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News, December 2008News from the ChurchesNew regional law against 'publicity' could go against freedom of speech (and preaching) in Madrid. Spanish Evangelists' Conference early December - blessing for those who attended. B. Manley Pippert speaks in Barcelona. Stop the Traffick on TVE. Embargo threat on board of Andalusian Congress. MCO present Spain-2009-365-prayer year of prayer. Good Seed calendar distribution comes to Costa Brava. 20 years of Open Air preaching in Puerta del Sol. Carlos Martínez to perfom at Mission-net. New church planting cooperation group established. This and more... Read on! Is the end nigh? The Madrid regional assembly has recently passed a new law to be active from January 1st against the use of bill-board-bearing men and handing out of publicity, which might be understood by police constables as the duty to arrest preachers of the gospel. The evangelical outreach Kilómetro Zero has a regular preaching activity each weekday evening in the central Puerta del Sol and now fears that use of visual aids such as the sketchboard and the distribution of literature even to those who specifically request it could now be deemed illegal activities. The fine for this might be 1,500 Euros. Lawyers of the evangelical federation are aware of the situation and ready to reply if necessary. From 5th to 8th December, the Conference for the Evangelisation of Spain took place in El Escorial, close to Madrid. This important event was clouded by the recession, causing many to change plans to attend, then even more by the death, although long expected, of the spouses of two of the committee members. But the conference, which was attended by some 150 people , a third as day visitors, was a great blessing to all who got there. The conferences were both informative and challenging; the fellowship with smaller numbers was, if anything, far better than in previous larger events. All left the conference more committed than ever to reach Spain with the Gospel. Becky Manley Pippert is coming back to Barcelona, where her book 'Out of the salt shaker' began. She will be giving a series of conferences between 28th November and 4th December, mainly at Verdi Baptist church, challenging believers to put their belief into action. Several talks will also be evangelistic. The talks are leading up to the GBG (IFES) conference which takes place from 5th to 8th December. On Christmas Eve the evangelical programme Buenas Noticias TV on Spanish national channel TVE once again televised a Christmas service. This was the fourth year that the service has gone out. Pastor and BNTV anchorman Jose Pablo Sánchez preached a clear Gospel message. Spain-2009-365-prayer With this title, a coordinating group (MCO), including Intercessors for Spain, Global day of Prayer, Open Doors, AoG, etc., are working towards recruiting 365 churches across the country to cover Spain in prayer. More info from their site (in Spanish). If you prefer to get in touch through us, please feel free to use the form on our contact page. The year of prayer will be kicked off with the Universal Week of Prayer of the Evangelical Alliance and 40 days of prayer coordinated by Intercessors for Spain. From 1st to 7th November a Swiss organisation, which for many years has produced the Buena Semilla/ Good Seed calendars, was distributing the 2009 calendars in the area of San Feliu de Guixols and Palamos on the Costa Brava. The team worked so hard that they ran out of calendars by the end of the week! On 30th October, the joint teams of Misión Urbana (Madrid City Mission) and KM0 celebrated together the 20th anniversary of open air witness in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, the plaza which marks the centre of the city - and of Spain! Two board members of the First Andalusian Congress, which took place in 2006 are threatened with embargoes, meaning the loss of their homes and savings, due to the 150,000 Euro debt left over from the event. The banks have now called in this debt and the board must pay up. Another recent event which still has debts is The Agua Viva pavilion at the Zaragoza Water Expo this last summer, despite it costing little more than one Euro per visitor. The churches in Spain are not well-off and have consistently failed to cover the costs of big events and conferences. The current recession will have to be a time to make major adjustments in the way things are handled. The forthcoming Spanish Evangelists' Conference (December 5th to 8th) has already cut attendance expectations and budget. The government, in its budget proposal for 2009, aims to maintain the 5 million Euros dedicated in 2008 to religious minorities. Pentecostal Europe Convention (PEC) took place in Madrid over the weekend of 25th October. David Wilkerson was to be a keynote speaker, but sadly his wife is seriously ill and had to cancel the trip. However, with other speakers such as Carlos Anacondia, Marcos Barrientos and several international and Spanish leaders, the organisers were delighted with the results. One of the highlights was the testimony of Juan José Cortes, a gypsy pastor and father of little MariLuz, who so tragically died last winter at the hands of a convicted rapist. Thousands attended the convention at the covered bull ring in Leganés. Carlos Martínez, one of Europe's top mime artists, is to perform at next Easter's European missions conference Mission-Net. More here! A Spanish contingent will be there, seeking out opportunities to be involved around the world in missions. And don't miss us training sketchboard evangelism and at the OACI stand in the missions exhibition! A Spanish group will be attending the conference and you will find us (P4S) on the OAC stand at the missions exhibition. The Evangelical Federation (FEREDE) claims there may be as many as 1.4 million protestants in Spain now, including 400,000 evangelical church members and the rest being immigrants of protestant background (such as the 350,000 British ex-pats). See the article in Protestante Digital, below. For earlier news from the churches, click here! Finally, more news from the churches is always available at the Protestante Digital site.You can also listen to some reports and comment. This week on Protestante Digital: (19th December)Uncovering the truth about the Inquisition (12th) |