Arise, October 2005

30th October – National Day of Prayer for Spain

Bulletin nº24 (october 05)

The Bulletin of the Prayer Network for the Evangelisation of Spain

“Live as children of the light... Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness... Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise, but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5)

Are these evil days? The times are not to be measured by their quantity, but rather by their opportunity. The enemy makes the most of his opportunities to do as much harm as possible. We should take every opportunity to work for the salvation of souls. It is our duty to 'preach the gospel in season and out of season', when it seems convenient to us and when not.

Greetings to you, once again, brothers and sisters committed to praying for Spain! Just as over the past years, this month we come to our Pray4Spain weekend. In Spain, this will take place in many churches over the long weekend leading to November 1st, a national holiday in Spain. The traditional church celebrations of All Souls and All Saints have become split between the protestant Reformation Day, Catholic Day of the dead and pagan Halloween, as different emphases developed in churches and societies. Yet in a society which is increasingly moving away from official religion, via secularisation towards a rediscovery of sheer paganism and pick and mix superstition, the attractions of Halloween and messing with the spirit world are particularly in vogue in parts of Spain, while the older generation continue to make a visit to the graves of their beloved on 1st November. Reformation Day, meanwhile, is unheard of, even in many of the newer evangelical churches! Luther's message, that salvation can only be found in Christ, as found in Scripture, through Grace, is certainly unknown outside the evangelical churches, as people either hold to the Roman Catholic teachings on works or, increasingly, consider that the grave is the end.
Many years ago, one old guard brother remembers going to a graveyard on all Saints' Day to distribute literature. Many received it gratefully. Those who had gone to visit the dead were open to think about the possibility of life afterwards.

Prayer and evangelism weekend across Spain

“Awake, you who sleep and rise from the dead and Christ will give you light.” We are encouraging churches at this time to make the 30th a national prayer Sunday, with an evangelistic emphasis in the services. Different suggestions have been made for the whole weekend, starting with a prayer vigil on Friday night, going out onto the streets on Saturday and distributing literature at cemeteries on the 1st, bringing a word of consolation and hope for their lives.

Zaragoza evangelism awareness weekend Taking the 1st Sunday of October as the other day we use for awareness raising, the Conference for the evangelisation of Spain, better known as the Spanish Evangelists' Conference, held an awareness weekend in Zaragoza, capital of the region of Aragon, for pastors and others interested or involved in evangelism. 25 made a commitment to serve the Lord in fulfilling the Great Commission during the weekend. The various orientation and challenge sessions were attended by up to 150, of whom 25 responded to the invitation made by president Carlos Gomez.

The weekend ran from 30th September to 2nd October. Sessions covered the needs of Aragon and Spain in general as well as a presentation of the work of the Conference. Pastors were also able to share their joys and frustrations and Conference speakers preached in the city's churches on the Sunday morning. A similar event is planned for Cordoba in February.

Day of Prayer for Spain – How can we celebrate together?

As a person concerned to pray for Spain, you could be someone who will organise a prayer event in your fellowship group, church, or city. Spain needs all the prayer it can get and we'd love to hear that you are taking part! If you would like to have some ideas about how to do it, just go to our Spain Prayer Day page: http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index10.html In addition, make use of the prayer news and requests in this letter and on other pages on P4S. Give thanks and pray for follow-up to the summer's campaigns, as detailed on the Answers page; pray for up-coming events and for the evangelism being done over this weekend. You might even take more time to fast and pray for Spain. Perhaps you know someone or some part of Spain or city you would like to pray specifically for. If you need more information, don't hesitate to ask us!

Thanksgiving and Prayer requests

§ Operation Transit Through this summer outreach 266 North africans and 4 Spaniards made a profession of faith. 1995 people heard the full Gospel presentation, as the Holy Spirit used materials distributed previously to open hearts. This year 400,000 pieces of literature or audiovisuals were distributed, despite difficulties in getting access to some ports. The Holy Spirit also used satellite radio programmes and other media to touch hearts.

There are many wonderful testimonies of how people received the gospel packets, like the man who got one in the Berber language. This person had never seen a film in his own language and suddenly he had the Jesus film in Berber! After seeing it, he gave it to the local video store, so that other people in his town could rent it. When a local believer discovered this, he learnt that almost the entire town had rented the video! Another testimony: A Palestinian brother went out to testify one day, even though he was lame. He gave a video to a Moroccan and shared the four spiritual laws. The man wanted to receive Christ. The Palestinian wanted to be sure he had understood. He certainly had and with tears rolling down his cheeks the Moroccan received Christ saying: 'I feel so happy!'

Pray, brethren, for the follow-up and discipleship of these new believers. Pray for the material distributed, that the Word may produce fruit 30, 60 and 100-fold. Let usmake use of every opportunity to present the Gospel to the Muslims, because they are hungry for god. Pray, especially, as we continue to be in the month of ramadan, when many Muslims are praying to know God's way. The month of fasting ends 3rd November.

§ Inter-Mission teamwork brings fruit: L'Alfás del Pi. We have had the most encouraging report from this outreach. Decision organised the outreach, Pocket Testament League (LTB) sent the literature and Cursos Bíblicos (Alturas) is doing the follow-up by email. “ While we were at the Alfas campaign, someone sent an email to Cursos Biblicos in Barcelona: 'My name is JR F., I am 47 and work as a nurse. I work in the Alicante Blood transfusion Centre. Yesterday, the 11th, I went to L'Alfas to collect blood. When we reached the health centre, there were some 30 young people waiting to give blood, to help the ill. We asked what association they belonged to and they told us they were Christians. A lady called Gloria gave me a small booklet entitled “Peace, Truth and Love” in which I found the invitation to request a free Bible Course. I am very interested. I would love to have Christian faith. I would love not to doubt the existence of God. I am very selfish, because when I have gone though upsets in life, I have tended to ask help from God, only to forget him once things got better. Could you help me with this existential problem? Could you indicate me some direction?'” Pray for JR! More: www.e-decision.org

§ Evangelical Olympics, Barcelona - Pocket Testament League (LTB) This is a great annual gathering of families, with the children competing in church teams. however, many of the children are from families who are not church members, but just have friends whose parents are. Pray for Esther Rodriguez and her team.

§ 'El Salvador' baptist church, Valencia. This church holds monthly Sunday morning open air outreaches. For October the date is the 16th.

§ Radio Encuentro, Madrid. This radio station was forced off the air by the authorities earlier in the year, but continues on internet. More: www.radioencuentro.net Why not log on and check it out right now?

§ Bible Marathon in Aranda de Duero. This event took place on 1st October. Pray for results. Besides, it might inspire others to hold similar events, taking advantage of foreigners in congregations to read the Bible in many languages. The church took advantage of it being a big monthly market day.

Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground.' (Eph. 6) The best way for us to stand in these days is to pray. Pray also for our children, that they, also, will become preachers of God's word, even among the majority who mess around at the time of halloween.

Many thanks again for your commitment to pray for Spain. We would love to hear from you, so please if you are praying regularly for Spain let us know by sending us an email. If you have any queries or contributions, don't hesitate to get in touch!