We will be taking our first-ever furlough and we are very excited about reporting of what God has done in the work here.  We have made a video presentation to show in our churches.  This is a glance of what God is doing in Spain.

You can also view our presentation that we used before we came to Spain. It shows our burden for Spain and what we planned to do. You can view that by clicking on the link below.

http://www.thatallmayknow.net/video-presentations.html

My husband and I have been missionaries for 30 years in Spain and Venezuela.  We have tried many ways of reaching people with the Gospel.  Some of the ways have worked, others not.  Two years ago we returned to Spain to work as a team with our children and their spouses.   As we serve the Lord over many years, there is a tendency to keep on doing things the same way.  We think our way is the only way.  We are so excited that God has allowed us to be part of a team in which each member is excited about doing a work for God and is attempting to try new methods to reach lost souls for Christ.  Since they are young, they understand how this generation thinks and what things will make them interested in hearing the Gospel.  We live in the city of Parla, with approximately 120,000 people.  We are committed to making sure that every person in this city has an opportunity to hear the Gospel many times. 

Last year we produced a Gospel DVD and put one of them in every home in Parla (over 38,000).  This year we are handing out Gospels of John and Romans along with a Gospel tract and an invitation to our church.   We would like to put some piece of literature or DVD into every home every year so that people know that we exist, where we are  and that we want them to know Christ.   We also have a webpage where people can readarticles on the Bible and see a Gospel presentation.  We have also put a monthly advertisement of our ministry in a local newspaper that reaches all of our city.  The Lord has also allowed us to rent a billboard at the entrance to our city with an advertisementto our church.  Our job is to share the Gospel with everyone.  We leave the results up to God.  So far 2 families have come and been saved and baptized because they received the Gospel DVD, one family has been saved after finding our webpage and another family came because of the Gospel of John and Romans that they received in their mailbox.  It is exciting to see what God is doing.  We will keep on trying every method to reach Parla and other cities with the Gospel.

Dear Co-laborers in Christ,

As we begin our 31st year serving as missionaries, we have to say that each year gets sweeter and more exciting. We are not tired, but energized as we see people come to Christ, grow in the Lord and desire to serve Him. We continually receive good news from people who have been saved in our first ministry here in Spain and also those saved in Venezuela and we praise God for how He continues His work in those places.

The work here in Parla is growing numerically and spiritually. In March we were able to baptize 5 converts. In April we began distributing packets of John and Romans along with a Gospel tract and an invitation to our church. The following Sunday a young couple came to the church and said that they were saved, but were praying that God would show them a good church where they could worship and serve God. Their names are Joao and Raquel Goncalves. Joao is from Portugal and his wife from Brazil and they have not stopped attending the services. They are now taking discipleship classes and getting involved in every ministry in the church. Recently Paco and Eduardo finished their discipleship classes and their wives will be finishing soon.

We have been preaching the last few Sundays on discipleship, reaching souls for Christ and that each person needs to be involved in the Lordʼs work. Last Sunday was very special to us because after the service we had lunch at the church and then everyone stayed to help staple our Bible packets together in order to pass them out into the houses in Parla. Everyone participated. They were at the church for 6 hours working with joy in their hearts and sharing sweet fellowship. It was a blessed time for us to see how much these new believers have grown in the Lord! One year ago there were 7 people in the church and now there are 24! God has done great things!

Every day we make sure that someone is at the church during the day so that if anyone wants to know more about the Bible or our church we are there for them. Every day somebody comes into the church with questions and we are able to share the Gospel with them. Please pray for some of these people, Piedad, Blanca, Susana and Francisco. Also continue praying for the salvation of Javier who I visit in the prison once a month. In April and May we were able to distribute 27,000 Gospel packets into the homes of Parla. Lord willing we will finish the remaining 13,000 this month. Pray that we will see fruit from this outreach. Thank you for your many prayers and financial support. We praise God for you very day. May each of us keep on working for Christ till He comes!

