Firstly we’d like to thank you for your support and prayers for the ministry in Spain. We’ve now been in Leon for 9 months, and the longer we’re here the more we’re thankful for the privilege that we have to serve the Lord in this city. It is a joy to be used in the extension of His kingdom in Spain. We feel as if we’ve been here all of our lives and it is only by His grace that we’ve adapted so well!
May was a busy month. The Berea Seminary held its last classes for the school year and I had the opportunity to teach some of the hermeneutics classes. The students are growing daily. Even recently I received an email from one of them thanking me for how we had helped him to have a higher view of the Scriptures and to see how its inspiration requires that it be exposited with much precision. Personally for me it is of great joy to hear these things, since that is the foundation for everything else. A pastor who has the right view of Scripture will submit his personal life and ministry to what God has revealed in His Word. And a ministry like that, focused on the word of God, will be a sanctifying tool for the believer in the hands of the Holy Spirit.
Berea Graduation
At the end of the month, we had the very first graduation for the Berea Seminary. The class that began in 2012 graduated with a degree in Expository Preaching. The graduates included thirteen students from five different churches who are in a position of leadership where they preach or teach regularly. It was a blessed time where we praised the Lord that these men were able to finish this season in their lives. But one of the things that I would like to highlight were the testimonies of the students. Three of them shared a few ways in which Berea was a blessing to them. All three of them had some things in common. First, being continually exposed to the Word of God helped them to grow and mature as husbands and fathers. Second, the program had allowed them to become better biblical interpreters and expositors. And third, their desire to become more like Christ at a personal, family and church level had grown. They had also seen these things exemplified in the lives of their professors.
Praise the Lord for the lives of these graduates. Only God knows what He has in store for them and their ministries, but it truly is a joy to know that these men who are so committed to the Word and have a godly character and a desire to grow in the image and likeness of Christ, will be returning to their churches to faithfully preach Christ crucified, resurrected and exalted above all Creation.
Berea Conference
A week later we had a Berea conference on pastoral ministry exclusively for men. Henry Tolopilo and Luis Contreras taught about the call and character of a pastor. It was excellent! Praise the Lord for the lives of these teachers and their desire to sacrifice their time and invest in the work in Spain. This time we had a much smaller number of attendees but it was a good opportunity to establish new relationships and have good conversations about ministry. However, we still had men from different parts of Spain attend, including a guy who traveled 20 hours on a bus from France just to attend this conference!
That same weekend the women from the church in Leon had a breakfast where Robin Contreras, Luis Contreras’ wife, taught about the biblical motivation to obey the Word of God. It was such a great blessing!
Retreat in Galicia
A couple of weeks after the conference, we traveled to Codeseda in Galicia where I had the opportunity to teach at a church retreat in Ourense. I taught 7 times in 2 days on spiritual growth in the believer and the church. One of the elders of the church said that he was thankful to the Lord for the teaching and the clarity in which it was explained. One of the sermons was on Acts 5, which talks about the sin of Ananias and Sapphira, and I explained that dealing with sin resulted in spiritual growth. Because of that sermon, this elder told me that a lady who attended approached him to say that she had realized that we cannot be lenient with sin. God wasn’t lenient at the beginning and he won’t be today.
Praise the Lord that the Holy Spirit used His Word to teach this lesson. I hope and pray that the others also went home thinking the same thing. Christians in Spain are becoming more and more permissive with sin, and to hear from a believer that they recognize that God isn’t soft with sin is a great joy.
Family
Now that summer has arrived there seems to be more time to relax, but truly we will continue preparing for the seminary classes for the Fall on top of having other responsibilities at the church.
Jenn and I are continually grateful for the leadership in our church in Leon. We are in an ideal situation in God’s kind providence and grace. I continue helping with different ministries at the church, but mainly with discipleship and teaching. I love seeing the hunger and thirst that some of the believers have for the Word. I am humbled that in a mysterious and unexplainable way, God uses broken tools like us to bless and edify His children.
My family is doing very well. Both Ollie and Eden are growing so fast! Ollie says, “go, go, go” when he wants to play outside. His first word was “amen,” and when my prayer for the food is too long, he says “amen” very loud and clear to indicate that he is hungry and wants me to finish quickly!
Eden is beautiful, but what else can I say? I’m her father! And my wife is a gift from the Lord. I don’t know what I would do without her. Her help throughout these months in Spain has been indispensable and incalculable. She is an excellent mother and wife. She has adapted very well to the country and loves Leon.
Please pray for my children’s salvation. Also continue praying for the church in Leon and the Berea Seminary, that we would remain strong in the Word. We are now registering new students for the Fall so please pray that God would bring quality men whom He could use for the edification of the church in Spain. Please also pray that He would continue providing for our needs.
Spain is a difficult country but we trust the Lord and know that He will do what He wills. We only want to remain faithful and be an example of transformed lives for the sake of the Gospel. I truly get excited to see that in His providence He is raising up a generation of biblical men who are prepared to exposit the clear and original meaning of the Scriptures applied to their context. May God use this for His Glory in Spain!
