Spain Village Ministry

2009-12-26T09:23:00.000-08:00

Here is our group for the last town trip. Most of them you already know, left to right: Juan, Medardo, Cristina (a young woman visiting from Germany), Simona, Cesar, and Eduardo. With so many of us, and the small siza of the towns, we were able to tract 14 on this day!!

The population of Ayera is 2, one of whom you can see walking down the road in the picture.

One of the benefits of going on our trips to the towns is the people invite us to share their crops. Here Juan and Medardo are picking almonds in the town of Sipán, population 13.

Here we see Medardo talking to Pedro in the town of Loscertales, population 5. He told us that he continues to live in the town because, "Better to live alone than with poor company," a well-known Spanish saying.

In the town of La Almunia de Romeral, population 47, the majority of men live tending sheep. You can see a flock of them on the hillside opposite the town.

Here is an "olivar," a grove of olive trees just outside the town of Los Molinos, population 2.

These pictures in the town of Coscullano, population 41, show the state of the churches in the towns. The majority have been closed
for decades.

Not everyone is happy to talk to us. In the town of Aguas, population 38, this woman told us that she did not want our tracts. She then proceeded to sit down with her back to us, a huge insult in Spanish culture.

This is the view just outside Santa Cilia, population 9, which is know for its wild bird refuge, mostly consisting of vultures.

I have told you about Medardo's gift for evangelism. Here he is talking to the only person he could find in the streets of Panzano, population 25.

This is a wild pig, called a "jabalí" that we saw outside of the town of Bastarás, population 2!

Here is a blanket covered with almonds in the town of Yaso, population 17.

In the town of Morrano, population 46, Medardo and Eduardo are speaking to a man who is so old that he doesn't know when nor where he is born. We thank the Lord to be able to witness to this man before he passes on to the next life.

Here is a picture of Manolo, the father in the only family that lives in the town of San Roman. We were told not to bother talking to them, since they were very strange. Turns out they are a family who reads the Bible, which makes them strange in these parts.

Bierge is the last town that we went to, with a population of 235. The view to the left shows all the olive trees in the neighboring area. The area produces almost 2 million liters of olive oil each year!!!

2009-12-26T05:46:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures of the most recent baptsims that we had.

This first picture is of Adoración, the grandmother of the family in Cariñena that is slowly growing in numbers of saved members of the family.

Here is John Jairo, who we met through a business group. John was saved but not attending church. It was a great thrill to see him getting baptized, as well as seeing his two older daughters starting to attend the youth meetings.

This is Elisabet, who recently has experienced a revival in her life. Besides getting baptized, she has also been faithfully going out to evangelize with our group to the towns every week.

Antonio, along with his wife, Lucy have been encouraged in their spiritual walk by José Manuel and Belen from Cariñena, making them a kind of spiritual grandchildren for us.

Another Antonio is the grandfather of a couple of the young men from our youth group. Daniel asked is to go visit him when we were still not sure of his salvation. When he got baptized here, he clearly expressed his faith in Jesus Christ as his Saviour.

2009-08-31T04:14:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the month, we had a church excursion with our group from the town of Tauste. We spent the day at Moncayo, a mountain about an hour from Zaragoza. It was a great time of fellowship for the believers, and we also were able to meet some new people that Karina invited. In the picture to the left, clockwise from the bottom left: Antonio, Azucena, Diana, Juan, Feli, and Dunia.

Pictured to the left are Michel (Karina's daughter), Lucia and Lucas (Dani and Diana's children)

Clockwise from the bottom left: Cesar, Marimar, Jorge, Axel, Karina, Sara, her husband Miguel, Fabian and David. Sara, Miguel and Fabian are not saved; she has a brain tumor and is seeking God.

Clockwise from bottom left: Ben, Eduardo, Juana, Pedro and Sue. There was 25 of us in all that day, Praise the Lord!!

