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

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. 

A Response to Parents

As promised, I’m writing three responses to the original post called “The Saddest Letter I’ve Ever Read.” I must confess, I’m in shock at the response to this letter—it obviously struck a nerve about which we all have strong feelings. So many comments have included helpful thoughts!

In this second response I want to write primarily to parents, and in the third I will address the young lady who wrote the letter. (Also, there is a lot on this blog already written to parents, if you click on the parenting tag.) Warning—this post is a bit long.

This cannot be exhaustive, but first, I want to address what’s right.

1. If you are a part of a Bible-believing Church and faithfully involving your family there, you are doing the right thing. The local church, in its biblical form (not the current contemporary, seeker-sensitive, CCM version) is still God’s answer for His transforming work in lives. The church is to be the pillar and ground of truth. The church is commanded to preach and teach the Word of God to both the parents and the young people (see Titus 2 and 1 Peter 5).

I was saved at age seven in the ministry of a solid, Bible-believing church that proceeded to train me and my family quite well in how to develop a personal relationship with the Lord, how to walk like a Christian family, and how to balance the personal relationship with spirit-led living that honored that relationship. While there were rules involved—good, biblical, principled rules—we understood from the beginning it was not about rules or external appearances.

The ministries of this church—children’s programs, youth ministry, soulwinning, outreach, and special events all contributed to our family life and spiritual growth, and yet it was up to my parents to keep that in balance. Thankfully they did. The local church, in its biblical form, still works quite well. I experienced it as a child, and I’m watching it all around me as a pastor.

2. Church programs, Christian schools, and youth groups are a help when done biblically and in balance. Again, building on my first point, I don’t believe the local church (in principle) is the problem. There are certainly a lot of churches that are taking the wrong path, and a lot of programs that are more carnal than spiritual in nature. But in the right local church, the youth program is family focused—building both parents and teens. The youth program is not built or designed to divide the family but to help strengthen it. The Christian school is the same. I’m not saying that all models function this way, but when they are done right, these things help the whole family.

For my 21 years in youth ministry, I’ve been as focused on the parents as I have on the teens—sometimes more so. My constant battle is Malachi 4:6—trying to turn the hearts of the children and the fathers toward each other. I truly thank the Lord for families, like the family of the young lady who wrote the letter, who are committed to the Lord and the local church. One day, she will look back and be eternally grateful for the right things they did—even though at the moment she is burdened about the short comings.

If, as in some families, the programs and the activities rob family time, that is not the fault of the ministry. Every parent is responsible for setting their own family schedule, and sometimes Christian parents just need to say, “You’re not going to that youth activity.” Yes, this is a youth pastor writing this. I would much rather our teens stay home for a family night than come to a youth activity. (So long as family night is more than mindless TV or movies.)

So, while everybody’s experiences are slightly different, I’m dead set against pointing the finger at God’s institutions as though they are biblically flawed. Parents, find a Bible-believing church that practices God’s Word appropriately and keep your family well-grounded there.

Second, let’s discuss where we tend to lose our way, as parents. This is written with a humble spirit, because as a parent I have found myself doing all of these things at times. I’m not the expert—just a dad trying to get it right like you are.

1. We get too busy. In today’s culture, this is HUGE! From work, to more work, to sports, to internet, to other obligations, we just let events and opportunities rule our lives. Like a big dog walking a small child, we get dragged around by the agenda, and we fail to spend authentic, heart-to-heart time with our kids. The older they get, the easier it is, because they get busy too! Teenagers have sports practices, music lessons, activities, school trips, homework, projects, work, and on and on the list goes.

Successful families own this challenge and face it head on—they don’t let life run over their family. I wrote about this in Hook, Line and Sinker. They make sure, on a weekly basis, that they are getting family time and one-on-one time. Dad, you need one-on-one time with your kids every week—or nearly so. You need a whole family night minimally a couple nights a week or more. You need conversations over dinner, laughter, and uninterrupted time together.

