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.

Oasis Summer Camp in Spain

This summer, Oasis Center, a ministry to immigrants and refugees in Spain, once again offered a day camp to children in the neighborhood. Ariel Rainey, AGWM personnel there explains, “With the theme, ‘Traveling the World’ we took advantage of all the cultures represented in our community, and the last day we hosted an ‘International Fiesta’ with the families of our campers.  Each child got the chance to do a little presentation of their country and culture, with traditional clothing or photos to share.  The goal of our teaching was that we always want to demonstrate that God loves every person, nation, and culture, and our goal is to love our neighbors as ourselves, just as Jesus commanded.

“The parents really  loved being a part of the camp celebration, and it gave us a chance to connect with them in another way.  We had some great ethnic food to sample at the party, too!  The best part was the chance to share Bible stories each day with the kids, from the Queen of Sheba traveling from Africa to Israel to meet Solomon to the Apostle Paul traveling the Mediterranean before being shipwrecked on Malta.  We were able to offer the camp, thanks to the help from great volunteers of the Oasis team, as well as from six different churches in Madrid!  How incredible it was to have that kind of unity in the great challenge of evangelism here in this city.”

Impact Montenegro 2017

Impact Montenegro, the summer outreach in this nation conducted under the auspices of the Pentecostal European Fellowship (PEF) took place on July 2-9. Teams were sent out to seven different cities of this small but beautiful country. The evangelism effort in the cities of Podgorica (the capital), Tuzi, Niksic, Bar, Budva, Kotor, and Ulcini was described by local leaders as being historical. Before dispatching the teams to the various cities, training and prayer sessions were held at the University Hall in Podgorica, featuring inspirational messages by PEF Chairman Pelle Hornmark (Sweden), Daniel Costanza (Belgium), and Tom Benigas (USA), as well as practical workshops with Veera Hug (Finland), Markku Ovaska (Finland), and Stefan Ross (Germany).

Alongside the natural beauty of this country (with a total population of only 600,000 people), our IM17 teams were struck by its extreme spiritual poverty (the Evangelical presence is estimated at ca. 150 people), making Montenegro the least evangelized country of Europe. Clearly, this outreach was an opportunity to "clear the land" of this spiritually dry ground. The people were usually quite cold, indifferent, and difficult to approach. In spite of a rather hostile climate, the Lord touched many hearts, including Muslims in the Albanian-speaking areas.

Here are a few praise reports:

1) Unity and cooperation among the 6 pastors/missionaries in Montenegro working under the umbrella of PEF. 2) Dynamic teams (about 150 volunteers) from 11 countries of Europe, including Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and also the USA. 3) Fraternal cooperation between teams from the Balkans, those being from Albania, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia. 4) Favor with the cities' authorities in the seven towns included in this outreach. 5) A prevailing spirit of intercession for this nation which will result in more teams returning there in the future. 6) Hundreds of significant conversations and contacts which will now be followed up by the local pastors/missionaries. 7) Great encouragement for the local believers and leaders as well as new connections that will be beneficial for future projects in Montenegro.

The climax of this outreach week was the open air evangelistic concert held on Saturday night in one of the main squares of Podgorica, where hundreds of people had an opportunity to hear the Gospel through music, drama, testimonies and personal contacts. While everyone felt Montenegro will need our continued prayers and help in the future, participants rejoiced in hearing the announcement about next year’s summer outreach, IMPACT KOSOVO 2018 on July 9-15 in cooperation with Jesus Revolution.

Submitted by Daniel Costanza, Executive Director, PEF / IM17 Coordinator

Impact Montenegro, the summer outreach in this nation conducted under the auspices of the Pentecostal European Fellowship (PEF) took place on July 2-9. Teams were sent out to seven different cities of this small but beautiful country. The evangelism effort in the cities of Podgorica (the capital), Tuzi, Niksic, Bar, Budva, Kotor, and Ulcini was described by local leaders as being historical.

Before dispatching the teams to the various cities, training and prayer sessions were held at the University Hall in Podgorica, featuring inspirational messages by PEF Chairman Pelle Hornmark (Sweden), Daniel Costanza (Belgium), and Tom Benigas (USA), as well as practical workshops with Veera Hug (Finland), Markku Ovaska (Finland), and Stefan Ross (Germany).

Alongside the natural beauty of this country (with a total population of only 600,000 people), our IM17 teams were struck by its extreme spiritual poverty (the Evangelical presence is estimated at ca. 150 people), making Montenegro the least evangelized country of Europe. Clearly, this outreach was an opportunity to "clear the land" of this spiritually dry ground. The people were usually quite cold, indifferent, and difficult to approach. In spite of a rather hostile climate, the Lord touched many hearts, including Muslims in the Albanian-speaking areas.

Here are a few praise reports:

1) Unity and cooperation among the 6 pastors/missionaries in Montenegro working under the umbrella of PEF.
2) Dynamic teams (about 150 volunteers) from 11 countries of Europe, including Belgium, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, and also the USA.
3) Fraternal cooperation between teams from the Balkans, those being from Albania, Croatia, Kosovo and Serbia.
4) Favor with the cities' authorities in the seven towns included in this outreach.
5) A prevailing spirit of intercession for this nation which will result in more teams returning there in the future.
6) Hundreds of significant conversations and contacts which will now be followed up by the local pastors/missionaries.
7) Great encouragement for the local believers and leaders as well as new connections that will be beneficial for future projects in Montenegro.

The climax of this outreach week was the open air evangelistic concert held on Saturday night in one of the main squares of Podgorica, where hundreds of people had an opportunity to hear the Gospel through music, drama, testimonies and personal contacts.
While everyone felt Montenegro will need our continued prayers and help in the future, participants rejoiced in hearing the announcement about next year’s summer outreach, IMPACT KOSOVO 2018 on July 9-15 in cooperation with Jesus Revolution.

Submitted by Daniel Costanza, Executive Director, PEF / IM17 Coordinator