The following report is from Jona Recaman. Brother Jona serves as a pastor in Spain, who HeartCry began to support recently. You may read his testimony here in addition to learning of the exciting chance for a nearby church plant below:
The other project that God has set before us is a very exciting one! As a church, we were planted over 40 years ago, and never had a plan for reproducing ourselves. But for the last two years, we have been praying for this possibility and it seems as though the Lord has answered our prayers.
In the fall of 2018, a group of families started to attend our church from a city that is 40 miles north of our city, Pontevedra. At first, we were surprised, since we knew of other churches closer to them where they could go. After a few weeks, it became evident to us that the reason these families were making the sacrifice of coming from a long distance was that they had been looking for biblical teaching of God’s Word. They had experienced unbiblical and charismatic teaching in other churches. To them, it was worth this long distance just to come to a Bible-believing and Bible-teaching church. The Lord had brought them out of that doctrine through some preachers like Paul Washer and Dr. John MacArthur, which led them to our church, hungry for more.
Months went by as these travelers continued to attend, and we could see their increasing eagerness for the Word. So, in the fall of 2019, I began a Bible study with them in their city, during the week, which drew more people to become part of this group. As we could see their spiritual maturity, we asked the Lord if we should plant a church in their city. He answered by providing a missionary who was willing to move to that city. His name is Tan Molina. He is a graduate from Cornerstone Seminary in Vallejo, CA, and a member of the church in Leon.
Tan is also a fellow teacher at Berea Seminary (where I am serving too), and for the last 7 months, he has been helping me with this group in our Bible study. Through these months the Lord has been leading Tan’s heart to the possibility of helping us with this church planting project in Santiago.
So, with the support of his elders in Leon, and with his willingness to move to Santiago, we are planning to have Tan and his family there next fall. We desperately need your prayers for the coming months as we continue our preparations. Santiago is a city of almost 100,000 people, with only 4 evangelical churches, which are not biblical churches, and with a very strong Catholic tradition. This city is a pilgrimage city for the Catholic world. It also has one of the main universities in the country. We desire for the light of the one true gospel to spread forth and to be received as such! Please pray that God would confirm His plans for the Molina family, as well as for the support needed for this project.
