Many first experiences

Hello friends, as always thank you so much for your prayers. Once again I apologize for such a long gap between this and my last post. I plan to be more regular with updates from now on. I’m also transitioning more and more to Whatsapp for regular communication with those who follow the ministry. For those of you who want a closer look at what the Lord is doing, I’d love to see you in one of our Whatsapp groups. You can join the ministry updates group here (bit.ly/whatsapp-bonikowsky-updates), or some of the other groups here (bit.ly/whatsapp-bonikowsky).

I send short-form updates and pictures on the messaging app WhatsApp. Hope to see you there!

I send short-form updates and pictures on the messaging app WhatsApp. Hope to see you there!

A lot has happened since our last email update. There were a couple of first experiences for me. I officiated the funeral of an elderly lady from church (which resulted in around 30 unsaved family members visiting church for the following Sunday morning memorial service). I also officiated a wedding ceremony for a couple from our church. I began scheduling regular office hours at our church building three days a week. And while this allows me to get more work done during the hours the kids are awake at home, the main benefit is simply having the church doors open so that the neighborhood sees daily movement and extra activity in church. Unlike church buildings in most of America, our church is in a fully residential neighborhood. I try to take every opportunity I can to interact with church neighbors.

Our highest-attended church service to date for a memorial service.

Our highest-attended church service to date for a memorial service.

Speaking of neighbors, in the days before Christmas, Sofia and I went door-to-door through all the apartment buildings near church, and we handed out cookies, calendars, and invitations to our Christmas cantata. Thankfully our neighbors are, for the most part, friendly towards our church. This is sadly an exception to the rule, as it is fairly normal for evangelical/non-catholic churches in our culture to be somewhat odious in their communities, for the simple reason that their music style could be described as clamorous. On Sunday mornings with just thin walls between them and sleepy neighbors, many nasty things get said about these churches. In our case, we have thick soundproofing in place, and more importantly, our music style is, I believe, appropriately joyful and respectful to our community.

Sofia and I going door-to-door, handing out cookies, calendars, and invitations to our church neighbors

Sofia and I going door-to-door, handing out cookies, calendars, and invitations to our church neighbors

The biggest recent change, on a family level, is that our oldest, 3-year-old Leire, is now going to school. Raquel and I have spent a lot of time in prayer and thought about how to approach the education of our children, and we’ve decided to start by sending them to a private Catholic school in our city. One thing that many don’t know about Spain is that, despite its very strong Roman Catholic history, the nation as a whole is extremely secular. In our region especially, it is very difficult to find anyone who actually practices the faith in any significant way. Catholicism is almost entirely a cultural backdrop, not something that influences people’s thoughts or actions. That being said, the Catholic church still exists, and this school is run by devout Catholics. This means two significant things to us. Firstly, the school takes a strong stand against modern ethical trends like the deconstruction of gender identities, issues like extramarital sex and abortion, and dangers in modern child psychology. Secondly, and perhaps more significantly, it brings us as parents into contact with other parents who share some of our concerns and values. The school is small enough that we parents form a social group that will bring many opportunities to share the Gospel. Through birthday parties and school events, we are now getting many chances to have conversations about important spiritual topics.

Leire racing in a school activity. After the races, we had lunch with the other parents from her class.

Leire racing in a school activity. After the races, we had lunch with the other parents from her class.

Remember you can always join our email list for a lot more photos, details, and prayer requests.

Thank you all for your prayers, as always. God bless!
David
Psalm 34:3

Combined church fellowship activity with a new Baptist church plant in Hondarribia

Combined church fellowship activity with a new Baptist church plant in Hondarribia

Teaching at the Missionary Teen Retreat at the Aierdi farmhouse

Teaching at the Missionary Teen Retreat at the Aierdi farmhouse

Raquel and her father this Christmas in Gandia

Raquel and her father this Christmas in Gandia

Me with 3 church members at a regional Bible study (Intensive Institute)

Me with 3 church members at a regional Bible study (Intensive Institute)

Discipleship opportunities

Hello everyone, and thank you as always for your prayers for us. I appreciate so much those of you who reach out to remind us of your prayers or to ask for more information so as to pray more specifically. At the end of the letter I’ll mention more about a new way to keep up-to-date with the ministry and how to pray with us.

