When we arrived in Spain nine months ago after finishing our deputation I was finally able to witness first-hand the wonderful reports that I had heard from the team about the church that had recently been started. God was doing a work in Parla, Madrid and it was evident! The church had been started a few months earlier and already souls had been saved and people baptized (every person that was saved, was baptized and was faithfully attending church services). It was great to arrive on the mission field and immediately get involved in the work of the ministry. One thing that quickly caught my attention was the fact that the church was comprised primarily of men and that the men were showing the greatest desire to grow and learn. That is still the case today. As a matter of fact in two weeks we will be starting our first official men's meeting (the guys are really excited). In most churches the women talk like crazy, but in our church it's the men that can't stop talking and the wives have to finally beg the men to leave. I think that's great. If there's one thing that we need in our churches today is godly men. In order to train leaders and start churches we desperately need men. 

I believe, and this is really what I would like to emphasize, that one of the reasons that men are showing such an interest in the things of God is because of the multiple witnesses in the church to the truth of the gospel. This, to me, is one of the great benefits of working as a team. From day one, anyone that visits the church has the opportunity to see that the gospel has impacted the lives of multiple families, in different life stages, from different backgrounds. This is especially true when it comes to men. As soon as the first men began to get saved they had other men with which to fellowship and share their lives. 

My father was born in Peru into a Catholic home and was saved in his twenties. Jeff was born in the U.S.  but didn't grow up in a Christian home and was also saved in his twenties. I was saved at a young age but something caused me to want to continue serving God even after I moved out from under my parent's roof. You see, it’s one thing for one man to preach week after week about the power of the gospel, it's another thing entirely for three men coming from different backgrounds to attest to the same truths. Once again, I am not saying that it is wrong to do missions alone. As a matter of fact, most of the missionaries I know have done it alone. I simply want to share the blessing of having multiple witnesses to the glorious truths found in God's Word. I have found that it has been very easy for men to integrate in our little church as a result of our team. Also, this models what we would like to see in the future as the church in Parla produces other churches. We want to give them the opportunity to start churches as a team where they will also have multiple witnesses to the truth. I think that is what we see in the gospels as Christ sent the twelve and the seventy in pairs. We see it clear as day when the Holy Spirit (men didn't come up with the team concept) commanded Paul and Barnabas to be sent out. I believe one of the reasons for the birth of corporate missions in the New Testament was to have several witnesses to the truth that the gospel is real and it changes lives. 

One of the many purposes for our ministry blog is to share our personal experiences in the ministry here in Spain in hope that we can offer some help to future missionaries who are starting a new work. Except for my father, who has been a missionary for over 30 years, my brother-in-law Jeffrey Andrews and I have very little experience in the ministry. I may have grown up on the mission field and worked in various ministries throughout my youth but doing the ministry in the capacity that I am doing it today is very new for me. I say all that to explain that we do not consider ourselves experts in church-planting or in missions but we just want to share some of the things we are trying in Spain that may be a blessing to you in your ministry. We also really want help and input from other missionaries and pastors because we want to learn every day to be all that God intended us to be for His glory. 

One this occasion I would like to start a series of blog posts about Pioneer team missions. I want to share some of the benefits that we have witnessed already as we are starting a new church in Parla, Madrid. So what is Pioneer team missions? Well, it's very simple. A pioneer is someone that is the first to do something or go somewhere. So when we talk about pioneer missions we are talking about going someplace where the gospel has not been preached and starting a work from scratch. That's exactly what Paul was talking about in Romans 15:20, 21 when he said, "Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation." But when we talk about Pioneer team missions we are talking about a team of missionaries that go and start churches. 

Now I want to be very careful to explain that we don't believe that PTM (Pioneer team missions) is the only way to Biblically evangelize and start churches. My only desire with this series is for you to see the benefits of this particular approach as we have witnessed in our ministry. Team missions is certainly not easy but we believe that it's worth trying because when it's done properly it can be a real blessing. I understand that different people have differing opinions about team missions and I respect everyone's opinion as long as it's in the right spirit. I did have one pastor kick me out of his conference because he completely disagreed with team missions. I think that's a little extreme! You can argue about which church-planting concept is the best, but you can't deny that team missions is Biblical. 

I do not want to write a Biblical defense on team missions because a lot has already been written on the subject. What I will do is share some of the blessings we have discovered working as a team. I'm sure we will encounter difficulties but I believe the pros greatly outweigh the cons. If you are interested in reading a treatise on the concept of corporate (team) missions here is one that I found interesting. I don't know anything about the missionary that wrote the article and I am unfamiliar with the missions agency but it was a Biblically sound treatise and so I thought I would share it with those that are interested in what the Bible has to say about team missions, specifically in the life and ministry of Paul. Please keep reading as I will share about how working as a team has helped our ministry.

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.

Discipleship truly transformed our ministry many years ago.  30 years ago as new missionaries we did not know much about Biblical discipleship.  Of course when people got saved we would help them as much as possible in their spiritual growth and we would encourage them to be faithful to church so that they would hear the teaching and preaching of the Word of God.  But so many of the believers would get discouraged or would start causing division or would leave the church and take others with them.  We had fruit, but that fruit would not remain.  During our  second furlough we were in one of our supporting churches that showed us Biblical discipleship and how to do it.  We went back to Spain for our third term excited about trying discipleship.  What a change.  Our ministry began to grow, Christians were maturing in the things of God, they had a desire to serve God and we truly began to see fruit that remained and still remains til this day.  These mature believers were then ready to become leaders and we trained them in our Bible Institute and  many of them are serving the Lord as missionaries and pastors today.  When we moved to Venezuela we immediately began discipling new believers and the same thing happened.  We left a church in Valencia with mature Christians that have a desire to serve God with their lives and the church is growing and thriving even today.  Since returning to Spain, we have made discipleship a vital part of our ministry.  Since we are working as a team we have more people to disciple the new believers and we are able to spend valuable time with each one of them and help them grow in the Lord. The material you use is not the key, but the time spent with these new believers, teaching them the Bible, praying for them, helping them through their spiritual growth, answering questions, visiting them and inviting them to our house.  We make it our responsibility to make sure that the person we are discipling becomes a mature servant of Christ and that he or she knows the Word of God and is able to disciple other new Christians.  Our next goal will be to take their training to the next level and begin preparing leaders for the ministry.  We pray that God will help us to train pastors and missionaries to continue the work here in Spain and around the world. 

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

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 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

Happy Anniversary to Julio and Andrea Velasquez.  They are the parents of my wife, Deanna, and they celebrate, today, their 33rd wedding anniversary.  They have been serving the Lord as missionaries for the past 30 years.  Right now in our church, we are doing a series on Marriage.  Being married for 33 years is a great testimony to the people of our church as well as to all of us.  We hope you have a wonderful day! 

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