Perhaps most importantly, you need to pray with every child, individually, at their bedside, every night. We have done this with our kids since they were infants, and I know of nothing that keeps a parent and child’s hearts knit so well as prayer before bed. Express love for them, remind them of how thankful you are for them, and pour your heart out to God for them. If you are just starting this, it will seem awkward, but work through that. The rewards are too great. Parents whom I have counseled on this and who have taken my advice have seen radical transformation in their relationship very quickly.

Every so often, take a day off—no homework, no school—just get away together. Just you and your child go do something highly relationship oriented. Take a drive, go to a park, take a long walk, toss a football, enjoy being together. Once a year, take a whole day with each one of your children, alone. Just Dad and son, or Dad and daughter. Make it happen. You will never forget it and neither will they! An occasional line around our home when homework and family time conflict is simply this— “Take a demerit… no homework tonight, it’s family night.” A teacher may not always understand that, but in the end the teacher has a better student so everybody wins!

Don’t let busyness eat up your family life. If they will ever have a relationship with your God, it must begin with you!

2. We don’t know enough and we get intimidated. Let’s face it, we as parents do struggle with knowing how to parent. What do we teach? What do we talk about? How do we respond to our kids questions, trials, struggles? How do we help them become comfortable opening up to us and sharing their struggles, and how do we help them if they do? Generally, we know when we fall short and don’t have the right information, and that scares us frozen. Instead of dealing with the situations, we ignore the problems because we don’t quite know what to do.

First, I want to say, you know more than you think you do. You know how to pray, how to love, how to encourage, how to empathize. You know how to seek the Holy Spirit and ask God for wisdom—and He’s promised to answer that prayer. He will guide you in those moments and help you say the right things. A part of it is just stepping up with courage and trusting God to help you.

But second, I challenge you to become a student of biblical parenting. When is the last time you read a Christian book on parenting? When is the last time you listened to a CD set of messages or took a class on parenting teenagers? As parents we should become constant students—growing and discovering the biblical principles at play in parenting. They are not rocket science. It just takes time, study, and commitment.

I believe the same goes for youth workers. When a youth pastor asks me for a good book on student ministry, I always refer him to parenting books and challenge him to help parents as well as young people. When parents come to me for counsel, I give them parenting books and talk them through specific steps of principled parenting. Be a learner and a growing parent.

3. We find it hard to swallow our pride. Nobody knows our struggles as well as our kids. They see us at our worst. And sometimes, we as parents find it hard to make things right when we blow it. An authentic relationship, and a Christ-like model begins with humility. A humble parent is willing to own mistakes, ask forgiveness, and make relationships right. Many families carry a constant weight of unresolved conflict and past offenses—they were never dealt with or made right—so they just sit there like dead weight, dividing the hearts and burdening the relationship.

Parent, if we want our children to have the right relationship with Christ, we must model it through sincere, transparent humility. When you do wrong, and your kids see it or know about it, deal with it. When you offend your child or fly off the handle inappropriately, sit down and ask forgiveness and make it right. Prideful parenting is hypocritical. It shuts a child’s heart to the things of God. Duplicity is death for sincere Christian living.

Have you ever had an open conversation with your child when you ask, “How can I be a better parent? How have I offended you? How have I hurt you? Do you have enough time with me? Is there a struggle that I can help you with right now? Do you feel close to me, and if not, why not? What can I do to make it right?”

These are difficult conversations to have, and sometimes they take hours—but they are part of growing in Christ as a Christian family. It may take some time for your child to open up, and it must be a non-threatening atmosphere for that to happen—but it will change your relationship dramatically.

4. We do tend to focus on externals and behavior. In our busyness and rush through life, it is easy to get the idea that if everything looks good, it is good. Then our kids start to figure out how to “play the game.” “If I look good, then everybody is happy with me and will stay off my back.” It’s a natural drift more than an intentional shift of focus. It just happens over time because life is busy. But this is where Satan takes his advantage in the heart.