2009-08-31T03:45:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from a day trip that we took this summer to the French coast. The town is called Biarritz, it was a well-known resort town during the Franco years.

2009-08-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

This summer has also been a summer of goodbyes for us. In the pictures to the right, you can see Sue with Sara Lindemann, a university student from Australia. Sue and Sara became great friends during the school year, and we were sad to see her go. We do, however, have an open invitation to visit her in Australia!!

You can also see a picture of Gary McGregor, who used to work with Campus Crurade here in Spain, and has since come back several times to work here with the youth. Plese pray for Gary as he attempts to secure his visa to come back and continue working with the youth of the city.

We also had to say good bye to two families who are very good friends of ours, the Fryes and the Tabiendos (in the picture to the left). The Fryes have been in Zaragoza for over 30 years, and the Tabiendos for a year longer than we have. That leaves us as the missionaries in Zaragoza with the most "seniority."

2009-08-28T10:45:00.000-07:00

In July, we had another one of our all day excursions to the towns. Here is an impressive sight in the town of Lanaja. The building is an old wheat silo built to store and ration the wheat harvest. You can see more than a dozen stork nests, there are almost as many more on the other side. These nests can measure up to NINE FEET diameter and weigh several tons.

Spain is one of the world leaders in alternative energy. Here you see a field that used to grow crops now being used to "harvest" sunlight and turn it into energy. The governement subsidizes both solar and wind generated energy, and they are being a significant source of income for many of the outlying towns.

I have told you in the past that many of the towns are decreasing in population as the people move to the cities and larger villages. However, many of them do not forget their roots. They take the money they earn in the city, and use it to fix up houses in the towns, to be used as a vacation property, like the magnificent bulding to the left.

The province of Zaragoza is very dry, and the countryside very barren. Teruel, the province to the south, is mostly mountainous, with many springs and rivers and much more rain. You will find many of the houses in the villages there with wonderful flower gardens growing out front.

In the 1980s, a plague swept through the region, killing most of the elm trees in the area. In this particular town, the people have left the trunk standing of the last elm tree that grew here

2009-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

In the month of June, our son Jon came to visit us along with his girlfriend, Stephanie Wicks. While he was here, we tried to do some of the things that Jon misses doing since he went back to the States. One of the things we did was drive up to the French border. You can see a picture on the right of the Pyrenees Mountians.

In the town of CanFranc, there is an abandoned train station where rail pasengers used to transfer from French trains to Spanish ones. In the pictures above, Ben is playing with an old crane used to move cargo on and off the cars, while Jon, Ben and Steph try to switch the tracks. Obviously, none of this machinery functions.

There are lots of abandoned train cars as well, which the three of them loved exploring, looking for old documents which are scattered throughout the grounds. It is reported that during the Second World War, Spain shipped hundreds of tons of material used for armored vehicles in exchange for gold through this very station. The gold has never been found.

2009-08-20T10:43:00.000-07:00

At the end of May, we held a special service in one of the Zaragoza churches for David Fuertes, seen here on the left in the picture with Juan. After ten years of faithful service in the towns, David has found himself with many physical problems that prohibit him from going out with us. We praise God for this faithful man who He called to work with us in the mission to the towns of Aragón.

The event was a surprise for him and his wife, Alicia. We showed pictures of him working in various aspects of the ministry. Then Juan and I presented him with a plaque, and his wife with a quilt that Sue had made for her.

We invited our group in from Tauste for the morning service, which was a great time of fellowship. It was also very good for the Zaragoza church to get to know some of the brethren from Tauste better.

2009-05-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of some of our faithful folks in Tauste. Left to right: Azucena, Juan, and Pedro. We would appreciate your prayers for the salvation of Juan and Pedro, and for the growth of Azucena.