In His Service,

Julio and Andrea Velasquez

Dear Praying friends, family, and churches:

FURLOUGH PLANS

I would like to announce again that we will be taking a FURLOUGH this year starting in the summer.  We are planning on being in the states from the summer through the fall.  Many churches have responded since our last prayer letter and our schedule is filling up fast.  If any church would like for us to come and give an update about our ministry, please let us know.  If you have contacted us by one of the methods listed and I have not responded, this means I have not received your request.  Please contact me, preferably by email, with your request.  We have provided a form with this prayer letter that you can mail back to our overseas address or you can email me at the following address:  jefe40472@gmail.com.  You can also go to the web address below and contact us via the form that is available there. 

http://www.thatallmayknow.net/furlough

We would also like to make our supporting churches aware that we will be trying to raise more support while we are back.  Due to the economy and churches that have dropped us or who have lowered our support, we have lost almost 10% of our support since we arrived in Spain.  We need to gain back this loss.  If some of our supporting churches were able to raise our support a little, we would not have to seek out too many new churches.  We are certain that the Lord will provide for this need. 

MINISTRY

The Lord continues to work in our midst.  In our last prayer letter, we mentioned that we finished the Gospel DVD project.  We were able to place a Gospel DVD into every household in our city.  We have now started a new project.  It is called “A Bible in Every Home.”  Bearing Precious Seed donated 50,000 copies of John and Romans to our ministry.  We are placing a copy of the John and Romans, a Gospel Tract, and an invitation to our church in each household.  We have already been able to get the Bible packets into over 13,300 households.  After the first week of doing the Bible project, we had a family visit our church.  They said that they were on vacation and during their vacation they decided to get serious about finding a church.  They prayed that the Lord would direct them to a church.  When they returned home, they checked their mail and they told us that the Bible packet was sitting in their mailbox.  Countless others have received the Word of God and a clear presentation of the Gospel. 
On March 27th, we had our third baptism.  We were able to baptize 5 people.  It was an exciting time in the life of our ministry.  Paco and Veronica, a Spanish couple who recently received Christ as their Savior were baptized.  Carlos, who gave his life to the Lord several weeks earlier, was baptized.  His wife Olenka, who placed her faith in Christ a couple of years earlier was baptized and Angie, who has struggled with the issue of baptism for many years, surrendered her will to the Lord and was baptized.  Each person mentioned is also getting one on one, life on life discipleship.  We praise the Lord for all that He is doing in our midst and we thank our supporting churches for making all of this possible. 

Last night was a very special night for our church.  Our church has been open for bible studies and services for almost a year and we have seen God do some wonderful things.  It amazes us how God continues to work in the hearts and lives of people.

Last night, we were able to baptize 5 people.  Around 30 people came to the baptism from our church including friends and family members of the ones getting baptized.  I wish I could go through each person's life and their story in detail of how they came to this point.  It has truly been a work of God. 

If you watch the video below, you will meet Angie, the wife of Eduardo.  Eduardo found our website www.estudialabiblia.com.  He typed in a google search engine, "What is the true religion?"  Our website was the first one to pop up.  He read the info, watched the video, and requested a Bible.  We delivered the Bible to Eduardo and he eventually trusted Christ as his Savior.  His wife, Angie, didn't want to have anything to do with us at first.  However, God began to work in her heart and we found out that she had made a profession of faith but had been turned off by a group in Paraguay.  Above all, she was turned off because of their radical and unscriptural teachings on Baptism.  We knew that only God could work in her heart about following Him in this step of obedience.  Amazingly, God did do a work and much sooner then we thought.  Angie told Deanna while they were studying the Bible that she realized she needed to be obedient to God and take this step of obedience.  How wonderful it was to see her baptized. 

You will also meet Paco, a Spaniard who came to one of our services and then left before it was over.  We never though we would see him again but he came back the next week.  We, later, found out that he came because he received our Gospel DVD in his mailbox.  He never missed a service.  Eventually he brought his wife and family.  A couple of months ago, Paco repented of his sins and placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have seen so much fruit in his life.  He has a hunger for the Word of God. 