In parenting we must constantly ask ourselves, how is the heart? How is MY heart for the Lord? How are my children’s hearts for the Lord? Am I training and nurturing their hearts? Are biblical principles finding their way to the heart? Is my child’s heart for God and love for God developing? We must trace everything back to the heart. We must ask of every behavior—what heart attitude or condition is driving this?

5. We get tired or weary. Sometimes we’re just tired and we get lazy. After a long day, we want to come home and collapse, and it’s right about then that our most important work should be starting. Sometimes we’re just not up for a late-night discussion with our teenager—especially a stressful one. We throw up our hands in despair, walk away, and seemingly say, “Deal with it on your own, I’m too tired…”

This is the worst possible thing we could do. Successful parents pay the price. They make the sacrifice. They go the extra mile. The will stay up as late as necessary, rearrange whatever is needed, take time off work, skip a meal, or make major changes in life to facilitate the need of a child. That speaks loudly to your teenager! The love exchanged in such tense moments says, “I’m so committed to you, I will do whatever I have to do to make this right and help you through this.” That’s Christ-like love and it touches the heart deeply.

6. We sometimes believe that providing the right atmosphere makes up for our failures. Good atmospheres like church and school and youth group are wonderful and biblical, but they are secondary to the home. They can really only complement or assist with what you are putting in place first. There is a strong tendency in today’s Christian home to deflect spiritual responsibility onto an organization. Many parents feel that their responsibility is to provide food, shelter, education, and basic needs—and the spiritual stuff is the responsibility of the spiritual environments (church, school, youth group). This is a wrong way of thinking.

Parents, you cannot, in any way, abdicate your spiritual responsibility and hand it off to another. The church, school, and youth group can help. We can reinforce and support and strengthen what you are doing, but we cannot replace what you are not doing. Children gain their understanding of a relationship with God primarily from their parents. They learn principles of Christian living and their basic understanding of the Christian life from their home. If the home is not in agreement with the church and youth group, then we are conducting an exercise of confusion and hypocrisy in their lives that will eventually blow up in our face when they walk away from it all.

7. We must model an authentic relationship with Christ. Our kids don’t expect us to be perfect—just real. If your children see you in love with Jesus, walking with Him, knowing Him, growing in His grace, and honoring Him—and then they experience that love flowing toward them from you—they too will most likely fall in love with Him. It’s really that simple. Too many parents over use their authoritarian, harsh tones, and forceful control of behavior—to the neglect of Christ-like love and genuine heart connectedness.

Don’t misunderstand. Every parent must exercise authority. But a parent-child relationship shouldn’t be characterized by the constant presence of overbearing authoritarianism. In a Christ-like home, that shouldn’t be necessary. The love of Christ should be the overriding, presiding presence in your family life, and it should flow from your genuine walk with Christ as a parent. The hearts of our kids blossom and come to life in the light of such a relationship. Home life in this sort of Christian home is a taste of Heaven—certainly not perfect or conflict free, but at least healthy and whole.

8. We must genuinely enjoy our kids and help them genuinely enjoy their Heavenly Father. Sometimes I want to ask parents, “When did you stop liking your kids?” It’s almost as if some parents find every way imaginable not to spend time together as a family and not to enjoy their children. People use to warn us when our kids were small, “Wait til they become teenagers!” Their tone was filled with dread. To this day, I honestly don’t know what they meant. Our family life and relationships have become more sweet and close, and much more enjoyable as our kids have grown through their teen years—not to mention less work because they can now help with household duties! They’ve become our best friends!

Family life in a Christian home should be close, loving, funny, enjoyable, memorable, and something a young person craves! It’s not natural for a teen to never want to be at home, or always locked in their room, or never wanting to be around Mom and Dad. It may be common. Hollywood may promote this as the norm. But it’s not what God designed or intended. I believe I can speak for my whole family—when we get busy and don’t get time together, we genuinely miss it. All of us.