I actually started writing this update in May. However, I was unable to finish and send it out before things got too crazy with the birth of our 3rd child. Aiden David Bonikowsky Rodriguez was born June 2nd in Donostia, Spain. He was our biggest so far, weighing in at 7 pounds, 15 ounces. Both he and Raquel are doing very well, and we’re so grateful to the Lord for the privilege of raising him alongside Leire and Sofia. It has truly been a chaotic month for us though! Apparently, it requires a lot of energy to keep up with 3 children under 3 years old, and that’s a commodity that runs dry quickly these days! But God’s grace is sufficient, and we’re grateful that Aiden’s 2 sisters love him to death (we do have to keep them from smothering him with hugs). It’s also such a blessing to have my parents close enough for us to see them every week, as they’re also a huge help. That’s not a usual case for missionaries!

Aiden David Bonikowsky Rodriguez
Aiden David Bonikowsky Rodriguez
The family dressed for San Marciales, the annual city festival commemorating the city’s successful defense versus a French army in 1522

In February I was contacted by a very young couple with a newborn baby. They were looking for a church where they could come and dedicate their baby boy. I told them that while I wouldn’t do a ceremony per se, I would be very happy to pray with them for the child (and parents) at the end of a church service. They have been coming to church regularly since then, and we’re additionally doing a Bible study in the book of John every week. They are simultaneously very needy and very hungry spiritually. They have a terribly unstable living situation which they’re trying their best to get out of. Please pray for me as I try to counsel them through complicated decisions. And pray for their spiritual growth as well.

We continue to see new people in church fairly regularly, and some of them stick around. We’ve also seen families who were faithful last year significantly cool down spiritually. It’s impossible for us to predict who will be faithful and, eventually, a productive church member. Raquel and I spend as much time as we have available in one-on-one or small-group discipleship. We both believe the best we can do is invest time primarily in those who are most hungry spiritually and pray for those who are weaker. I’m also trying to cultivate a culture of communication and prayer within our church so that each believer can be encouraging each other. A month or two before Aiden was born, Raquel started meeting with some of the women in church for a time of prayer and a book study. The response has been very positive.

Raquel with ladies from church

In April we held our third annual apologetics retreat during Easter break. We had a great group of believers come from different parts of Spain for 3 days of sessions about being prepared to explain our faith in a world that scorns faith. The topics have varied a lot in these three years, and in my session this time I spoke about the supposed tension between the theologies of Jesus and Paul. Virtually everyone in Spain studies in a totally secular environment where the Bible is under constant attack via arguments like these. We hope these apologetics sessions are helpful for people who have rarely had chances to study these topics. My session can be found on Youtube (in Spanish) here.

Teaching at the apologetics retreat

I’ve been sharing ministry updates here on my website every few months for the last 12 years or so, and I don’t plan to change that at all. Social media is also helpful for communicating. But recently I have been thinking more and more about a better way to share our ministry with friends who are following the ministry. Emails are long and far between. Social media updates are at the whim of an algorithm. But recently there have been multiple situations when I have appreciated having a few friends praying for me in a critical moment on short notice.

So I have created a community on the messaging platform WhatsApp where I can send out short-form updates of different types. I have a few groups for different purposes where I’ll share quick updates, prayer requests, and pictures. I realize that WhatsApp is not used much in the United States, but I’m convinced it’s the service that best matches my goals. I’ve set up 4 groups to begin with, and I’ll probably add more in the future. Most of the groups are read-only, so my wife and I will be the only ones with the ability to send messages. But there is also a discussion group and anyone can message me directly in the app as well. While it won’t be for everyone, if you’re interested in receiving more info from our ministry, you can join any of the groups below.

Those links will prompt you to download the app on your phone if you do not have it, but if you have any difficulties or questions, I am glad to help anyone get set up on the app. Also, for those of you who are in time zones far away from Spain, I can help you turn message notifications off during the night or entirely, because morning here is nighttime in America, for example.

I’ll be sending regular short-form updates on the app WhatsApp. Hope to see you there!

Thank you all for your prayers, as always. God bless!
David
Psalm 34:3

Regional prayer breakfast
Sunday service
I was the evil emperor Nero in our Easter cantata
Sofia and Leire in Donostia