News, February 2008

News from the Churches

28th February. Gypsy pastor Juan José Cortés, father of missing girl MariLuz was preparing to fly to Italy to identify a girl found there who could be his daughter... when the alarm was shown to be false. The family still hope and pray MariLuz will be found alive and well.

On 1st March 'Spain prays for Spain' has called a united national prayer meeting on the concourse in front of Madrid's Santaigo Bernabeu stadium, home of Real Madrid football club. This is the third stage of three monthly events, first city-wide, then regional and now national. It is expected that several thousand believers from across Spain will join the rally and pray for the country at the mid-point of the general election campaign. Spain Prays for Spain called the event, which is coordinated by the Madrid Evangelical Council.

The Independent Civic Observatory, allied to the Spanish Evangelical Alliance is a body observing the relationship between politics and society and religious freedom. Just before the 9th March election campaign it posted a PDF advice booklet on how to use your vote. 2200 downloads were recorded in the first week. But before we come to the conclusion that the evangelicals are imitating the Catholic Church, the Alliance is keen to emphasise that there are no suggestions as to whom to vote for. Another 2000 copies have been posted to church leaders.

24 hour church available in Valencia... until the end of February. Some years ago a (RC) parish had the idea of opening round the clock for a month. This year it did so in January, but in February an evangelical church took over the 'baton', as if it were a chemists or filling station (well they work in a similar way in Spain). Up to now neither Catholic parishes nor evangelical churches have been open much except for services and mid-week evening meetings. Now there is a move to make the church open all hours and accessible to people outside official activities. At night time numbers of drop outs have found solace in a cup of coffee and someone with whom to talk. But so far it is just the two churches that have 'volunteered', so from 1st March the Gospel is limited to specific hours only!

On 8th March, a united churches' meeting will galvanise local support in Zaragoza for the efforts to set up the Agua Viva pavillion at the International Water Expo. This project is still in need of finance and volunteers, although a number of evangelical organisations have committed themselves to supporting the event and the 5 neighbourhood campaigns which will carry on across Zaragoza over the summer.

[Image 69???]The first united prayer meeting for over 20 years took place on 31st January in Palma, Mallorca. Pastors of the main evangelical churches have been meeting together for almost two years and in 2007 formed the Confraternity of Ministers of the Balearics, with a medium term plan to establish a full Evangelical Council. This was the first time that members of the churches were invited to join with them in prayer for a united witness in the archipelago. 430 people gathered together in the largest of their buildings to this end.

Mari Luz Cortés, 5 year old daughter of a gypsy pastor in Huelva, went missing on Sunday, 13th of January. She just nipped out to the sweet kiosk in the street for a packet of crisps. Police are still searching for her. Huelva is just across the border from the Algarve, where British girl Madeleine went missing last May. Could there be a link? No one dares say, but more recently MariLuz's parents have rejected an offer to unite efforts in the hunt for the girls.
The gypsy Filadelfia church is Spain's largest evangelical denomination. Her father is holding up a good testimony, despite the circumstances and media coverage. Demonstrations in 21 cities on 22nd January saw thousands calling for her return.

Pastor Marcos Zapata has been attacked in El Mundo, the daily paper, for presenting Biblical teaching on sexuality. His assertations that the Bible encourages heterosexual activity and this only within the bounds of marriage, is suggested as being an attack on those who believe otherwise, particularly the 'Gay' community. The Evangelical Federation and Evangelical Alliance are meeting to work out any defence needed in this case, which highlights one area in which evangelical opinions are apparently in conflict with recent changes in the law. 7000 have signed a petiton in his favour. It is, of course, very easy to be distracted by one type of 'sin', when in reality all sin is condemned by God and evangelicals are among the few these days to recognise this, which is primarily a spiritual issue. Above all, Spanish evangelicals want to be known for their tolerance of other belief systems, whether these recognise the existence of God or not, as well as holding clear beliefs themselves. For centuries, evangelicals were under attack from the Catholic Church's Inquisition. Now, on the eve of an election campaign, which is likely to be hard fought, evangelicals who have traditionally favoured those also under attack from the Catholic Church and the right wing, may find themselves pushed to swing the balance in the opposite direction. But perhaps that is what right of centre El Mundo is actually aiming at...

España Intercede (Intercessors for Spain) are calling on prayer partners to join them in a partial six week fast for Spain. Lent has been brought forward to coincide with the after-Christmas slimming season and begins on 13th January. Of course they invite you to join whenever you can. The suggestion is that you fast for one meal a day, or one day per week, using the meal times to pray. This is the third year this New Year fast has been arranged.
Meanwhile, the Evangelical Alliance again held their United Week of Prayer between the 6th and the 13th of January. Meetings were arranged in many cities, although many were postponed to later in January, due to the proximity of the Christmas holidays which ended on 6th January.

A new inter-church open air ministry in Seville's city centre is uniting efforts to reach the capital of Andalusia. Under the title Reacciona Sevilla, the outreach aims to emulate the effective work of Kilómetro Cero in Madrid's Puerta del Sol.

7th December. Agua Viva (Living Water) has finally got the go-ahead to prepare a pavillion at the Zaragoza Universal Expo next summer. The group which has previously produced the Pavillion of Promise in Expos such as Seville '92, Hannover and Lisbon, had been one of the first to request a pavillion in the 2008 Water Expo. But from the outset, the organisers were set against allowing religious groups access. Now -last week it was confirmed-, they have changed their mind and from 14th June to 14th September, 2008 an evangelical pavillion will present the Living Water to a thirsty world. They have been acknowledged as a 'nation', so the pavilion's leaders say we must now act as a Holy People'! 6 million are expected to visit the Expo, including 4.5 million Spaniards. Volunteers are now being sought to join the pavillion team.

The Catalan Generalitat has announced it plans to regulate 'places of worship'. Although we are unsure quite what this entails, it is intended to provide guidelines on what kind of building can be used as a place of worship and to limit the powers of town halls to set their own standards. One of the problems is that evangelicals and muslims have found it very difficult to find suitable buildings at reasonable prices in many places and end up renting shop front 'locals' which are often barely suitable.

For earlier news from the churches, click here!
For other news from the churches we remind you that Protestante Digital always has a selection of interesting news and opinion articles.