How much time do we have?

To our dear praying friends,

Some years ago, we took in a single mother who had come to our town to look for work. She eventually moved elsewhere and got a job. Last week she and her 2 daughters came back for a visit. They are 15 and 13. You can imagine the change over an absence of something like 2 years. Then they wanted to see our animals. Now they wanted to go to the disco and dance. This was a reminder to me that we must be very proactive in our outreach to children. A major need is for committed helpers. PLEASE PRAY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE TO HELP.

We have shared with you about the neighborhood where we have open air activities for Spanish and Moroccan children in the town of Jaraíz. The family who formed a team with us are no longer here, and the young people who came for the summer campaign are also gone. Last Sunday, preaching at a church near here that we helped start some years ago, I mentioned the need for help with children. Afterwards 2 ladies said they would like to come and help. PRAY THAT WE WILL SEE A COMMITTED TEAM INCLUDING YOUNG PEOPLE FROM THIS CHURCH.

One result of the OM Summer Transform Campaign (12 people from 11 countries) has been an opening in another town. I believe it is time to follow through on our contacts in Candeleda. Same plan, begin with a team of committed Christians (full-time or part-time) who will have activities for children and recruit local youth to help. These local young people will have the opportunity to really get to know the gospel through close contact with our team. PRAY FOR THE 2 YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE SIGNED UP FOR THE AIM PROGRAM, (SEPTEMBER) THAT GOD WILL GREATLY USE THEM TO REACH OUT TO OTHER YOUNG PEOPLE AFTER THEY BECOME MORE FLUENT IN SPANISH. (One from Switzerland and another from the U.S.)

Why start with children? My summarized answer would be, 50 years of experience. A more complete explanation is given by Luis Bush in his promotion of the 4/14 window. Here are a few links that say it better than I can - 3minute video about the need to reach children; 6 minute video on makingchildren a priority; 6minute video about discipling Christian children.

You can see that short-term campaigns can make a great impact but the real work does not get done unless there is Continuity. We are here for the long haul to see the formation of vibrant groups of believers who can serve all Christians in their local area. Do you know of someone who may have a call to participate in this harvest? PRAY THEM INTO ACTION.

God bless you in your field of labor,

David

Is the harvest getting away because of a lack of workers?

A guy in his mid-70s who talks kinda slow and is not all that interesting should not be trying to interview young people on the street, right? I’m more of a thinker and don’t have great social skills. But I have a vision. Or a dream, as Peter reminds us in Acts 2:17, “your old men shall dream dreams”. I have this dream of children and young people and then their parents in the towns all around us praising the name of Jesus for his great salvation. As I share in the AIM video the first step after bathing the area with prayer is to search for young people willing to serve. If they join in a project of helping with children, then as we work together they themselves can be challenged to get to know Christ personally. One way to look for them is by interviews or surveys.

Here’s one thing I tried. I came to the conclusion that even though we had no one working with us to form a team I was going to go out on the streets and try to contact young people as an initial experiment. Then it occurred to me to call Aurora, a lady in Madrid (2 hours away) who was converted in a church plant that we pioneered years ago. She and her two grown sons, whom we have known since they were tiny, came out to help. The 4 of us put together some survey questions and went out to the town of Jaraíz that we are targeting. As we were having coffee I reminded them that it would be rather unusual to find teenagers who are actually interested in serving others. This town is known for its wild weekends, in which many or most of them participate.

Then Aurora and I went out with our questionnaires and the two brothers formed the other team. I especially remember our first interview, 3 young men whom we met on the sidewalk. Turns out they did not fit the pattern that I had warned the team about. These 3 did not participate in the “botellón”, where everyone brings a liter of beer or whatever. They were serious guys. Interestingly, one said he was an atheist, the other an agnostic and the third a “creyente” (believer, meaning active catholic). Interesting conversation. They gave us their phone numbers to send them a whatsapp message when we had some activity they could participate in. The other team also had good conversations with some girls who were already involved in some kind of volunteer work with an NGO. I shared with Aurora and José and Ángel that it looked like the Lord was showing us that we were moving in the right direction. The plan called for getting to know as many of these kids as possible and giving them opportunities to help in open air events for children as well as small groups in homes. Over the years we have found these 2 activities to be quite fruitful in bringing whole families under the sound of the gospel. When we made these contacts last March we should have struck while the iron was hot and followed through.

