«Therefore, when I have finished this, and have put my seal on this fruit of theirs, I will go on by way of you to Spain.» (Rom.15:28)
Apostle Paul dreamed to visit one of the countries of Europe which was “far” from the center of the missionary ministry to the Gentiles-Antioch. This country was Spain, a country with rich history, beautiful cities, and kind and friendly people. Many immigrants from CIS* moved to this country in search of better jobs and a better life. A country with relatively low cost of living became a place where a lot of brothers and sisters permanently moved.
Sadly, Spain did not become a center of missionary work of Slavic Christian Unions for the establishment of churches (with the exception of the Pentecostal churches). God moved the hearts of the Association’s leadership to begin ministering there.
After praying for God’s guidance in beginning of this new ministry, I visited Spain with a goal to meet with the President of the Union of Evangelical Baptists of Spain, as well as to familiarize with the local Spanish churches. This meeting took place on Saturday, August 19th in Valencia. Other missionaries of PCSBA attended the meeting: Mihail Terehin, Alek Shipuk with their wives, as well as the head of the Association's missionary department, Alek Yanovskiy, and our missionary from Italy, Sergey Tsventaryy. After getting to know brother Ruben Hernandez, the President of the Union of Evangelical Baptists of Spain, who immigrated from Argentina to Spain 31 years ago, I presented our strategy of mutual missionary service among the Slavic population. After my presentation, Ruben did not have any questions, and was willing to participate in serving one another. I consider it as a successful presentation of our perspective and expectations from the Union of Evangelical Baptists of Spain in ministering to each other. God’s hand and blessing was felt throughout the meeting. Brother Vladimir Goriy who is an immigrant from Moldova helped to overcome the language barrier for which we are immeasurably grateful. He also actively participates in the Spanish Baptist brotherhood.
The next day, we visited the Central Baptist Church in Valencia with the hopes to meet Russian-speaking visitors of this church. After the service, the local Slavs joyfully surrounded us, many of which came from Ukraine. These are the young families who have their own story of migrating to Spain. One of the brothers said that they have been waiting for an opportunity to open a Russian Baptist Church, and thought of us, Slavs from “America”, as of a “big surprise” which God prepared for them. A few of them were planning to move to other places in Spain since they were deeply concerned about the absence of Slavic Baptist church in Valencia. God is never late. Praise God!
On Sunday night we had an opportunity to meet with our missionaries and discuss the questions of moving, setting up, and getting all the technical issues worked out. The next day we were exploring Valencia. We found out that this city has seven Russian stores and a few other places where we could meet the Slavs. A city with a population of a million is noticeably clean and beautiful. This is a city of tourism, where many residents of Spain come to rest during the summer months. The sea water is warm, the climate is great, and the people are not consumed by the “hurry” mentality. The tourists don’t go to sleep yearly, and also do not get up early…
I also had a chance to visit one more city of Spain - Madrid. This is a beautiful city with a multimillion person population where a lot of Slavs also live. Perhaps it will be the next city where we will be beginning missionary service.
I was returning home with the thoughts that God was opening the doors of missionary ministry in Spain to us. Apostle Paul wrote the following words:” for a wide door for effective service has opened to me…” (1Cor.16:9) The door is an opportunity to preach the Gospel!
Pray that those whom we send would be coming as soon as possible into this country sharing the Gospel with the perishing people who need salvation
As I was looking through the window of the plane on our way back, I thought about how quickly I fell in love with this country, a country which Apostle Paul once dreamed to visit.
Ivan Mileyev
*Cooperation of Independent States or former Soviet Union's states.
IN SPAIN
Click on the first slide to view photos of a bigger size as a slide show
{rapidgallery}_newsRelated/2017/aug-spain{/rapidgallery}