2009-05-18T11:26:00.000-07:00

These pictures are taken in the town of Tauste. They had an entire week of fiestas the second to last week in April. To the left you can see some of the religious items waiting to be carried throughout the streets for one of their processions. On the right, we can see the gates and fences erected in the streets for their version of the "Running of the Bulls." Both events are pretty common in the town festivals. Obviously, the people were pretty distracted that week, and it was hard to evangelize. The weeks afterwards, though, are usually very productive.

2009-05-18T11:20:00.000-07:00

To the left is a picture of the town of Albalate del Arzobispo. We went to this town, as well as two others on the 28th of April. Albalate marks the 600th town that we have been to since we started passing out tracts in the various pueblos of Aragón. The town is well known as part of the "Ruta de Tambores," several towns in the province of Teruel that feature extravagent processions during Holy Week at Easter time. We hope to give them something more to hope for than religion.

2009-05-18T10:55:00.000-07:00

One Tuesday I left the guys in Cariñena after the Bible study and went to pass out tracts in a nearby town called Villaroyo del Campo. As you can see from the pictures above, it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere, which is why we have never done the town. You can also see from the picture of the house above that it is definitely not abandoned. even though I saw no one on the streets. This, like many smaller towns, is a place where people escape from the city and the larger towns during the summer and holidays. They will find a surprise in their mailbox on the day they arrive!!

2009-04-11T04:02:00.000-07:00

MARCH 2009
On our monthly tripo to the villages, there were 6 of us. We were also able to have a Bible study with an older couple who live in a town that is an hour and a half from the nearest congregation. Tomas (third from the left) and Paquits (third from the right) were extremely pleased to see us and open the scriptures.

2009-04-11T03:47:00.000-07:00

FEBRUARY 2009

Here is a picture of one of our Bible studies in Tauste. I had to take three different shots to get all the people in, there were a total of 21 adults here this particular day. Many of them came from Zaragoza to evangelize, praise the Lord!!!!

2008-12-19T07:49:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of two of my most faithful companions, Juan Blanquez on the left and Medardo Bello on the right. Both of them have been going out with me since 1999. Juan has grown to be my right hand man, especially in Tauste. In fact the Lord has manifested a pastor’s heart in him towards the people of that town. Medardo just lost his job and has been going out with us since then. He has shown that he has a gift for both evangelism and teaching. He has already taught a couple of times in our Bible studies, and has made several excellent contacts during our evangelism. Please pray for both of these men, that God would use me to help them to develop their gifts for God’s glory.

DECEMBER 6-20 VISITS

I am going to try to present things in a little different manner, to see if it is a little more interesting to the people who don’t know the people here like I do. I will just try to hit the highlights of our visits in the towns, and give you a little bit more info on the people who are both working with us and those who live in the towns.

DECEMBER 17 TAUSTE

I was very sick today, so I stayed home. Juan and Medardo took charge of the day and did a good job. Medardo drove my car and gave the Bible study, while Juan organized everyone, including a visit to Juan and Pedro. It was exciting for me to see these men step up and be responsible in my absence.

DECEMBER 12 CARIÑENA

We had a new visitor to our Bible study this week, Noelia. She is another one of Belén’s nieces, daughter of the only sister who isn’t involved with us. Laura, Dori’s daughter, had been talking to her a lot, and so she came to the Bible study with Bible and notebook!! Praise the Lord for what He is doing in that family!!

DECEMBER 11 TARAZONA

This was our second day in this town. I had a huge blessing by going out with Eduardo. I wondered why he usually has so much success, and I do too, but when we went out together it was a big flop. I decided it was my bad attitude, since he doesn’t do things MY WAY. I decided to let God work as he wanted to, and we had many good conversations. I saw once again how God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.

DECEMBER 10 TAUSTE

Today was a blessing, everyone told us about their gifts. Carmen, a lady from Argentina told us that she was a nominal Christian until she came here to Spain, when she realized that God wants her to evangelize the Spanish people. We have been able to visit two of her cousins who live in Tauste. There has been a lot of opposition since we started in Tauste, and we need to be praying more than ever, especially for each other.