This was quite a few months ago, and we haven’t been in touch with any of the people we contacted. The reason? All of those who helped in making the contacts were here only briefly and are busy elsewhere. My error I guess, hoping we would get recruits sooner. Eventually Ángel did come to stay with us and was here for a few months. But now he plans to get married next year and has gone back to Madrid. An O.M. team that was here for a while went to a high school in the same town with the same survey, and they contacted about 30 kids and got about 15 phone numbers with the valuable help of our granddaughter Elie. Whenever a team comes through here we hope someone will hear God’s call to make a long-term commitment, with town after town not having a gospel testimony. Various possible recruits have contacted us. One young man is hoping to come from California early next year even if he’s the only one on the team. Some seem to be asking “What’s in it for me?” I wish they could understand that what’s in it for them is an eternal reward and the opportunity to share the gospel. 

To read or watch more about the importance of reaching youth and children, look up the 4-14 window, for example, Empowering the next generation

More information on AIM

Apprenticeship In Mission

Activities starting in January 2016: in-depth survey of youth in a town where we are planning to begin precision harvesting. Write us for more info at davidjuanesau@gmail.com.



A view of the town

Should we AIM lower than what God wants?

AIM stands for Apprenticeship In Mission. As Sharon and I begin to head up this program in Spain under Operation Mobilization we want to operate as closely as possible to how Jesus operated. We will take a limited number of apprentices (starting around October 2015) and share life together as we share the gospel in the towns around us. Jesus, with his 6 teams of 2, took the Gospel of the Kingdom to the 200 Jewish towns of Galilee in about a year’s time. I don’t have quite that many towns on my list. But we have a big job here between the mountains and the river.

How do we go about this? Not by doing anything new. From our earliest days in Spain we have worked with children, engaging young people as helpers and leaders. We have learned to let people offer their homes, and gather small groups of children who participate in activities based on the video teaching that they receive. We connect with parents so they know what their children are learning. We also have included picnics and camps.

Who do we work with? I guess there is a new factor here. In the past all our volunteers have been from our church. Now we want to give the opportunity to anyone who wants to help in a Christian venture. If they are not clear about the faith they will begin to understand as we have retreats together to show them how to minister to children.

One thing we need to learn from Jesus is to go to the synagogues (Matthew 4:23 and 9:35). The reason for this, of course, is that this is where the godly Jews met. And also, outside of Israel, the Gentile seekers, which was why Paul visited synagogues. What represents the synagogues in Spain? It’s Catholic parishes. That’s where people look for God. We want to be more direct than in the past, and offer the gospel in a very straightforward way.

Of course, Jesus warned that the synagogues would be a source of persecution. Paul discovered this also. But we want to give it a try.

What part will the apprentices play? One of the first things we must do when they arrive is to see where each one is: their level of Spanish, their experience and their gifts. Then we want to find the exact place where they fit in. They will also be doing studies in discipleship and missions, perhaps linking up with some of the missionaries around here who work with Muslim immigrants. Some key areas of need would be to work with the logistics of our outreach, preparation of new videos and being friends with people their age.

This is not a new idea. Over 20 years ago I started writing out the Galilee Plan. With God’s leading it can catch on like a brush fire. We are ready to commit ourselves to the apprentices. If you know of someone who might fit, put them in touch with us.

Video on AIM in Spain

Remembering

46 years ago today we woke up to our first morning in Spain, with no jet-lag. That's the advantage of travelling by boat. Actually, there were planes in those days but on the boat we could take all our stuff. We realized later that we had brought too much. We were in a country where we could get everything we needed, even if not everything we were used to. Also on the boat you get all your meals served in the dining room. But that was a disappointment because even though the food was great, Sharon got seasick the first day and didn't get over it till we were back on land. So for 9 days I had to eat alone and fill up the 2 baby bottles with milk. You can see the ship we came on in Wikipedia>

I read a book about that time, The Thirty Thousand, referring to the Evangelicals in Spain. Statistics indicate that that number has multiplied by about 15, to 450,000 during the last 50 years. The stats also show that a high percentage, in some churches a majority, of these believers are Latin American immigrants. You can see some of this in Operation World.

