Walking down the street away from the busy train station with people standing always waiting for something, i found myself handing out a little card that spoke about Don Quijote & how we often live without ever considering that we need a Saviour and that we often have an idea about ourselves, God and Heaven that is not based on reality.
On the street to our apartment i found myself taking little faith steps, starting conversations & hearing what people think about Jesus. i noticed as i approached a elderly man to ask him what he thought of the card i'd given him earlier that two Mormon "missionaries" were entering an apartment block to knock on people's doors. Yesterday i had also passed by a group of 6 Jehovah's witnesses giving out material to people...
The man on the park bench explained to me that he did attend the Catholic Church in the town center occasionally, and i explained that i am someone who believes in the Bible, someone who believes and lives my life focused on Jesus... he looked at me with very questioning eyes...I realized that unless i explain what i believe, he would group me with the JWs and Mormons...
Another interesting thing happened to me in my language class & with a Spanish couple we just met, both the language teacher and our couple explained that they are Catholic... my teacher went on to explain to me that she does not know a single Evangelical/Protestant Spanish person.
Sarah and I were just talking about why we are here in Spain... to pray for people & talk to people about Jesus, to intercede and share.
Some of the challenges we face:
--many people do not know or have any contact with Spanish believers.
--Spanish people have Catholic roots (yet most youth & many of our friends today do not consider themselves "muy catolico" "very catholic") so when people hear that we are Evangelical or Protestant they group us with Jehovah's Witness or Mormons.
--engaging in spiritual conversations with people begins at a VERY different point here in Spain...
We here in Spain as Evangelical/Protestant believers (and even if you include Charismatic Catholic Spanish people in this) we are ALL still LESS then 2 percent of the population of 47 million (in 2010). We also just found out that 13 million people live in towns & areas of Spain without a single evangelical church. Picture this in your home city & please take a moment to imagine how many streets full of families this would be. The 2% is much less in many parts of Spain such as the area where we feel called to move to.
Please join us as we pray and share with friends here.
On the surface Spain may seem like a fairly easy going place (or holiday destination for many) where people know more or less what the Bible says... yet just one conversation with a typical Spanish person reveals much more....
A prayer for Spain:
"Dear Jesus please lead Spanish people to you, to Truth. open The Way to you, break down the lies that have entered or are rooted inside this beautiful culture. Thank you for Spain, for the diversity within it, to the deep sense of family, history and solidarity... please bring this nation to a living walk with you Jesus."
Thank you for praying dear friends
If you feel that you would like to investigate this huge decision of coming over to live alongside us in Spain to share Jesus please let us know and we would love to help.
Jonathan, Sarah and Suzanna