Baptist Church of Leganes) one of the larger independent Baptist churches in Spain writes, “Immigration has greatly affected our ministry. If it weren’t for the immigrants, we wouldn’t HAVE a ministry. Displaced persons are always more open to the Gospel, but those who come out of poverty seeking economic gain seem to be even more open as they are in a difficult situation. I would say more than half of the immigrants come from churches in their own country although many are not truly born-again or have definite spiritual-moral issues which are in themselves a full ministry. I fully enjoy our international ministry and would prefer to always have a multi-cultural ministry instead of the normal state-side single culture. It certainly makes things more interesting. It has given us an insight on the differences in cultures and the effect that governments and economic situations have on the character and temperament of cultures.”

Every day, an immigrant will try to enter Spain and pass through the invisible door that he/she believes will lead to a better way of life and a more comfortable economic situation.  This kind of opportunity, for the immigrant, is one that compels them to leave everything behind, even children, in search of financial gain.  However, although many have come to Spain looking for money, in turn they have found forgiveness of sins and eternal life through repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  God has commanded us to go into all the world, but here in Spain, much of the world has come to us.

#6: Spain is a culturally and linguistically diverse country

Culture: Cultural groups, but not properly distinct ethnic groups, include the Castilians of central Spain, the Asturians and the Basques of Vizcaya, Álava, Guipúzcoa, and (in part) Navarra provinces in the north, the Catalans of Catalonia, the Galicians of the far northwest, and the Andalusians of the south.

The Basques, Galicians, and Catalans consider themselves separate nations within Spain; they enjoy considerable cultural, economic, and political autonomy. Estimates of the Gypsy population range from 50,000 to 450,000.

Language: If you think that Spanish or Castilian is the language of Spain, you’re only partially right.

True, Spanish is the national language and the only language you can use if you want to be understood almost everywhere. But Spain also has three other officially recognized languages, and language use continues to be a hot political issue in parts of the country. In fact, about a fourth of the country’s residents use a tongue other than Spanish as their first language. Here is a brief look at those languages:

Euskara: Euskara is easily the most unusual language of Spain — and an unusual language for Europe as well, since it doesn’t fit in the Indo-European family of languages that includes Spanish as well as French, English and the other Romance and Germanic languages.

Euskara is the language spoken by the Basque people, an ethnic group in both Spain and France that has its own identity as well as separatist sentiments on both sides of the Franco-Spanish border. (Euskara has no legal recognition in France, where far fewer people speak it). About 600,000 speak Euskara, sometimes known as Basque, as a first language.

What makes Euskara linguistically interesting is that it has not been shown conclusively to be related to any other language. Some of its characteristics include three classes of quantity (single, plural and indefinite), numerous declinations, positional nouns, regular spelling, a relative lack of irregular verbs, no gender, and pluri-personal verbs. The fact that Euskara is an ergative language (a linguistic term involving cases of nouns and their relations to verbs) has caused some linguists to think that Euskara my have come from the Caucasus region, although the relationship with languages of that area hasn’t been demonstrated. In any case, it is likely that Euskara, or least the language it developed from, has been in the area for thousands of years, and at one time it was spoken in a much larger region.

Catalan: Catalan is spoken not only in Spain, but also in parts of Andorra (where it is the national language), France and Sardinia in Italy.

Catalan looks something like a cross between Spanish and French, although it is a major language in its own right and, some say, may be more similar to Italian than it is to Spanish. Its alphabet is similar to that of English, although it also includes a Ç. Vowels can take both grave and acute accents (as in à and á, respectively). Conjugation is quite similar to Spanish’s.

About 4 million people use Catalan as a first language, with about that many also speaking it as a second language.

Galician: Galician has strong similarities to Portuguese, especially in vocabulary and syntax. It developed along with Portuguese until the 14th century, when a split developed, largely for political reasons. For the native Galician speaker, Portuguese is about 85 percent intelligible.

About 4 million people speak Galician, 3 million of them in Spain, the rest in Portugal with a few communities in Latin America.

Miscellaneous languages: Scattered throughout Spain are a variety of smaller ethnic groups with their own languages, most of them Latin derivatives. Among them are Aragonese, Asturian, Caló, Valencian (usually considered a dialect of Catalan), Extremaduran, Gascon and Occitan.