During all these years God has supplied our financial needs through faithful churches and individual supporters. Some of these are still helping us. We are deeply grateful. This is now supplemented by retirement income. Now it's so neat that our sense of duty coincides with what we enjoy, sharing the gospel with the Spanish people. It's also cool that 2 of our 4 daughters are in Spain, although on the other side. Tomorrow we begin our annual trek, visiting both their homes. We have the privilege of not only having served the Lord in starting new churches, but of having descendants who are doing the same, as missionaries or bi-vocationally.

Let me say again what I've said so many times: I'm convinced that many Spanish people would accept the gospel if they saw it practiced by believers totally committed to Jesus. We hope that our AIM program will bring together a small committed group that will see a harvest of souls like we haven't seen yet.

Go tell it on the mountain

When we debriefed a bit with the Operation Mobilization Transit Team that recently spent 10 days with us, one response was that they wished they could have been here at the beginning of their 5-month trip rather than at the end. The orientation that they got from the people we had invited to share was an eye-opener into why Europe appears to be the only continent where Christianity is decreasing. Our Basque Buddhist friend with a PhD in religious history had prepared a power point with his research on why people are fed up with "The Church", which to Spaniards means Catholicism. I felt kind of sorry for the priest who was with us, to tell us what the Catholic Church's "New Evangelism" is. He actually spent more time rebutting what our Basque friend was quoting, and didn't seem to have much to say about evangelism. The time with the 7 member team (US, Switzerland, Uruguay, Ireland) was so helpful, doing work on our property and sharing their testimonies, even surveying people using prepared literature, since only one speaks Spanish.

The new snow from these mountains is going to find its way down to the Tagus river. We want to follow it with the gospel, covering the same territory, especially to children and youth. The next step is to continue praying. We don't quite see how just the 2 of us, in our 70's, can initiate what needs to be done. So we ask your continued prayer for the southern slope of the Gredos range. Think of Spain whenever you see mountains. We were encouraged by the personal responses from a number of you to our recent communication. Let's keep up the 2-way interchange to strengthen the bonds of prayer. As a response to those prayers I think the Lord has placed in our thoughts the AIM program (Apprenticeship In Mission, the idea of which goes back years, even before joining OM), a 2-year training program to be totally integrated with an outreach program based on things that have proved effective over the years.

May the Lord open the eyes of the blind

    A couple of nights ago a lady drove down our dirt road to have a long talk with Sharon about her spiritual need. Yesterday morning we had breakfast with a Muslim couple. He began energetically trying to show me the superiority of Islam over other religions. When I shared with him from the story of the Green Prince, who became a Christian after reading what Jesus said about loving our enemies he said that this man could also have learned about loving enemies from reading the Quran (???). I regularly have conversations with another man who did doctoral studies in religion, and eventually turned from Catholicism to Buddhism. This afternoon Sharon and I will be meeting with a couple who follow a religion from Brazil which uses hallucinogenic plants to develop their spiritual insight.

    Why do I say these things to you over and over again? Because we do not want you to forget to bring us to God in prayer over and over again claiming that we will speak with the power of the Holy Spirit in these situations.

    All these people whom I have mentioned are not foreigners but Spaniards who have given up on Christianity because of what they have seen in Catholicism but they are still searching for spiritual reality.

    If I’ve said it once I’ve said it a hundred times, that if searching people could see real Christianity lived out by Christians who love one another they would turn to Christ.

    Are there some here in formerly Catholic Spain who still hope to find answers in Christ? Here’s an example: yesterday evening I attended a prayer meeting of Catholic charismatics. It didn’t seem all that “charismatic”, just an old-fashioned prayer meeting, gospel choruses interspersed with praise and prayer.