DECEMBER 6 LA PUEBLA DE ALFINDÉN

Today was not a very productive day. Did some follow up visits and some questionnaires, but nothing exciting. Some days we are just breaking up the stony ground!

2008-12-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

NOVEMBER 23 TAUSTE

We had our first service in Tauste this evening, in Antonio and Dunia’s house. Four of us came from Zaragoza (Juan, Feli, Fernando Blanco and I) and there were 11 others from Tauste including two visitors, Sara and Magdalena, friends of Karina. We had no muscicians, but both Sue and I decided that it is EXTREMELY important that we praise God, so we sang acapella. I preached on God’s name, God Almighty (El Shaddai). I can only assume that it was what the Lord wanted me to preach, since there were at least three lost people there, they need to know who is this God that we serve and trust in. Later, we had a time of fellowship and it seemed to go well, Diana and Dani walked with Karina, her dad, Jorge, and her friends. It definitely seems like a good way to feed the believers that cannot come to Zaragoza, to preach the gospel to others we don’t know, and to create a community of believers there in Tauste. It is imperative that we cover the entire work with much prayer.

NOVEMBER 20 TOWNS OF TERUEL

Today we had the most people we have ever had on an excursion to the towns. Besides our regular crowd of Juan, David and Eduardo, we also had Simona and Yakeline with us. Juan, Eduardo and Yakeline had several good conversations with people, while David, Simona and I did most of the tract distribution in the houses. Afterwards we arrived in Herrera to find not only Alina and Virgil waiting for us, but also his brother Emilio. It was a pleasure to be able to preach in Spanish and hear them say that they understood everything perfectly. We arrived back in Zaragoza at 11pm after having traveled about 425 kilometers, also the most that we have ever done. The names of the towns with their respective populations are as follows: Cuevas de Almudén (111), Jarque de la Val (106), Hinojosa de Jarque(186), Cobatillas, Santa Barbara, Camarillas(131), Aguilar de Alfambra(88), Ababuj(85), El Pobo(155), Monteagudo del Castillo(68), Jorcas(54), and Galve(144). Twelve towns in all, with almost 1300 inhabitants, that were able to receive the gospel, many for probably the first time!!! Glory to God!!

NOVEMBER 19 TAUSTE

We had another record group today, 10 of us, so we had to go in two separate cars. I had to spend some extra time looking over the list of contacts that we have in order to make wise use of our people resources. I also found it necessary to cut off both Eduardo and Medardo who have a tendency to go on and on about whatever we are talking about, or about a totally different subject. The rest of the group was in agreement with me, that it was more important for us to get to work than sit around all morning discussing various subjects. I have found that as the group grows I am forced more and more often to exert authority for the good of the entire group. I am getting a little taste of what it is like to be a pastor, and it makes me appreciate all the more the work that both José Zamora and Pastor Grace do. Simona and Lady had a couple of good visits with some Romanian women, Medardo and David were able to have a good conversation with another Spaniard, Yakeline and Ana Fuertes were able to give a Jesus video to a young man who called because of a tract. Eduardo and I tried to do follow up on the people he spoke with last week, but they weren’t as interested this week. It is the usual story, either they are just being polite the first time, and it appears they are interested, or they really are but someone they know talks to them and warns them about getting involved with a “cult.” That is why it is so important to do follow-up, to separate the wheat from the “chaff.” Dunia is VERY excited about our first meeting coming up on Sunday.