Families that play together stay together. I love that! It’s true. As a parent, you must plan the play time. Get creative and recapture the heart of your child. Laugh together. Laugh at each other. Hey, I’ve got cancer—and believe it or not, we even laugh at that some times, especially my bald head.

This post is much too long, and insufficient to the discussion, but if nothing else, let it place you on a search—a growing curve of researching and grasping balanced, biblical parenting with the assistance of a solid, Bible-believing, local church and pastor who can greatly help.

Parent—the letter the young lady wrote was a heart cry for parental connection—heart connection. It’s the desire and desperate need of every young person. Stay focused on the heart. Forever be in pursuit of your child’s heart, just as your heart should forever be in pursuit of God.

As you pursue God with your whole heart, and pursue your child with your whole heart—most likely the two will meet!

A couple of weeks ago, I reposted "Saddest Letter I've ever read" from Cary Schmidt's blog.  He responded to the letter and I wanted to, again, repost his responses.  

Wow! The “Saddest Letter” post provoked a lot of interesting discussion! Since I received it a week ago, I too have been pondering my response, and in many ways, those who commented touched on many of the things that have been on my heart. For reasons of length and direction, I think my response will break down into three posts. The first will be a general response to the broader issues. The second, a response to parents and spiritual authorities. The third, a personal response to the young lady who wrote the letter, and to her generation.
As a side note, let me first say, the letter is real. A few people have expressed doubt that perhaps I wrote the letter. I don’t operate that way. I wouldn’t deliberately post a lie on this blog. If I was writing fiction for the sake of illustration, I would just say so. The young lady who wrote the letter gave us her cell phone and we contacted her personally about using her letter. It jolted me as much as it did you.

So on with my general response. I want to draw a few key and critical points from a big picture perspective:

1. The letter and the problems articulated are not about finding blame. I did not read a spirit of blame in this letter, so much as a sincere and honest cry for help. She acknowledged imbalances that she experienced growing up, sensed that others experience the same, and simply asked that someone try to address these imbalances. Nobody grows up in a perfect home, and yes everybody is ultimately responsible for making their own spiritual choices—but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t address these patterns of imbalance that are prevalent in many homes.

2. The problems described in her letter are universal—they are present in every group, not just one or two. This is not a set of problems that flow from a certain type of church or home. They are foundational problems that could be present in any home. Neglectful parents, fragmented families, and bitter children are the norm for our culture and society. It’s impossible to point at any particular brand of Christianity and say, “That’s the source!”

3. There truly are some fantastic resources for parents and families that address the very problems this young lady described. And I believe there is a growing generation of parents (one which this young lady will probably soon be a part of) that desperately want to fight these problems biblically and with godly compassion. The two books that come to mind that every parents should read multiple times are both written by Tedd Tripp—Shepherding a Child’s Heart and Instructing a Child’s Heart. These books excellently detail a biblical approach to parenting that will resolve the problems described in the letter.