    These people are closer to gospel truth than our new age friends. One thing that the Lord is using is the Alpha courses. Just as God used the monk Martin Luther and the priest Menno Simons centuries ago he could use people from within the Roman Catholic church to bring their own people into a new relationship with Christ. We feel increasingly called to search for these people and help them understand what God is offering them. At the same time we will stick with our old friends. Launch us by your prayers into over 100 towns around us in search of seekers. Sample prayer:

Worthy is the Lamb

One of the Scripture texts that I review daily is from Revelation 5, where the 28-member praise team sings a new song, Worthy is the Lamb to open the book... and receive...
Sometimes I spend time with the sheep (4 of them) with their new little lamb, and look up at the mountain that I mentioned in my last post in this blog, and claim all the land watered by its streams. Jesus is worthy. He did pay with his life. As Jesus and his 12 disciples harvested Galilee, I am praying for this area to be harvested. I am praying for prayer warriors to come alongside and fight daily with us for the release of prisoners from their esoteric delusions, from dead traditional religion, and from total materialism. That is my hope in writing this. Pray also that Sharon and I will be focused on our "Galilee" and be able to convince our many friends that "Jesús es más grande..." (Jesus is bigger...). The team in Revelation 5 not only had the harps for singing, they also had the golden bowls which were filling with incense which is your prayers. Then God took action (Revelation 8:5). During the 47 seconds of this video pray that here in the mountains of central Spain people will turn to the Lamb of God to give them the whiteness of wool (Isaiah 1:18).

Give me this mountain

This week we celebrated our 47th anniversary. Went out for supper to a place where some of

our friends hang out. Several of them commented that we deserve a prize for being together so long. Most of them don't have much of an idea of what a lifetime commitment means. We thank God for the way we complement one another and for the family and the ministry that he has given us.

Thinking of the years reminds me in this our 45th year in Spain, of what Caleb said. Let me quote from the King James, behold, the LORD hath kept me alive, as he said, these forty and five years... I am as strong this day as I was in the day that Moses sent me: as my strength was then, even so is my strength now, for war, both to go out, and to come in. Now therefore give me this mountain... (Joshua 14). Physically I'm not as strong as I was then (although Sharon probably is), but we have been learning to be victorious against  principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places (Ephesians 6). And we have a prayer support team who carry out what Paul requested in verse 19, (praying) that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel... Here's the CEV:  Pray that I will be given the message to speak and that I may fearlessly explain the mystery about the good news. (...)< This parenthesis is for you to take some time now to pray for God to clearly lead David and Sharon. We are grateful to those of you who have responded personally to my last SpainScreen, and my goal is to be more in touch.

20 years ago, thinking of Jesus evangelizing Galilee in about 2 years with 6 teams of 2 (all from Galilee except Judas), I began writing up my own Galilee plan. Josephus tells us there were about 200 Jewish towns in Galilee at that time. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem in triumph a large part of his followers had accompanied him from Galilee and Perea (see John 12:12). To have a Galilean accent made you suspect of being a follower of Jesus. The whole region had been harvested, as Jesus had planned.

Now I say with Caleb, GIVE ME THIS MOUNTAIN. It is generally translated hill country or mountainous region. The peak that we see from our house is the highest in the Gredos range, which runs about 150 km from East to West and whose southern slope drains into the Tagus river. "As the Father hath sent me so send I you".

Father, now enable us to reach the families in these towns, with special emphasis on the children. Enable me this coming Sunday as we study Romans 15, where Paul was planning to evangelize Spain, to enable this little group of believers to take steps to become a ministering church with the ability to reach their neighbors.

Father, your Word is a powerful sword. It will be read in thousands of Catholic churches this coming Sunday (starting Saturday evening). Open the eyes of people who are hungry for the truth as they listen to the reading of Colossians 2:12-14 (July 28, 2013). May they understand that you have cancelled our debt, nailing it to the cross. And show us how to contact the "people of peace" (Luke 10:6) who will become the key to the establishing of your church in their communities.

Give me the strength to prepare the property with the big house that we are renting and would like to buy, to make it a magnet for children to come for camps and for young people to come for retreats and become excited about Jesus. Send the army of helpers that you are preparing.

The mountain is named after Almanzor, a Muslim chieftain who commanded some of the armies that overran Spain for 600 years. Father, in this month of Ramadan, when they are fasting in the day and feasting at night, speak to our dear friends from the Maghreb who have come to work in so many of these towns. Give us an intelligent outreach to them. Strengthen our co-workers who are engaged in ministries to them. Show the Muslim people that Christians are a people of love and sacrifice. Show them Jesus in us.

Enable the prayer warriors who are supporting us to understand what this battle involves, to see the demon powers lurking with the intent of disarming us and maintaining the blindfolds on the people in this mountainous region. Free them up to dedicate more time to this warfare. Give us victories that will encourage them to pray even more.

