Reflecting on a Great Summer in Spain

It all started with an incredible day camp for kids! Kelly Seders, AGWM personnel in Barcelona, Spain and her group of volunteers (with the help of a team visiting from the States) hosted more than 60 children for a week of learning and growing in faith. The theme was imagination and invention, with a theological focus on God’s creativity and the unique purpose for each individual.

It’s common in Spanish culture for kids to attend weekly camps the entire summer due to the long work hours of parents. This, of course, gets expensive. There’s virtually no such thing as a free camp, but the International Church of Barcelona (ICB) provided a camp free of charge. Kids were saying this was the best camp they’d ever attended; they even wanted it to be longer! Parents were blown away by the quality of the camp and amount of fun their kids were having, to the point that some wanted to pay ICB after the fact!

On the first day of the camp, volunteers were standing outside greeting parents and kids with loud cheers, and it caught the attention of several passers-by. Earlier that morning, a woman had asked God, "If you're real, please provide something for my kids to do this week." As one of those interested passers-by, she then asked what was going on in the church, and one of the volunteers told her about our camp. Astonished, she asked if her kids could be signed up, too! They came the following day and were with us for the rest of the week!

Then, in July and August, Nick and Kelly Seders led ICB in a very intentional reading challenge. In order to support biblical literacy and focus on the meaning of the Gospel, we led everyone in a 30-day reading of the New Testament. Since summers in Spain tend to be slow (with locals heading for the hills and tourists hitting the beaches), it was the perfect time for everyone to add scripture into their daily routines! The challenge not only did that, but it also forced fellow believers to come to terms with essential elements of the faith. According to one of the new believers, “It’s been a daily appointment with myself: a space to relax, reflect, and get the answers that only God has. Opening the Bible every day gives me peace.”

For the duration of the NT-30 challenge, the Seders coordinated a weekly gathering outside of the city which allowed for a time of worship and reflection on the things that they as a community had been reading. Teachings included how redemption and restoration function, the power of the Holy Spirit, how to read the Pauline letters, and the message of Revelation. God used these gatherings to support the reading challenge in such a great way!

On the Red Box Celebration in Spain

The ‘On The Red Box’ open-air evangelism ministry based in Madrid, Spain celebrated its annual conference in early September. “This blessed event also commemorated its 15th year anniversary of proclaiming Jesus in the central plaza of Madrid, the Puerta del Sol (translated ‘the door of the sun’, but we like to say ‘the door of the Son’!)” states Karen Prevost of the leadership team. More than a million tracts have been distributed to people walking through the plaza, and the gospel has been shared with people from all over the world, many of them recognizing their need for forgiveness, making decisions to follow Jesus, and getting connected to local churches.

There were 110 participants in this year’s conference which included times of teaching, ministry to one another, prayer and intercession, and, of course, evangelism in the plaza.

Five students received their certificates commemorating the successful completion of the Basic Training evangelism course, which includes reading and viewing training materials, completing tests, and being mentored in preparing a two-minute testimony, a five-minute illustrated message, and leading personal evangelism conversations on the street.

Two newly formed red box teams also received their official red boxes! To qualify, each team needs to have a leader trained through Ontheredbox, a team of at least five people, the blessing of their pastor, and the commitment to evangelize open air at least once a week. These new teams will be proclaiming the gospel in two different areas of Madrid - Colmenar Viejo, and Ventas.

The celebration also was a time of rejoicing for the recent purchase and remodeling of the ministry center. During this past year, God provided nearly $1 million for the purchase of the prayer and evangelism training center right in the heart of Madrid, a very strategic location. Not only was there enough to purchase this space, but enough funds came in to allow for the soundproofing of the prayer room to allow for worship and prayer with more freedom without disturbing neighbors in the building.

“God has great plans ahead! We are praying for ever increasing revelation of Jesus, greater anointing as we proclaim Him, and for many people to begin to follow Him.”

Even more progress in Spain

This year, 2017, marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing of the 95 Thesis to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral in 1517. To celebrate this, all the Protestant denominations of Spain came together in Madrid to participate in five different events during July 10-15.

One of these events was the 8th Evangelical Congress. Around 500 pastors and leaders came together to reflect on trends in the Spanish church and in society. In the evening, Gary Wilkerson spoke on having the fire of God in us and motivating us.

Simultaneously, about 1,000 young people from all over Spain and from many different denominations celebrated a week of “Urban Camp” with workshops and services. An outstanding part of the Urban Camp was “on-the-job training” where the young people took to the streets to witness, especially in the Metro stops.

The third event, commemorating the 500th Anniversary itself, was open to evangelicals in general and not just to leaders. Taking place in the Sports Palace in Madrid, official estimates place the attendance at 8,000 people.

A large outdoor evangelistic event took place on Saturday morning in the Paseo del Prado, the main north/south avenue in Madrid. Traffic was blocked off and artistic ministry and testimonies were given. Juan Carlos Escobar, President of the Spanish Assemblies of God and coordinator of the events for this 500th anniversary, preached a salvation message and gave an invitation for salvation.

Finally, on Saturday evening, a macro-concert was held in the Sports Palace where-well known musicians from Spain and other countries ministered, closing the week’s events.

Almost two weeks later, in an exclusive audience in the Zarzuela Palace, Spain’s King Felipe VI and Queen Leticia received the organizing committee for the 500th anniversary.

Art Expo for Refugees in Spain

Oasis Center in Madrid, Spain is an outreach to immigrants and refugees offering much practical help as they share living hope in Jesus. Ariel Rainey, AGWM personnel there tells of a special event held recently. “We offered an art exposition for a week this month, featuring artwork from several Spanish artists, donated for auction to benefit the Oasis refugee ministry. We were able to auction off several pieces, raising over 1000 Eurosand we'll still be collecting bids over time on other pieces.

“We have many ministries ongoing under the umbrella of "Oasis" and a significant part is our refugee ministry. Most of our refugee work is outside of the Oasis building; it's in the refugee centers, in our apartments over dinner, in the city of Madrid while we're helping refugees find jobs and apartments, or even over coffee while we talk about Jesus and pray together.

“This event gave our entire team a chance to operate in different gifts, whether painting "live" or serving our guests or doing the publicity and public relations. We all got to join together for a worthy cause - bringing the gospel to refugees.”

Oasis Center in Madrid, Spain is an outreach to immigrants and refugees offering much practical help as they share living hope in Jesus. Ariel Rainey, AGWM personnel there tells of a special event held recently.

“We offered an art exposition for a week this month, featuring artwork from several Spanish artists, donated for auction to benefit the Oasis refugee ministry. We were able to auction off several pieces, raising over 1000 Eurosand we'll still be collecting bids over time on other pieces.

“We have many ministries ongoing under the umbrella of "Oasis" and a significant part is our refugee ministry. Most of our refugee work is outside of the Oasis building; it's in the refugee centers, in our apartments over dinner, in the city of Madrid while we're helping refugees find jobs and apartments, or even over coffee while we talk about Jesus and pray together.

“This event gave our entire team a chance to operate in different gifts, whether painting "live" or serving our guests or doing the publicity and public relations. We all got to join together for a worthy cause - bringing the gospel to refugees.”