News, May 2007

News from the Churches

Evangelical Federation negotiating tax back options for members. New online magazine, UNO. Demonstration in Alcalá de Henares over restriction of freedom to preach on the streets. 10,000 mourn the Turkey 3 in silent demonstrations all over Spain. Missionary Carlos Madrigal earlier led mourning for the 3 dead workers in Turkey and now his church has been attacked. Valencia sees 2000 Gospels given out at Americas Cup site. This and more... Read on!

29th May. The Evangelical federation FEREDE has today started negotiations with the government to have an option on tax returns for church members to have 0.7% of their tax bills paid to the Federation, just as Roman Catholics can give to their church. In the evangelical case the money will not be usde for financing of 'worship' or the payment of pastors' salaries, but could be used to support their social work and such tings. Already for the past two years the Evangelicals, Muslims and Jews have participated in a 'Plurality and Living together' fund which supports social and other projects of the historically established religious groups. The minister has also anounced that new from this year to the groups conceded this status - previously the evangelicals only got in due to the presence of believers at the time of the 16th century Reformation- are the modern sects Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons.

UNO is the name of a new online evangelical magazine. It plans to cover news and a variety of topics including access to the Online Bible.

The Madrid book fair is on! From 25th May to 10th June bookshops have stalls in the beautiful Retiro Park. Among the stalls you can find the one where Librería Calatrava is selling THE BOOK (Bible) and other evangelical literature. Other book fairs are also held around this time, but most have no evangelical presence. At the end of April an exception was the Alcalá de Henares fair, where local churches work together to have a stand.

PrayforSpain is standing with the Global Day of Prayer project and calling on readers to make a special effort in the run up to the 'Day' on Pentecost Sunday, 27th May (which also coincides with elections in Spain). Please make use of the information -of all types- available on this site to pray knowledgeably for Spain, while bringing the other nations of the world equally before the Lord.

Evangelicals in Alcalá de Henares are very upset by demands from the local authorities for fees for street preaching, an activity expressly allowed (one supposes without charge) in the Constitution. So they held a demonstration on May 20th. initial reports say it went well, with many supporting it, despite a torrential downpour half an hour into the event. A manifesto was handed to the City Council on Monday morning (21st).

MADRID, May 16, 2007 (Agencias/ ACPress.net)
'Last week more than 10,000 people congregated in squares up and down Spain to register their solidarity with the families of the three Protestant Christians murdered in Turkey, and to protest about the lack of true, religious freedom in that country. More generally, they met to show their support for the persecuted Church worldwide.' Some 700 held their vigil in front of the Turkish embassy in Madrid. On 23rd May the Spanish Foreign Minister responded to a message from the Evangelical Federation expressing his 'support and political commitment' to the struggle for religious freedom in Turkey. He added that freedoms of religion and expression were among the subjects regularly covered in bilateral talks and thoes related to the 'Alliance of Civilisations'.

The King may come to the 7th evangelical Congress in December, according to a delegation which visited the palace recently to take the invitation. But then again, he may send his own delegation!

The Doxa Gospel choir from Galicia is giving its annual series of 6 concerts around the region. This multi-racial, cultural and colour choir has members of various churches and signs with both the voice and in sign language. This year's tour is entitled 'The Gospel that Jesus brought'. This year's tour has had to look out several new auditoriums to replace those being used during the electoral campaign by parties. All the halls used have space for at least 4000.

Spanish missionary Carlos Madrigal, founder and pastor of two churches in Istambul led the mourning along with most of the Turkish church pastors for 3 Campus Crusade workers killed savagely on 18th April in an attack by fanatics on their printing works in eastern Turkey. Carlos has complained that the mixed messages of politicians and the press have put into the minds of many that protestants are worse than terrorists. In the past year things have got worse for Christians, with an Armenian Christian journalist and a Catholic priest also killed. Madrigal has been working in Turkey since 1985. On 25th april the church Carlos pastors in Izmit (Istambul), A number of windows were broken by youths. In addition, Carlos says that the Malatya killers had been looking for Carlos's co-pastor Wolfgang Hade.

Alcalá de Henares is the focus for Cervantes Day (23rd April) and the king gives away the Cervantes prize for literature. This year the evangelical churches also held a celebration of 'the day of the Book'. Ken Barrett writes: 'We had a good lecture today in Alcala University and the even the competition afforded by the King giving away the Cervantes prize did not stop a small group of 20 people hearing Pablo de Felipe on "Science and Faith - in conflict?" The sun is beating down on the Book Fair at the moment, where the churches' cultural section has a stand.'

Over the weekend of 20th April the Bible Society ran a Bible expo, reading and distribution called 'The Bible and the sea' at Valencia's Sailing Club (currently hosting the Americas Cup) and along the Malvarrosa beach front. A Catholic priest also helped! The reading began with the book of Jonah and also included other passages making reference to the sea. News about the Americas Cup: Go Sport.

A new George Borrow 170th anniversary exhibition is visiting the locations where the Bible Society colporteur visited during the years of his stay in Madrid, between 1836 and 1840. The first village to put it on is Cobeña, now a flourishing dormitory to the North East of the city. The local education and culture councillor opened the exhibition on the 14th. An Argentine missionary, Daniel Demai, now resident in Cobeña, read a letter and its translation which refers to Borrow's visit to the town. Other locations will shortly get this exhibition.