Carlos came to our church with his wife Olenka in November of 2010.  Carlos has always been a skeptic.  After each message, Carlos would question things that were said and things that the Bible said.  However, he kept coming back.  Slowly but surely, the Holy Spirit worked on his heart until finally he surrendered his will to the Lord.  If you listen to his testimony you will hear a clear understanding of salvation and how he is willing to be used of the Lord. 

Veronica is the wife of Paco.  Paco first attended the church for many weeks and then she finally came.  One day while my father-in-law was over at their house, Veronica said to him, "I would like for you to explain to me the subject of Salvation.  I have seen such a change in Paco, I would like to know what this is all about."  My father-in-law explained it to her and she trusted in the Lord.  How awesome it is to have a husband and wife following the Lord and starting a family as believers. 

Olenka came with her husband Carlos.  She trusted the Lord earlier in her life but was never taught about baptism.  She has seen her husband turn from a skeptic to a believer and has grown in the Lord herself through the teaching and preaching of God's Word and one on one discipleship.  Once presented with scriptural baptism, she made the decision to follow Him out of obedience. 

What a wonderful night.  It is a very exciting time in our ministry and we pray that the Lord will continue to work in our ministry here in Spain.  ENJOY THE VIDEO BELOW!

Dear Pastor, Congregation and Friends, 

It wasn’t too long ago that I was sitting in my office in Atlanta imagining myself in Spain. I am so thankful that I am now exactly where God wants me to be. As a teenager I wanted to go back to Spain but never as a missionary. I had bought into the lie that the work could never really be done in this dark place. I wanted to go someplace were I could be a “successful” missionary. God began to work in my heart and gave me the desire and the vision to go back to my people and attempt great things for His glory. I’m not saying that it’s easy but God has not given up on Spain or Europe for that matter. He is still at work and I have seen it first-hand. In the short time that I have been here I have witnessed God do amazing things and I get goose bumps when I think of the possibilities for the future. He is able.

In February we have been busy getting things ready for our next project, “a Bible in every home.” In the container that I brought from the States we were able to load 50,000 John and Romans that were graciously given to us by Bearing Precious Seed in Ohio. We have placed a beautiful invitation to our church along with a gospel tract in every Bible and we plan to saturate the city once again with the gospel. As a direct result of our Gospel DVD project we have seen 3 people get saved. We are excited to see what God will do through this new endeavor.

Do you remember that I asked for you to pray for Paco’s wife? Last month during a Bible study in her home my parents were able to lead her to Christ. Also, Carlos and Olenka (the Peruvian couple that came as a result of the DVD) have been saved. What a blessing! So far everyone that has been saved has been immediately involved in a discipleship relationship. I say relationship, because we firmly believe that discipleship is much more than just a series of lessons, it’s developing a relationship with someone and helping them to grow and mature in the Lord. We accomplish that by following Christ’s example when he trained the twelve. We want to train people who will train others. In two weeks we will have three more people baptized. So far just about everyone that is faithfully attending the services heard the gospel and was saved in our church. That encourages and humbles us because we know that God is already using our church to impact Parla with the gospel. 

As you can see, your prayers and faithful support are not in vain. You have already had a part in souls that have turned from  darkness to light. Thank you for your generosity. We know that God is doing the work and to Him be the glory and praise! Pray for my neighbors, Carlos and Monica as well as Juan and Asuncion. We are developing a relationship with them and we hope to see them saved. May God richly bless you. 

Dear Co-laborers in Christ,

What a joy it is for us to again communicate with you, our faithful supporters and prayer warriors. We are overwhelmed by your faithfulness and generosity even during these difficult economic times. May the Lord richly bless each of you as you labor for our Lord in your specific churches. We appreciate everything you do for us and never take you for granted.