And yes, what I am dreaming about here is unrealistic, when you look around at what is happening in Spain. But wasn't it also unrealistic for Jesus to try to harvest Galilee? There was so little spiritual life. People had been crushed by spiritual tyrants. But then Jesus came. And he is here now also, in us.

Unexpected

This abandoned property that we are fixing into a place for ministry brought us a surprise. We found unexpected fruit. Pray that we will see the same thing happen among people around us who have abandoned any idea of faith in Jesus. In this 2 1/2 minute video you can see what's been happening.

Let's pray together

Take 4 minutes to go on a prayer walk with me. This is the route that I take every day from our house to the ministry property. It is a time for praise and prayer. This is a time for pears and apples so let's have a pear-able with an apple-ication.

Looking for Elkanah and Hannah

Every summer we go through part of the Old Testament. On July 1 we began 1 Samuel. I am envious of Eli. How wonderful it would be to have a little boy (or girl) sent by God through their mother and father, and teach them. He would learn the Word of God with me. He would learn to prune the grapes and feed the sheep and gather the eggs. As a person called by God to be his messenger he wouldn't have to commit all the errors that some of us have committed. He would be a genuine apprentice and I would be fulfilling the mission of training others. We would help him to identify his spiritual gifts and help him with his homework as he attends the local school. He would be a prime object of our prayers and we would hope to see him develop a great ministry. That's what happened to Samuel when his mother dropped him off at the temple.

Looking at 5 years

I read once in a book by Ted Engstrom that we tend to overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in 5 years. Recently as Sharon and I were planning some church activities I remarked that this needs to be part of a 5-year goal. What does it involve for missionaries who've been plugging away for over 40 years to say, "We're embarking on a new 5-year plan"? What has brought us to this point?

Things we have learned - Long ago, hitchhiking from Vancouver to Prince George a truck driver who picked me up stopped at a cafe where I saw a plaque on the wall, Ve get too soon oldt und too late schmardt. But these years in Spain have taught us a few things like:

• Although I am called to teach, I get restless when we accumulate a lot of classroom knowledge without putting it into practice. That is why we have prayed continually for helpers, younger people who love the Lord and want to learn. But at the same time:
• We have been too ready to include anyone who shows up. Sharon would have been more cautious but I always hoped they would work out. As I shared some months ago people come with different motivations and sometimes think they don't need to learn, but are here to take over. Right now there's just the 2 of us, and that is a factor in taking a serioius look at the future.
• There are some really nice people who have rejected anything to do with historical Christianity. We have many friends like this, and long for their eyes to be opened. 
• Even though the majority of Spain's Catholic majority are not really practicing Catholics, there are many sincere seekers after God, doing everything that they are told to do by their leaders.

What we want to do different

• Go from friendships to purposeful sharing. Although in the past we have seen good results from friendship evangelism,  now we tell our friends, we would like to go to your place (or meet at ours), to share our faith. The response has been positive. 2 days ago we spent 2 hours at the home of a couple who are community leaders, each of us sharing our faith. Their "testimony" is that of belonging to a group of a few thousand people worldwide, who meet regularly and call themselves Christians.and never open the Bible. They use a consciousness-altering drink in a large group, to get in touch with the supernatural. The god of this world has blinded the minds of those who don't believe... Lord, open their eyes. I felt that the best thing to recommend at that point was that they become familiar with the gospel of John. We have a long list of people to visit.
• We still want people to come to live and work with us, but mainly as trainees, with a good recommendation. In the past this was not much of an option: for a :number of years sending countries quit recruiting for Operation Mobilization in Spain because of leadership problems at a national level. It was traumatic for us as well. Finally the international leadership had to oversee the necessary changes, and things are looking up. 
• Use the property that we have been fixing up, as a center for outreach activities. The goal is to be able to eventually own the property by offering time-shares to tourists and for it to become self-supporting. 
• Special emphasis on outreach to children: We start with activities that they will enjoy. There still is widespread prejudice against anything "Evangelical", and we must build confidence with children and their parents. 
• Recruit local youth to help with these activities. Hopefully this will serve to draw in a group of idealistic young people whom we can train and share the way of Christ. The project is called Caminos, or Paths. We hope to see many people turn to El Camino, La Verdad, y La Vida (The way, the truth and the life)
• Emphasize being Christians rather than any particular denomination. This morning as I listened to a preacher talk about John Wesley I thought again how beautiful it would be to have groups of Christians meeting in homes in all 20 of the towns in this district