Sample vocabularies

Euskara: kaixo (hello), eskerrik asko (thank you), bai (yes), ez (no), etxe (house), esnea (milk), bat (one), jatetxea (restaurant)

Catalan: sí (yes), si us plau (please), què tal? (how are you?), cantar (to sing), cotxe (car),l’home (the man), llengua, llengo (language), mitjanit (midnight)

Galician: polo (chicken), día (day), ovo (egg), amar (love), si (yes), nom (no), ola (hello),amigo/amiga (friend), cuarto de baño, baño (bathroom), comida (food)

Written by: David Velasquez

#5: Spain has officially legalized abortion

On February 24, 2010 the Spanish parliament, in its majority run by the liberal socialist party, approved a bill that makes it much easier to get an abortion in Spain. Since 1985 the country had allowed abortions but only in the case of rape or when the mother or the child’s health was at risk.

Even though the new law does not go as far as many other countries in allowing partial birth abortions; it does give women the legal right to get an abortion through the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. This is the first time in the history of Spain that abortions are legal for any reason.

In the past decade under strict limitations yearly abortions had gone from nearly 50,000 to over 100,000. It is scary to imagine how drastically those numbers will increase under this new law. Thankfully in Spain there is a sector of the population that is staunchly opposed to the new law. In October of last year over 1 million people marched down a major Madrid boulevard with the slogan “Every Life Matters.”

The reason that this news is so important for Christians is because obviously the religion that has dominated Spain for centuries (the Catholic Church) has offered no true change or moral compass to its citizens.

You would think that a country that claims, for the most part, to be Catholic would adhere to God’s clear commands. The truth is that the Catholic Church has left people disillusioned with God and His word because they have not proclaimed the true gospel.

Most Spaniards equate God with the Catholic Church and since Catholicism has done nothing for them then God must be a lie. This has caused many to turn from belief in God to atheism, agnosticism and humanism. In a country that used to be 98% Catholic only 73% of Spaniards today self-identify as Catholics (only 15% are faithful to church), 2% claim another faith (that would include every belief under the sun), and 22% identify with no religion.

We are not on a mission to externally reform Spain, but we do realize that as the true gospel of hope and peace is preached those that are saved will become a new creation in Christ. This regeneration will allow them to understand and obey God’s Word. They will only understand the love of God after His grace and mercy has been poured out in their lives. And as they begin to grow spiritually they will truly understand that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” in God’s image.

Yes, it is sad that Spain has passed such a horrific law, but all that tells me is that they are sinners and in need of a Saviour. Please pray that this law would be repealed, but more importantly that a true spiritual revival would sweep across the nation. Pray for the missionaries that are preparing to go to Spain as well as for those that are currently on the field that we would make an impact for His honor and glory.

Written By: Scott Newton

#4: Islam is the fastest growing organized religion in Spain

There are approximately 1.5 million Muslims in Spain.

The modern Muslim population started to arrive in significant numbers in the 1970s. Many were Moroccans coming to work in tourism and subsequent growth came when their families joined them.

The state recognises Islam, affording it a number of privileges including the teaching of Islam in schools and religious holidays. There have been some reports of tension towards Muslim immigrants. Spain was shaken in 2004 when terror attacks by suspected radical Islamists killed 191 people on Madrid commuter trains.

This is a statistic that breaks our heart; not because we do not love Muslims, but because Islam teaches a false way to God, with no hope. Just like the rest of Spaniards, they need to hear that their “good works” can never restore their broken relationship with God. Only faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross brings reconciliation with a Holy God.

Please pray with us that this statistic will no longer be true in Spain’s future!

Sources: Total population – Spanish National Institute of Statistics, 2005 figures; Muslim population – US State Department.

Written By: Scott Newton

#3: Spain is the least evangelized Spanish-speaking nation.

As of 2010, 329 to 358 million people speak Spanish as a native language and a total of 417 million people speak it worldwide. Of these, approximately 47 million are Spanish, the vast majority of whom have never attended a Gospel preaching church, or heard a clear presentation of how they can have a real relationship with God. Only 1.5% of the population claim to be Evangelical Christian.

Mexico contains the largest population of Spanish speakers, 6.3% of whom are Evangelicals (CIA). Spanish is the second most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese, and many Central and South American countries are beginning to send out missionaries of their own.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if some of these were to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Spain! Would you pray that God will raise up laborers for His harvest?

Written by: Scott Newton

#2: Spain has been without a major Gospel preaching movement for at least 1600 years.

AD 33-70: Christianity came very early to the Peninsula. According to some ancient writers such as Clement Of Rome & Eusebius, St. Paul visited Spain (see Romans 15).

AD 70-711When the Visigoths, whose leaders professed Arianism (the denial of the divinity of Christ), invaded the peninsula, Christianity had been fairly firmly established for around 240 years, and had held its own councils and used a liturgy different from that of Rome, known later as the Hispanic Rite.