We have finally been able to finish distributing the Gospel DVDs in every home in Parla! In all we distributed 38,883 DVDs. We have about 5000 DVDs left that we are going to distribute in the town nearest to Parla. We appreciate all the monetary gifts given to fund this project. In our last newsletter we mentioned two families who had come to church because they received the DVD. We are so excited to tell you that both couples are now saved and being discipled. Paco and Veronica are our first complete Spanish family to be saved! Amen! Carlos and Olenka (a young peruvian couple) are also saved! Lord willing we will be having our 3rd baptismal service on March 27 so that these new converts can take this step of obedience.

We also asked you to pray for the salvation of Angie, Eduardoʼs wife. Our daughter, Deanna, began having Bible classes with her and Angie told her that she had been saved years ago in her home country of Paraguay, but had gotten away from the Lord. She now wants to follow the Lord along with her husband. Please continue praying for her spiritual growth.

What a blessing it is each Sunday for us to go to church and see these new believers come, with a sincere hunger for the Word of God. Each one of them is being discipled and each one is taking steps towards spiritual maturity. We are amazed at what God is doing in their lives. Thank you so much for praying for them.

Our next outreach project is to distribute books of John and Romans along with an invitation to our church and a good quality Gospel tract, to every home in Parla. We are already meeting every Monday to staple these packets together. Very soon we will begin distributing them. Please pray that as people receive these packets, they will read them and that we will be able to to reach some of them for Christ. We will continue trying every method possible so that more people will come to know our Lord as their Savior.

We have two more prayer requests. We have mentioned Sonia before. She was saved several months ago and baptized. She is not able to come to church every Sunday because of her job, but whenever she is free on Sundays, she is in church. Please pray for her son, Javier, who is serving a 3 year sentence in a prison in Aranjuez. I was able to go to the prison this past Saturday to get to know him and begin a friendship in order to share the Gospel with him. Please pray for his salvation. Also pray for a lady named Doris, who has come twice to the church, who has serious physical problems, but her main need right now is to know Christ. Keep on praying for us and the ministry here in Spain. God is working and we are excited!

In His Service,

Julio and Andrea Velasquez

January 2011

Dear Praying friends, family, and churches:

Happy New Year!  The new year always brings a sense of renewal and freshness.  We can look back at the things we accomplished and the mistakes we made and reevaluate our priorities for the coming year.  As we look back on 2010, I want to recap all that God has done in our ministry.  I apologize for the lengthy letter, but it is hard to keep short all that God has done in the past year. 

THE MINISTRY IN 2010 

In January of 2010, we began working on remolding the building that would one day be our church building.  We were meeting with one lady, Isabel, in the living room of my in-laws’ apartment.  We had some very sweet Bible studies with this faithful lady who continued to come in spite of us just beginning. 

In February of 2010, we were able to hold out first baptism.  Even though our building wasn’t complete, we were able to baptize 2 people.  It was a very exciting time in our ministry. 

In March of 2010, we semi-finished the building to where we could move from my in-laws’ living room to the church building.  However, we were still not officially open.  The metal door that protects the window was still closed and no one could tell that the building was “open for business.” 

In April of 2010, we began our DVD project.  One of our goals has always been to reach our city with the Gospel.  We began delivering what would eventually be around 40,000 Gospel DVD’s to every household in our city.

In May of 2010, we finally finished the “escaparate” (window that displays information) and we were able to open the metal door that protects the window.  At this point, the building looked like it was open and became the “unofficial” start of our church.  A week after opening the metal door and preparing the window, Stefan passed by, saw the “esacaparate” and came in and joined us for a service.  Since then he has trusted the Lord as Savior, been baptized, gone through one on one discipleship, and is a faithful member of our church. 

In June of 2010, we continued saturating our city with the Gospel.  My father-in-law and I were busy visiting people who were contacting us as a result of our website, DVD project, church services, etc. 

In July of 2010, my in-laws went to visit a couple who had come to one of our Bible studies.  When they got there, the also met their aunt.  Her name is Sonia.  As they explained the Gospel message to the couple, Sonia was very interested in what was being said.  When they were done, Sonia expressed her desire to trust Christ as her Savior.  Also during the month of July, Stefan came to us and told us that he had “come to Christ” while reading the scriptures during the week. 