What we want to do the same

• More than ever, do everything by prayer. You, our prayer partners, and we, could be in touch weekly, daily. 
• The gospel never changes. People will always need God and his forgiveness, 
• Be a witness by our lives. We have lost some ground recently in this area as people who came to work with us have decided to do their own thing in a way that seems to be competition. 
• Count on the work of the Holy Spirit, who will convict of sin and turn people to Jesus

Why we stay

We're still here because we're not finished. In 1968 we arrived in Madrid for a teaching job in a Bible School. When we left Madrid years later to come to Extremadura, a couple of my students at the Sefovan Bible College were the grandchildren of the family where I had given my first home Bible studies. None of our co-workers from that time remain in Spain. Unless you include John Blake of the Billy Graham Association, whom I helped by being available to show the old evangelistic movies in Madrid while he lived in Barcelona. John told me recently that at 78 he is still going strong, supervising 21 co-ordinators of the My Hope TV evangelistic campaign. Our co-worker Raúl is nearing 80, and carries a full load.

We're still here because we can't think of anything we would rather do than share the gospel with people who need salvation. And we have a vision to establish communication networks in which the gospel can travel effectively.

We're still here because we are in good health and still able to carry on, hopefully with increased effectiveness, the ministry that God gave us.

We're still here because no one has come to replace us.

We're still here because we like to visit our grandchildren in Spain. (Of course we also like to visit the ones in the U.S.)

What got me thinking along this line was that this morning a song came to my mind from back in the days at Prairie Bible Institute,

Sacred Trust

Where He leads me I will follow; oft I've sung it blessed Lord.

Oft I've said with heart o'er flowing, I would follow at Thy word.

Now I stand in holy wonder, hushed and awed by pow'r divine

Stand before an open gateway, with my hand still clasped in Thine.

Sacred trust, Oh blessed privilege

Theme befitting angel voice, yet to me the trust is given

Oh my soul rejoice, rejoice! 

When the God of all creation bids me go his love to tell

Naught in earth or heav'n can stay me; home and friends and all, farewell.

The kind of people God uses

There is no one that God can't use, from Pharaoh and Judas on up. Weak people like Peter, uncooperative people like Jonah. Old people like me (this does not include Sharon). Imperfect people. And, of course, he is continually refining us to make us more useful.

It looks like there will be 6 of us that God wants to make into a team in this town (still working with Raúl as well, 25 miles away): Pedro and Sandrine have moved from our place into an apartment in town, their first place of their own in 3 years of being married. Even though he doesn't like agricultural work, that seems to be what he has to do, at our project, being paid from church offerings. We appreciate that they are putting serving the Lord above other interests

On Saturday the 22nd Leo and Ivon will be moving here. Both of them have studied biology and are interested in an agricultural project that will glorify God. Their situation is complicated by the fact that their income comes from Ivon's job in Madrid, 3 hours away by bus. She is temporarily on sick leave with pregnancy complications.

This couple moved here from Colombia and found a church in their neighborhood pastored by our friends Bruce and Merly, who have been discipling them. They have taken whatever jobs were available and now hope to settle into long-term vocational ministry.

Both these ladies are expecting their first baby. This is going to be exciting. La Vera is a good place to start a family.

Why We Work

Extremadura has about a million inhabitants in over 300 towns. There are about 20 (non-Gypsy) Evangelical churches and about the same number (with greater membership) of Gypsy churches. Almost all the pastors of these 40 smallish churches are self-supporting. That is, except where there are missionary pastors, which comprise maybe 15% of the pastors.

We are known in our town as those Canadians who are trying to start a sustainable agricultural project and who talk about Jesus. Sharon and I are also known as English teachers and in some high schools I'm known as the guy who gives talks on sustainability. We don't use herbicide in our olive and fig orchards, for example.

