Evangelist- May ‘06 International Spotlight
What picture comes to mind when you think of the word “missions?â€? No doubt we think of someone from the United States traveling to a “foreignâ€? country. You might be surprised to know that Mexico, Ireland, and Malaysia are just several areas of Brethren ministry that have a vision beyond their borders. In addition to a vision for church planting, the Brethren Church in Argentina has for several years been supporting a church plant of their own in Spain.
David & Cecilia Molina, along with sons Lucas and Nicolas, have ventured from their home church in Cordoba, Argentina to the city of Coria, Spain to plant a new church there. Coria is located in a region known as Extramadura, directly west of Madrid next to the border with Portugal. Situated at the crossroads between Africa and Europe, Spain has a unique cultural heritage. Spanish society is multi-lingual and multi-cultural with immigrants from Latin America, Africa and other European as well as diverse Spanish communities. Catholicism is the official religion but 80% of the population say they are not practicing. Only 0.2% of the population are evangelicals and 13 million people live in towns with no evangelical witness. This spiritual vacuum is being filled with secularism, materialism, cults and the occult.
Our ministry in Spain is assisted by partial support from the Milford First Brethren Church in Milford, Indiana. Please pray faithfully for the Molina family. Church extension work in this country is difficult. Though many hunger spiritually, they are also resistant to change. Pray that those in this community will have receptive hearts to the ministry of the Molinas and their own vision to reach out from Coria into new areas in western Spain as well.
