Dear brothers: I am very happy to write to you about the work of the Lord in the Evangelical Church of Grace (ECG) in Barcelona and the mission points that we are supporting. Once again, I want to express my gratitude for your support of this mission, and also for your prayers for us.
We had several activities this month. In Barcelona, from the 7th to the 9thof June, we had an intensive workshop on expository preaching with the support of “The Charles Simeon Trust” ministry. Forty pastors and leaders from different churches were in attendance, including Italy and France. Several young men from our church also participated. We see them as potential teachers in the near future. The central theme was the preaching of the gospel as illustrated in the Gospel of Mark. We all learned a lot from the workshop and it also strengthened the bonds of Christian brotherhood. We believe that it was a great blessing for all the churches, and we would like to continue doing this workshop each year at the beginning of the summer.
In the church, we continue with the “How to Grow” course from 9Marks. We believe that it is a blessing, especially with regard to spiritual disciplines for growth in faith and holiness.
Also in this month we had a wedding that was very joyful for all the attendees. We were able to explain the gospel to several of the bride and groom’s relatives who came for the first time to an evangelical church.
In this month we received a visit from future missionaries Igor Dias and his wife Eliane. They came to learn more about our church and the city before they come as missionaries to support the work of the Lord in Barcelona. We are praying for them so that the Lord will guide them in their plans. We believe they will be a great blessing among us. Two other HeartCry’ sisters also visited us. It was a special time for all of us.
This month we alsovisited our mission point in Valencia. As I explained before in another report, it is the third largest city in Spain and yet there is no healthy church. That is why we consider that this is one of our most important mission points. We had two conferences on Saturday (June 16th)and a beautiful worship time on Sunday in which two new brothers were baptized. The worship service was attended by about 27 people, including several family and friends with whom we were able to share the gospel. Four of them are very interested in continuing to attend the meetings and we pray to the Lord for their conversion.
This month we also received the visit of the pastor of a small Spanish-speaking church in Zurich (Switzerland). We hope to help him and his church by providing teaching material and visiting them. Finally, a family from a city called Castellón (between Barcelona and Valencia) has asked us for help to start a mission point there. We hope to meet them to discuss the subject, to get to know them and to study the possibility of supporting them. These possibilities of expanding the number of churches and mission points in Spain is a great challenge for our church. We ourselves feel unable to accomplish the task, but we trust that, if it is from the Lord, He will give us the strength and resources. Please pray for us!
In the month of July we will be on vacation with my wife to visit our families in Colombia, South America. I am especially hoping to visit my mother who is very old and sick, as well as one of my brothers who suffers from leukemia. We hope that our visit will comfort and encourage them.
Brothers, we ask for your prayers for us. Thank you very much for your spiritual and financial support. I pray for the Lord to bless you.
Your Brother,