Never have we had as many good friends among the unchurched as we do now. We invite people over and they invite us, and they share their struggles and goals. We accept the fact that their antagonism toward Christianity has built up over the years, (besides all of Spain's history, such as the Inquisition) and it will be a process for them to find their way to God. They need to see us as ordinary folks who deal with some of the same things that they deal with. For instance the drop in the price of figs this year. They also know that we have people in, that need help (See the 12 who have been with us). So that is Why We Work (our very own WWW. Gathering figs this morning, a job that I do mainly on my knees, gives me a chance to sing, along with co-workers Pedro and Leo, and also to review people's prayer needs. Sharon was cutting off suckers in the olive orchard. Join us in prayer that the gospel will spread, and that people's lives will be rescued and not wasted like when the fruit is not harvested.

Parenthesis

Besides the couple who is living with us, there is one other couple who would like to come and be part of the ministry here. They are being discipled by their pastor couple, good friends of ours in Madrid.

I have told these four that we should consider this a parenthetical period until we see whether we have people with a firm commitment and sufficient stability and ability to make the agricultural project work.

We thank God for three people who want to be baptized on Sunday August 28. We are especially praying for  protection for them, as they come from difficult backgrounds. Helping them to reach this place has been largely a responsibility of Sharon, who has made regular visits to the town where they live.

12 who have been with us

    "A" was the only drug addict that I have knowingly allowed to live with us. There are hundreds of good Christian rehab centers in Spain from which he could have chosen, in what has been a major move of God. But my concern was for A's widowed mother, a member of our church in Madrid, who was hopelessly tied to her son's manipulation. I wanted to give her a break. He had been in and out of centers, and complained that his bad health (he had AIDS) would not allow him to go through withdrawal syndrome again. The only method in Christian rehab is cold turkey. He knew a doctor who could give him something non-addictive that would make it a lot smoother. I said, OK, come, if your mother and the church OK it, and if Sharon allows and if you get rid of your car. This last was the most difficult for him.

    He started out well. I remember how he enjoyed jumping off rocks in the mountain streams. He came completely clean (I had him tested weekly) and he was making friends in town and took on the project of showing evangelistic movies in the open air. His case worker was talking of a paid subsidized job in which he could work on our agricultural project after a few more months. He made a prediction which proved true: in a few months I'll be OK and then my pride will get the better of me again and I'll start to go downhill. What got the better of him was his refusal to take advice. We told him, quit trying to go back to your old girlfriend. She's afraid that you will fall again. Just adjust to life here in the country. Well, he went back to the city and his mother took him in again, and the girl-friend firmly refused to get back together. He forgot his cell-phone here, and Sharon counted 100 calls to her on one day. And "A" was as lost as before or worse. We have had no news of him since his mother's funeral some years ago.

    "B" was one of the better students at the Bible College where I taught. He married a girl from his church and they had a son, and she left him and took the boy. After some years he remarried, a Christian girl ("C") from another country who had a radio ministry. He had his own online ministry of promoting cell groups. They offered to spend a year here helping in the ministry. We let them use an apartment that we had rented. Some believers that we knew in Madrid were giving them monthly financial help. We introduced them to our friends and noticed that they would have people over and not include us. Over time we hardly saw these local people any more.

    Then it came time to go and visit our churches and families in America, and we figured that "B", a good preacher, would be capable of looking after the believers here. When we got back we were informed that I wouldn't be preaching any more. They had "decided" that "B" should do the pastoring. After that B & C didn't stick around very long, and we heard that they ended up with no involvement in any church.

    Adding everything up, it seems like these and other "helpers", although at some point may have encouraged us, did not bring any permanent benefit to the outreach.

    "D" was our friend from when we lived in Madrid, whom we had known shortly after he finished his treatment in a rehab center. We were able to help him through some struggles. Before we even moved out here, he took an interest in the outreach and rented an apartment in a nearby town, and helped others who were ministering here at the time. At one point he thought he might be helping here permanently. But eventually he got a job in Madrid, and got married. Every once in a while he and his friends come for a visit.

    "E", supposedly had come off drugs and his pastor in southern Spain sent him here to get away from all the bad influences in his home town. He had teenage children back home, who had told him he needed to make a break with his old connections. We liked him. He had this southern charm, he played the guitar and knew the songs from the church and made friends easily. His family were olive growers and of all the people who came here, he fit most easily in our farm project. We talked of the possibility of selling his property in the south and moving here with the hopes that he could win back his wife and family.