In August of 2010, we were contacted, through our website, by Eduardo, a young Brazilian man who was searching for the truth.  We offer Bibles on our website and he requested one.  We went to visit him and he was very open.  A few weeks later, he came to our special service and gave his life to the Lord.  He has been a huge blessing to us and the church and has been growing tremendously.  During the month of August, we also had some very high days in attendance, our highest being 41 people.  For a church that “unofficially” opened it’s doors 3 months earlier, we were very excited.  

In September of 2010, Paco, a Spaniard, came into the service to join us.  He came in late and then left early so we were not able to meet him.  We wondered if he would return and sure enough, he returned the next week.  We found out later that Paco was a direct result of the DVD project.  He had received the DVD, watched it, and then decided to come to church.  Paco was an anomaly to us because he never missed a service and he wasn’t even a Christian.  He even came out to our baptismal service that we held in another church some 25 minutes away.  Paco has been a blessing and it has been awesome to see how God has worked in his life.  Paco has recently made a profession of faith and he is currently going through one on one discipleship.  He has a hunger for the Word of God and his countenance has changed since the first time he walked through the doors.  Also in September, we continued saturating our city with the Gospel of Christ.  We had placed DVD’s in 23,000 households. 

In October of 2010, we had completed 85% of our city with the DVD project.  We had given almost 35,000 households a Gospel DVD.  However, the most exciting part is that we had a couple people from our church that began going with us to give out the Gospel.  It is great to see people saved and baptized, however, it is a real joy to see them begin to serve.  On the 31st of October, we held our 2nd baptism.  This was a very emotional night for our church and for us as missionaries.  We had 20 people from our church go to a neighboring church about 25 minutes away and we were able to baptize 3 people.  Eduardo, Stefan, and Sonia were baptized that night.  

In November of 2010, we began to see a core group starting to emerge.  We started to see the faithfulness of the people who had been saved and baptized.  During this time, Carlos and Olenka, a Peruvian couple, visited for the first time.  They were also a direct result of the DVD project.  They received a DVD, watched it, and decided to come to church.  They have been attending our services faithfully.  Please pray for Carlos and his wife as they are both searching for the truth and seem very close to understanding and trusting in Christ as their Savior.  Also, David and Favianna Velasquez, the 3rd member of our team, arrived in Spain. 

In December of 2010, we had a couple of special services for the Christmas season.  Both services were a huge blessing and we could see the people becoming more firm, not only in their relationship with God, but also in their relationship towards one another. 
It truly has been a wonderful year.  I think that 2010, the first year of our ministry, will be remembered by us as one of the best and most special years.  The Lord has truly done something special in our midst.  In 2010 we saw:

• The start of a new church
• The Gospel being spread to an entire city of 150,000 people
• 3 people saved and baptized
• 2 others who had been saved previously were baptized (5 people baptized in total)
• 4 people begin a 16 lesson one on one discipleship series, 2 of which finished. 

I can’t express how amazed we are at how God, not us, is doing the work in their lives.  In 2011, we look forward to what God is going to do in their lives and what new people will come our way. 

In 2011, we plan to saturate our city AGAIN with the word of God.  Bearing Precious Seed has given us 50,000 John and Romans and we plan on giving every household the Word of God, along with a Gospel tract and an invitation to our church.  We also plan on strengthening the core group that we have with life on life discipleship and sound Biblical preaching and teaching.  Our desire is to see our church grow and see the people who were saved in 2010, become leaders and mature Christians who can eventually teach others who come our way.  We want to thank each and every supporter that we have, each and every individual and church who gave toward our DVD project, and each and every person who is praying for us.  May God give us a better year in 2011! 

Dear Co-laborers in Christ,

Our team is finally together in Spain! What a blessing! On November 30, David and Favianna arrived here with their children! Thank you so much for praying for them! Now we are ready to work together in reaching souls for Christ here in Spain.

