Thank you as always for your prayers! We need them, probably more than ever before! 2021 has started off being incredibly busy. It’s of course a tremendous responsibility and challenge to be the sole pastor of my church for the first time. Of course, being a first-time parent comes with its own set of responsibilities and challenges (I’m trying to write this from the floor of my living room, where after every 2 or 3 words I have to grab Leire to protect something from her, or her from herself). Raquel and I are both working a lot, so life is a constant juggling act!
First of all, I want to ask you to pray with Raquel and me as we trust the Lord for some more financial support. We are both willing to work as here as much as is necessary to keep serving the Lord here. We’ve been doing this for years, but the cost of living is steep, and as we’re only about 50% supported through our mission board, we expend a lot of time and energy in secular jobs, which I believe we could spend more effectively in evangelism and discipleship. We would love to make a trip to the USA this summer to raise more support, if there are churches willing to have us present our ministry. If you know of a church that might be willing to have us come and present our ministry, please let us know!
I am very excited about how the Lord is blessing at church. We have hopefully passed the worst of the lockdown measures, and things are slowly getting closer to normal at church. This Sunday we resumed our coffee/fellowship time before the morning service, which was something everyone sorely missed. There is a great spirit of companionship between the brothers at church (and yes, I just say brothers because, while we’re grateful for the men who are a part of our church, we’re really praying that God will bring some women to the ministry as well!).
right: Leire brings a lot of energy to our church services!
During the worst of the lockdown measures, I would go out and meet our members in their cities, since they couldn’t come physically to church (praise the Lord for internet options!). If it coincided with Raquel’s work schedule, I’d bring Leire with me, which is something nobody ever complains about. These discipleship moments are, of course, critically important for our believers. One of our men, Iñaki, wants to get baptized soon. So we met at church and painted the baptistry together as a project. We don’t have a date for the baptism yet, but Lord willing, as soon as we’re able, I’ll be doing my first baptism.
center: Coffee/discipleship with Iñaki
right: painting the baptistry steps in preparation for upcoming baptism
I’ve also been trying to spend time with one of the friends I met in Basque classes in 2020. We meet as often as both our schedules allow. I’ve been able to share the gospel with him, and he’s open to conversations about God. He’s usually working on Sundays, but he’s promised to come to church some week when he’s able. Last week, Raquel and I went out for a picnic with him and his girlfriend, which was a great opportunity!
Raquel and I have kept on making music videos in Spanish, as time permits (I average 40-50 hours for each of these music videos). We recently produced a Christmas song and an Easter song. It’s always a blessing to receive pictures from people in churches around Spain where they play the songs as special music for their holiday services! The most recent song was Consumado (The Victory is Won).
Raquel has started a new ministry using Facebook and Instagram’s “stories”. They’re short video clips that are really popular nowadays with young people. She records herself daily reading a daily devotional though and posting it on social media for people to watch. They’re of course in Spanish, but if you want to get them, you can add her on Facebook or Instagram.
Thank you again for your prayers!
God bless,
David Bonikowsky
Psalm 34:3