    But what was in the little backpack that he always wore? I should have arranged, like I had done with "A", for him to have a weekly drug test. His behavior eventually became erratic and we knew that if he was not being honest with us he would have to go. Later I heard that he said we weren't feeding him enough and that he didn't like Sharon's food. The only thing people ever say about Sharon's food is how good it is, and what a good hostess she is.

    "F" was a sailor from a North African country. His story was that his ship left ahead of schedule from a Spanish port, and he was stranded here. When he and his 2 friends "G" and "H" came here specifically for a Bible training program we began to focus on our Muslim friends in different towns around here. We had some good times together. Our morning Bible sessions were grounding them in the Scriptures. There were some bumps in the road. When we came to the story of Ishmael and "H" read that "he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him" (Genesis 16:12), he got so upset that we had to postpone studying for a while.

    All three of these men left for economic reasons. "F" figured we should hire him so he could get legal status in Spain. But that's not what we are here for. "G" was able to get a job in another part of Spain and eventually bring his family over. He became involved there in a local church and in evangelism. We are still in touch, and he appreciates the help he got. "H" also keeps in touch, and appears to be active in a church in another part of Spain. We remain in contact with immigrants from North Africa in towns around here, and pray that God's Spirit will move among them, and that an Arab-speaking church will develop.

    "I" with his friends crossed the deserts of Africa in a 4-year journey to make it to Europe. He was sent to us by a refugee agency. He became popular in town through participating in a soccer team and made friends with the mayor. He could have had a future here over time, but he wanted to see things move faster, and found his way to Switzerland, where I think he has the benefits of official refugee status. His faith seemed genuine, but sometimes secondary.

    "J" is an old friend of ours and of our daughters from when they were teenagers in Madrid. Abused as a young girl, she has struggled with alcoholism and lesbianism. She received a lot of help from YWAM (Youth with a Mission) over the years. Then, after a visit here, she decided that she liked our friends and wanted to stay. Our hopes were to work together closely in outreach to her kind of people in this area. But she has always had a problem adjusting to a group. Now she is working near here, and we see her occasionally.

    "K", who is Spanish with his wife "L" from Africa, feels a strong calling to evangelism and ministry in the church. They met in Africa where both were working with YWAM. But it turns out that he feels no calling to look after a garden. He says they made a mistake in coming here. He has always said he would like to return to Africa. She doesn't want to. He can't because they have clamped down on HIV positives. Because of his health and small disability pension and the economic crisis they have nowhere to go so they are still with us. She refuses to go back to living with his mother.

    Just before they knew that she was pregnant she was not feeling well, and he was going to have to take over her garden. At this point they had a major disagreement and he was doing the work unwillingly. I asked him why he let all the vegetables dry up. There was plenty of water and I had showed him how to set up the drip irrigation. He said, "Because I'm rebellious". I said, "I'll give you 2 out of 10 for the garden". He responded, "I should get a 0".

    Most of these 12 people shared in the farm responsibilities. I worked with them on a daily basis. You can imagine what is like to teach the same tasks repeatedly and then deal with things that were not done well. When I walk through the property I see one reminder after another of simply doing things differently from the way I showed them. Then there were the numerous confrontations when I tried to help them improve how they did things, for example, which tools to use for which jobs.

    Other people have also been with us, various immigrants from Latin America, who needed help and whose help we could use, in construction and agriculture. But none of these were candidates for an ongoing relationship, although they could have been.

Our decision to do things differently

After being part of teams that had begun 5 churches (Canillejas, Alcobendas (about 40,000 people when we went there, no Evangelical church), Navalmoral, Aluche, Fuenlabrada (60,000 with no church), our vision was progressing. Rather than concentrating on one town, we should work an area. Because of increasing anti-evangelical sentiment (largely fomented by negative TV reports on American megachurches) we should become known as good neighbors first, rather than jump in with an evangelistic campaign. Rather than a missionary pastor (in some places this still seems to be a temporary necessity, to hold back rivalry among church members), we should start groups that are simple enough to have local leadership whom we will train. 

For our friends in Canada and the US

Hopefully this will be a means of being in touch, for those who are praying for David and Sharon in La Vera.