4. Rules are not the problem, lack of relationship is the problem. (I’m talking about biblical, well principled rules.) I’ve often seen families and teens toss aside all “rules” under the guise of “legalism”—a word often misused and misunderstood. Tossing rules aside doesn’t help. But I agree strongly that the presence of rules without a strong relationship simply breeds rebellion. Any strong relationship will have boundaries. It’s that simple. My marriage, to be strong, must have boundaries. The boundaries are not standards of legalism, they are merely rules of conduct that protect the relationship. If I love the relationship—the person—there are certain things I will do and will not do—if only to PLEASE the other person. Such is our relationship with God. The behavior, the “faith in action,” along with the rules, should flow from a heart that is deeply in love and close to Him. Loving Him is the only real and lasting motivation for living a godly lifestyle. And the Bible is very clear about God’s desire for us to live godly lives—holy, distinct, separated from the world. But those “rules” or “standards” or “boundaries” are designed not to create mere performance or outward appearance, they are to flow from and facilitate a continued strong personal relationship with the Lord.
I recently taught our senior high an entire lesson on this entitled “Avoiding the Trap of Impersonal Christianity”—the point being that God would rather us put away all of our religiosity if our hearts are far from Him. He desires our hearts first, and then our lifestyle to reflect that heart. In practicality, my own children don’t have a problem with my rules as long as my heart is closely knit to theirs and as long as I am directing their hearts to the Lord. (This lesson will probably post soon on our SM127 podcast on iTunes.)
5. Everybody writes from their own paradigm. I noticed in the comments we all had pretty strong opinions about various aspects of her letter. Some are of the opinion that every church (of a certain type) is this way, or most families (of certain affiliations) are this way. It’s impossible to throw that large of a blanket over Christendom or any one segment of Christianity. For instance, I grew up in several churches. One was well balanced in these matters and trained my parents and me to put relationships first. We did, and as a new Christian family we were greatly helped. One church was exactly the opposite—total surface, appearance driven, and very political in nature. Everything was about externals—if you looked good and conformed well, that’s all that mattered. The vast majority of young people from that church have wandered away from God in their adult years, many into very deep sin. My present church is the one I have served in for 21 years.
Philosophically, we have done our best to be balanced and biblically focused on relationships, but also keep the restraint right by setting the right boundaries. I’m sure we have failed at times. But, we have seen, on average, about 80% of our young people stay faithful to God into their adult years. That’s not good enough, but we are doing our best to fight the battle biblically. Point being, don’t allow your narrow paradigm to cause you to paint with a broad brush over any one segment of Christianity. For instance, if everybody you know is doing it wrong, that doesn’t represent the whole.

6. There are  a lot of churches and homes doing it right. Through our teen-parent meetings, family counseling, and fellowship at Lancaster Baptist, it has been my joy to get to know hundreds, perhaps thousands, of parents and families over the years. In addition to this, I’ve been exposed to hundreds of churches and pastors through our ministry, and I want to say, there are a lot of people—pastors, parents, youth pastors—who understand this problem, grew up with this problem, and are fighting to break out of and avoid this trend. Some are those who grew up like the young lady who wrote the letter. Others simply came through ministries where they experienced the imbalance. Others grow up with a good model and are perpetuating it. And yet others are simply godly people who have a very biblical focus in life. But I am encouraged with what I see in Bible-believing churches with whom I fellowship. I am encouraged with the families that I see at Lancaster Baptist and the parents who are diligently attempting to get it right.

7. Kids who grow up in the best of environments can still grow up and choose sin, reject God, and experience deep problems. I guess the ultimate proof of this is that people will choose to reject Christ at the end of the millennial reign! Imagine growing up in the millennial reign of Jesus Christ in the perfect world. Even then, Satan will be able to deceive many and mount an army against Christ. At some point it becomes, not a matter of how I grew up, but where I will decide to go in the future and how I will respond to my past.

8. Finally, the problems revealed in the letter are generational in nature. We’re not dealing with new problems. For the most part, today’s neglectful and disconnected parents are children of the same, and often their grandparents are too. Satan has been hard at work on the American family for many generations. It’s been a long time since healthy families were the norm. It’s been a long time since many people have seen a good model of family life—especially a biblical one.
For instance, just last week I had an appointment with a father who has never talked to his teenage son about sexual matters—this is true of most fathers (and grandfathers). He was asking for help in how to do so. He said his father had never talked to him and he was unsure of how to approach this. I was happy to help, but reminded again of the failure of past generations. I can’t imagine a more important subject for a father and teen son to have a continual and close connection on, but so few actually do.
Many parents have just never seen a good model and never been taught the biblical principles, but I find that Christian parents are hungry to help. That encourages me!