NOVEMBER 18 CARIÑENA

We had some great news today. Adoración told us that not only did she receive the Lord as her savior, but that has also decided that she wants to be baptized!! Afterwards, we went out in three pairs, and each of us had at least one good visit. Juan and Eduardo went to visit Julian, who had been to the Expo and spoke with someone from our church. Margarita and David went to visit an elderly lady who they had spoken to a few weeks before, while Sue and I went to speak to a woman who used to be one of Adoración’s friends in the JWS. It was an interesting conversation, because she said she became one of them because of their testimony, not always criticizing and gossiping about others. Then she told us that she believes the way to eternal life is to be good, but she knows that neither her nor anyone else is good enough to have it. She actually said, that IF THERE WERE a hell, she would go there. This woman definitely needs the Spirit of God to reveal the truth to her before it is too late. Her name is Victorina and she is 80 years old.

2008-11-02T10:58:00.001-08:00

OCTOBER 31 LA PUEBLA DE ALFINDEN

This was the third time that we have gone to this town, and once again the Lord greatly blessed our time there. Not only were Ana and her sister-in-law, Anita there, but her mother-in-law, Soledad, also came. Soledad said she had been reading her Bible the night before, and the Lord told her that she needed to come and evangelize with us. She also shared with us that as she prepared lunch for her recently saved son, he asked where she was going. When she told him that she was going to evangelize in the town, his response was, “That’s good, we need to go out to the poor and needy, and not always stay in the comfort of the church building.” It appears that this young man has a better understanding of things than many Christians who have been saved for a long time. He sees these people as the Lord does, being poor and needy in the spiritual sense. There were seven of us in all, and all three groups had excellent visits, people willing to listen and hear about the Lord.

OCTOBER 30 LECIÑENA and FUENTES DE EBRO

Today was another day of following up contacts that were made at the Expo, one in each of the towns. While Juan and I delivered the materials to a young woman in Lecinena, Margarita and David went to visit a widow who they had met there on one of our previous visits to the town. She was very open to talk, as was Nadia, a Romanian young woman who visited with Juan and I after our visit. While we were “watering,” Eduardo was sowing seed in the market there, passing out tracts and talking to several of the vendors who were also very open. We also had an excellent Bible study before the visit, resolving some of the issues that arose in the car on the way to Tauste the day before. I was very glad to see the spirit of unity that is prevailing in our team, overcoming the differences that arise because of our humanness. Juan also showed once again his pastor’s heart, being the person who initiated the resolution.

OCTOBER 29 TAUSTE

Today we saw the mercy of God in action. On the way out to the town, there was a heated argument about the economy and immigrants. Despite the fact that we were strongly in disagreement, God blessed out visits in Tauste greatly. I had two particularly good visits, both of them related to my English students. First Eduardo and I had a good visit with Pilar Frances, who is in a theater group with Miguel Angel. Later I went alone to try to follow up on Carlos’ father. Instead, I met his mother who shared with me her belief in Jesus as the only way, her admission that the Catholic church has created many stumbling blocks to the faith of the Spaniards, and her disappointment in her in-laws when they converted to Seventh Day Advents several decades ago. Because of the seed that was sown by these same in-laws, I believe the Lord will allow us to enter into their labors.

2008-11-02T10:48:00.001-08:00

SUE'S VISIT TO GHENT, BELGIUM

At the end of last month, Sue had the opportunity to visit Belgium. As you can see, bicycles are a VERY popular mode of transportation there. Belgium, being one of the "Low Countries," has lots of canals like Holland. It also has many ornate church buildings, much like the rest of Europe.

2008-11-02T10:46:00.000-08:00

OCTOBER 28 CARIÑENA

Sue and I had some good visits after the Bible study today. While we were walking from one house to the center, we met Gloria, and had a good visit with her. Afterwards, we went to see Ana, who owns a paper supply store in town. She is the woman who gave us sandwiches to pass out the day we gave out food to the migrant workers. She told us that she is related to Jose Manuel, and spent almost an hour telling us about her life philosophies. Many of the things she believes are Biblical principles, but she never once mentioned God. It reminded me of some books that I have read that promote God’s principles without naming Him. Since she likes to read, we hope to give her a book that teaches the same thing and also teaches that God is the source of that wisdom.