As we approach Christmas we are planning several activities, one of which is a Christmas program at the church on the 19th of December. Please pray that many people will attend
including some lost families that we have contacted over the past few months. Also pray for me (Julio) as I will be having hernia surgery on the 17th of December in Madrid. Pray that I will recover quickly so that I can get busy in the ministry again.

As we look back on this year 2010, we are thrilled at what God has done through us here. We were able to rent a building for our church, fix it up and then begin services back in March. We were able to distribute over 35,000 Gospel DVDs throughout the city of Parla. We were able to put up a billboard with an advertisement about the DVD and also put ads in a local newspaper. Through these outreach endeavors we have seen many come to our church, call us by phone and contact us by way of the internet. We have been able to baptize 5 converts, 3 of which were baptized just last month. Pray for the families of these new converts. Stefan, since his conversion, has suffered rejection from his wife and family as well as not being able to find a job. Pray for him that God will give him the courage to keep on going for Christ. Pray that his wife, Florina will get saved soon. Eduardo got saved and baptized, but his wife is not saved yet. Pray for Angie that she will be convicted of her sins and come to Christ. Sonia was saved and recently baptized and she desperately needs a new job that will allow her to attend church services on Sundays. Paco and his wife Veronica have been attending church for over 2 months now, after receiving the DVD in their home. Pray that they will come to Christ. There is a new couple, Carlos and Olenka, who also received a DVD in their home and have begun coming to our services. They really seem interested and we pray that they also will come to the Lord.

We recently received a call from a man in the Canary Islands who found our website and was interested in growing in the Lord. He is a Christian but does not have a church where he can attend. He along with several of his friends have been meeting on Sunday mornings and watching our church services via the internet. Pray for this group that they will grow in the Lord and in the future be able to form a local church.

As we approach the new year, we have plans to distribute portions of the Bible to every home in Parla. We also want to continue discipling new converts and we would like to produce another DVD presenting the Gospel in a clear way. Our desire is to serve our Lord and reach the lost here in Parla, throughout Spain and then to other parts of the world. Thank you so much for your prayers and faithful monthly support. We would like to thank those of you who helped with the special DVD project and for the many emails and letters we have received with words of encouragement. May the Lord richly bless each of you as you serve our Lord there in your city.

In His Service,
Julio and Andrea Velasquez

Dear Praying friends, family, and churches:

We praise the Lord because He is really working here in Parla, Spain.  Each week is exciting as we see the ones who have given their lives to Christ grow in their faith through His Word.  At this moment, we have the privilege of holding personal Bible studies with 4 different people.  This is a time of not only good sound Bible teaching, but also a time of building a relationship with each person.  In the next few weeks, we will begin these Bible studies (discipleship) with 2 more people.

Please pray for Paco and his wife.  Paco came to the church about 7 or 8 weeks ago.  He came as a direct result of the DVD project.  He received the DVD, watched it and then began looking for the church.  At that time, we did not have a sign up as we were still working on the building and getting things prepped to open.  He said he drove around for a while until one day he noticed the sign and the building.  Then, he said, it took him a while before he actually entered the building.  Once he came in (about 7 or 8 weeks ago) he has not missed one service.  The last 3 weeks he has brought his wife and daughter.  Our desire is to involve Paco in our personal Bible studies so he can have a better understanding of Salvation and of God’s Word. The Lord is working in their hearts and we ask you to pray for them that they will put their faith and trust in the One true Savior!

Very shortly, I will give a full update on our DVD project.  However, I would like to thank everyone who has prayed and given toward the project.  I am glad to report that we are ALMOST done!  What that means is that we will have given a Gospel DVD to every single household in our city.  We are very close and very excited about this.  Please continue to pray.

On October 31st, we had the privilege of having a baptism.  We were able to baptize 3 people.  It is always exciting to see people take the step of obedience of baptism.  Pray for all of these as they continue to grow in the Lord.  Below are pictures of the Baptism.  You can also go to the link provided below to see a video of the baptism. 

http://www.thatallmayknow.net/blog/baptism.html

Thank you for all your prayers and support. We are truly humbled by your generosity!