I am thankful every day for the men that God has given us in our church. While God loves every one, male and female alike, it is always encouraging to see men with an interest in spiritual things. Why do we get excited about seeing men? In the majority of churches today it is mainly women and children that fill the pews. Somehow we fail to reach men. No matter how our society has inverted the roles of men and women we still believe that God has ordained the man to be the head of the home. Men have been created to lead and to be innovative.No wonder many churches lack leadership and creative ideas; we don’t have any men! I can’t say that we have discovered the key to reaching the male gender but we certainly pray and work towards impacting that sector of our city. In our new church in Parla we have seen men take the initial interest in seeking after God. It’s so amazing to us because we are used to witnessing quite the opposite. These men that have been saved and are growing in the Lord have been able to reach their wives and we are little by little seeing families come together. It’s funny because the men are the most faithful to the church services. 

Not too long ago Carlos (he came as a result of the DVD project) suggested, almost jokingly, that we should start a futbol sala (indoor soccer) team. Immediately, we looked at each other and we said, “why not?” Since then every thursday we have been playing soccer. I must say I really look forward to this time every week. Not only do we get great physical exercise but we are growing as a band of brothers seeking together to be better husbands and fathers. The trip back and forth from the game, fellowshipping at Mcdonalds afterwards, etc… have all be wonderful oportunities for discipleship. Not only that we are meeting new men and building relationships with them. Eduardo, Julio, Stefan, Carlos, Jeffrey, Paco, Rufino, David, we believe that God can and will use these men to capture this city and beyond with the gospel.

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 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!

Dear Pastor, Congregation and Friends, 

 “...Ye sent once and again unto my necessity (Phil. 4:16) As we near the end of our  deputation journey I want to praise God for His provision in our lives. In the midst of this  recession the Lord has used many of you to meet our needs. We have lacked nothing and our faith in God has been greatly strengthened. Since our last letter we have had three new churches partner with us and we are currently at 87% of our needed support! We have another 17 churches to visit before our departure. 

We have wonderful news! Last month we received a call from the Spanish Consulate and they informed us that my visa has been approved. We are still waiting for Favi’s visa as well as the kids’ but mine was certainly the most important. That day we purchased our tickets and so we have an official departure date. We are leaving for Spain November 29, 2010. 

Every day our team members inform us about what God is already doing in Spain and we can’t wait to join them. Since we started the gospel DVD project in Parla we have distributed 31,008 DVD’s. We know that people are watching them because several have called or  visited our ministry website after receiving the DVD’s in their homes. Many have requested free Bibles which has allowed our team to share the gospel with people that are already      interested. It gives us such joy to realize that thousands have been evangelized as a direct result of this project. Please pray for Paco. He is a Spaniard that showed up at the church  because he had received a DVD in his mailbox. He is searching for the truth and is hearing the gospel every week. Since August, an average of 20 people have been visiting the church each week. The last Sunday in October two new converts will be baptized. Continue praying for Eduardo. He is a young man that contacted my parents after searching on the internet the phrase, “What is the true religion?” That search led him to our gospel website. He visited the church and trusted Christ as his personal Savior. He is a sponge and is growing in the Lord every day.  

We only need approximately 15 more supporters and we will reach our goal. What’s     awesome is that God called us so we know He will provide. We are leaving for Spain in 47 days regardless of our level of support. It will be exciting to see how God provides. Would you consider partnering with us as we attempt great things for God in Spain? “Not because I desire a gift: but I desire fruit that  may abound to your account.” (Phil 4:17) God Bless.

We are amazed at how God is providing for our Setup Fund. Last month we recieved gifts from two churches and two individuals. So what we still need to raise is as follows:

Container: $3,500.00 ($2,500.00 already raised. Praise the Lord!)

3 Airplane Tickets: We bought the Tickets! 

1 month of rent: $1,200.00 (We have found a home to rent and have put 2 months down already but we still need to pay one more month in advance when we arrive in Spain)

Vehicle:$6,500.00 ($500.00 already raised. Praise the Lord! We found out that cars are not as expensive as we first thought so we have reduced the total amount we need)

If you would like to be a part of helping us with our Setup Fund please send all gifts to:

David Velasquez

c/o M.W.B.M

P.O. Box 519

Braselton, GA 30517

Designated to:

006 Shipping/Travel

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.