OCTOBER 28 EJEA DE LOS CABALLEROS

We had an excellent class today. Spent the first half of the class talking about the banking crisis, Miguel and Carlos had opposing opinions about what should have been done. Carlos believes it had to be done in order to avoid a worse crisis, while Miguel believes it is very unfair that the same banks who profited so much in the good times are expecting that the government (thus, the same people!) bail them out of their trouble in bad times. I was able to direct them to the latest chapter in our leadership book, which talks about generosity as a leadership principle. We spoke about the law of sowing and reaping, and the Lord gave me the opportunity to share a couple testimonies of how the Lord provided for us after we had been generous in other moments. Carlos only had to read the first paragraph to realize that he was in agreement with what was being taught, almost every time we get together, he is more and more teachable.

OCTOBER 24 CARIÑENA

Just Eduardo and I went today, everyone else was resting from our long day the previous day. We spent a lot of extra time with Belen and her mom today, and then returned directly to Zaragoza. I sense in Eduardo a desire to teach the word, so I need to pray that the Lord will show me when and if to allow him to do that. My experience with the way the Lord works is that he might surprise us with what this man can do.

2008-11-02T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here are several pictures from the food distribution day we had several weeks ago in Carinena. You can see Belen, her mother Adoracion, and Margarita preparing the sandwiches. Below, you can see both Romanian and African migrant workers who were very happy to receive the food.

2008-11-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of the towns that we visited. To the right is La Canadillo, where Juan spoke to all (2) of the residents in the town!!

We had to endure the rain the entire day, you can see the clouds covering the mountains. Of course the rain helps lots of grass to grow, great place for growing beef cows!!

Despite the rain, the many miles in the car, and the general lack of acceptance from the townspeople, there are always blessings. Here are a couple pictures of the beautiful scenery we encountered on the trip.

2008-11-02T09:44:00.001-08:00

OCTOBER 23 PUEBLOS in TERUEL

When we left Zaragoza today, it was sunny and warm, but by the time we got to the first town in Teruel, it was drizzling. We managed to pass out tracts in 7 different towns, trying to dodge the rain without much success. After we finished the seventh and largest, Aliaga, I decided it was time for us to go home before anyone got sick. We still wound up driving over 400 kilometers, to reach the 777 people in the towns of Ejulve, La Zoma, La Cañadilla, Cirugeda, Adehuela, Campos, and Aliaga. In the town of La Cañadilla, there were only two people currently living in the town, and Juan had the chance to witness to them both!!

OCTOBER 22 TAUSTE

Simona joined us today, she had the week off, so I decided to try and make some visits with the Romanian contacts that we have made over the last couple of months. We had a good visit with a young woman who works in the bread store that Yolanda works in. She told us that she believes in God, and would definitely like to learn more about him. Later, we went to see Fani (Stephania) whom we have talked with a couple times. The first time, she told us she reads her Bible, and is very interested in the things of God. The second time, she was much less open. This third time was a strange visit. When she saw me, she recognized me, but seemed pretty reserved. However, when Simona spoke to her in Romanian, she opened up some, then invited us into her apartment, and spent the next 45 minutes talking with us about the Lord. We believe she is going through some trials, and the Lord is using that to draw her to Him. We definitely need to go back when Simona has another week off (in November).

OCTOBER 11-13 YOUTH RETREAT IN ANENTO

This weekend, Sue and I accompanied the youth group to a little town about an hour from Zaragoza for a retreat. Unlike other years, I did not speak, but was instead asked to be one of the leaders of the small group workshops. Our job was to try to help the young people take the messages that were preached and find ways to put them into practice in their lives. Once again, most of the young people were encouraged and challenged by the messages that talked about ministering in your family among other things; by the worship time; and by the fact that one of their group, a young man named Luis Antonio, made a profession of faith!! I was encouraged by the fact that there were three young people attending from the towns we minister in: Vanessa from Tauste, and Laura and Miriam from Cariñena.