… Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord.

Ephesians 2:20-21

In this letter, I’d like to provide a few ministry and family updates, some prayer requests, as always, but also share a little of what it means to plant a self-sustaining church as missionaries.

Bible Studies

A while back, I updated our church website with some information to help emphasize what makes our church different from Catholic churches (and many Protestant ones as well). Specifically, I wanted to highlight our focus on studying the Bible. While this may seem obvious to someone who has lived in a healthy Christian atmosphere for many years, it really is different from what people expect when thinking about a church here. Jehovah’s Witnesses and other cults have psychologically scarred the nation. To this day, despite our efforts, many people assume we are JWs or some other cult preying on the possessions of weak minds. “We believe the Bible, study it, and apply it to our lives”—is what I constantly repeat to people.

In January, we were contacted by a woman who had received one of our Christmas postcards. From there, she visited our church website and saw that we offer Bible studies. She asked about joining one, and so Raquel met her and started going through the Gospel of John. They and another woman have met once a week since January. The two women have never been to a church service, but they are very fascinated by what they’re learning so far.

I am still working through the book of Ephesians with two couples from church and a few others who come inconsistently to the Bible study. I’ve encouraged them to continue the study without me while we are away in the USA, as my goal for them is to lead Bible studies of their own. I’ve explained that leading Bible studies isn’t a pastoral thing, it’s a discipleship thing!

Training replacements

My pastor used to say: “Missionaries are like scaffolding. They help get the job done, but they’re ugly, distracting, and not meant to be permanent!” I’m in the interesting business of trying to work myself out of a job. Realistically, a self-sustaining church in Spain is a difficult goal, for a variety of social, historical, and economic reasons. Part of achieving that goal is instilling the Biblical values of membership, service, and investment in one’s church. It’s exciting to see church members grow in those areas. In God’s providence, last fall I had a medical issue that limited me from doing everything I normally did in a church service. Benjamin was born during that time as well, so I asked church members for extra help in church. Quite a few responded and helped out, and it’s been exciting to see them exercising their spiritual gifts.

This Wednesday, we leave for the States, and we’ll be gone for two and a half months. We don’t have co-workers serving with us, so I’ve made arrangements with other missionaries to lead our services while we’re gone. But it’s wonderful to note how much more self-sufficient the church is than it was a short time ago. We have members opening the doors, preparing breakfasts, doing cleaning/maintenance, leading music, running media, and more! Raquel and I were doing all of that ourselves just a couple of years ago.

USA Trip

We will be in the USA from March 25th to June 9th. I’ll be speaking in about 20 churches during that time. In at least 7 churches, we’ll present the ministry for consideration of support. We’re trusting the Lord to lead some of these churches to partner with us as we try to stabilize financially. One of our churches donated the funds for the transatlantic flights for the whole family, and a friend has provided a vehicle for us to use for the stay. God always provides, all glory to Him!

Please pray for safety and sanity as we drive around 5,000 miles and fly another 5,500 miles while in the country! Thankfully, the kids love visiting new places, and we expect the trip to be fun and exciting for everyone involved. There are many, many friends we’d love to see as we travel, so if you’re near one of the pins on the map below, please let me know and meet if possible!

Thank you for your prayers! God bless,
David
Psalm 34:3