There were more than likely many true believers in this church, however, they had from AD 70 been corrupted through following the teachings of the Didache, supposedly a summation of the Apostles teaching.

The majority of this document was a paraphrase of biblical text, but here is the hook at the end:

16:2 “But be ye gathered together frequently, seeking what is suitable for your souls; for the whole time of your faith shall profit you not, unless ye be found perfect in the last time.”

Early writings confirm that this movement clearly taught a grace+works salvation. Not Gospel.

AD 711-1478 With the invasion by the Moors at the beginning of the 8th century, Christians suffered greatly. The Catholics who lived under the Moorish domination became known as Mozarabic Christians. By the end of the 15th century when the Reconquest of the peninsula from the Muslims was completed, the Mozarabic Christians had been subjected to the Roman liturgy and strict papal jurisdiction.

THE REFORMATION 16TH CENTURY SPAIN

However, it was not until the 16th Century that some people, interested in the writings of Luther, started to share a different Christianity among the Spaniards.

At the beginning, Spanish protestantism was accepted among the noble and high classes, due to their interest in reading the Bible. There were important reformers in Spain, such as Juan de Valdés, Francisco de Enzinas and three ex-monks, Casiodoro de Reina, Cipriano de Valera y Antonio del Corro. Reina & Valera were the first ones to translate the Bible into Spanish, with the support of Oxford university. (AD 1569)

However, soon after the entry of the reformation movements from Europe, the Inquisition made sure they would not succeed. The majority of Spanish protestants went into hiding, died, or left the country.

PROTESTANTS LIVE AS OUTCASTS DURING 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES

During the following two centuries (17th and 18th) any attempt to reformation within Spain and the catholic church was stopped, or had to go underground. Yet, from some historical records from the Inquisition itself, we do know that protestants continued translating the Bible into Spanish and Basque and made it available to people. Others, who were exiled, continued translating Christian literature; while others who remained in Spain died in the hands of the inquisitors. There were 3499 court cases against Lutherans in Spain and Italy during that time, which is 7,1 % of all the inquisition cases recorded.

During the 18th and beginning of 19th Centuries, economic and military relations with England eased off the pressure over the foreign protestants in the country, allowing them to have freedom of conscience, though not freedom of practice.

The Second Republic (1931-1936)

During 1931 and 1936, under the auspice of the second republic, there was freedom of religion once more in the country which allowed growth. These 5 years, added to the 6 years of the first republic, made a total of 11 years of religious freedom in the whole history of Spain.

First stage of intolerance (1939-1966)

The civil war and the regimen afterwards, were devastating against the protestant churches, even though protestants had not taken positions in the war. At the end of the war, there were only 7000 protestants left. Most churches had been raided, along with schools and cemeteries. Some others were burned down or closed by the authorities.

It is estimated that over 80% of the churches were closed down.

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1978

After the death of Franco, Spain moved on to monarchy and democracy, reaching a crucial moment in 1978, when the country adopted a new constitution. King Juan Carlos I was in favor of democracy and religious freedom.

MODERN DAY SPAIN

Spain now enjoys religious freedom, and God is starting to move in big ways. Pray that the Lord of the Harvest will send forth more laborers, Spain is white unto harvest!

Scott Newton is a church planting missionary to Spain.  He is currently on deputation raising his support.  You can visit Scott's website and blog to learn more about he and his family.  Scott started a topic on his blog called, "10 Things Every Christian Should Know About Spain."  We have asked Scott if we could re-post the topic here on our blog and he agreed.  We are now collaborating together on the "10 Things Every Christian Should Know About Spain."  Here is the first:

10 Things Every Christian Should Know About Spain(#1) - By Scott Newton

1: Spain is approximately 1.5 % evangelical Christian.

Spain has a population of 46 million, with approximately 600,000 Evangelical/Protestant church-members (FEREDE). Over half of these are members of Pentecostal churches which teach a perverted form of the Gospel that tells people that their salvation is dependent upon their continued faithfulness.

This leaves at best around 300,000 church members of various gospel-preaching churches. To put that in perspective, there are approximately 1 million Muslims in Spain, and 9.2 million who claim no religion (CIS, 2009).

Many times people assume that a first-world country like Spain, in a continent that we associate with great spiritual movements of the past, would have no great need of a Gospel preaching movement. That assumption is terribly terribly wrong.

Would you pray that God will raise up more laborers for Spain, and that He would use our ministry and that of every other missionary in Spain to lift high the name of Christ?