March 2004

Tim, may no one look down on your youth!

ARISE, SPAIN AND SHINE!

BULLETIN Nº 12 (March 2004)

The Bulletin of the Prayer Network for the Evangelisation of Spain

Tim, beloved son in the faith, revive the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of hands. ..Flee youthful passions.. Persist in what you have learnt as a child... Preach the Word, be prepared in season and out of season... do the work of an evangelist.. be an example, that no one may look down on your youth.

Where are the Manuels?

Greetings in Christ to you, brother or sister who is praying for Spain and its evangelisation, joining with the 500 people who are part of our Spanish payer chain. This month's theme: who is Tim? You will already have imagined it is the biblical Timothy. But who is Manuel? Well, in order to have Timothies, we also need Pauls and Barnabases. We need people who are ready to take seriously the interest and potential of enthusiastic young Timothies, male or female and disciple them to bring them into effective ministry. Last month we prayed for the advance of the church in Spain and the preceding month for God to raise up evangelists to bring in the harvest. Do we not believe that among our young people are the pastors, teachers and evangelists that the church needs? We have a lot of Timothies, but where are the Pauls to mentor them? This month's theme is related to young people who are doing the work of the evangelist. We ask you to pray for them, but also that God would raise up men and women with a calling to mentor them as Paul mentored Timothy.

1- FUENTES DE ANDALUCÍA (Seville) has its Timothies

This is a report from Eunice, one of the young people in the evangelism team in this town. She has taken Matthew 6:33 seriously. It's the moment: God's Spirit is giving our hearts a greater compassion for our generation. Fuentes de Andalucia is an important town in the east corner of the province. It has 7,500 inhabitants and is one of the over 7,000 Spanish municipalities (total 8,000) with no Christian witness. From September 2003 to June 2004, a team of five young people, Carmen, Ana, Manolo, Maribel and Eunice have moved to live in the town. During this time they took past in a Ministry Training School and at the same time took part in evangelism aiming to establish a congregation. The team also visited the neighbouring towns and villages (La Lantejuela, Paradas, La Campana, La Luisiana...), which have also had no previous contact with the Gospel.

This initiative counts on support from the 4 Baptist churches of Córdoba province, together with two churches in Seville province. It is a faith project, all the members of the team having given up their jobs and salaries to join the team. We pray that the Lord would provide for all their needs and even more that the light of the Gospel wouldshine in the district. Pray the Lord will show His strategies, for the young team members, for resources.

2- Pray for the youth of BARCELONA, the city and ther est of Spain.

During the Mediterranean Prayer Forum, held in January, a brother shared a word about Barcelona becoming the centre of all that God wants to do in Spain. He felt that a youth movement such as the Jesus Movement of the 70s will draw young people out of the New Age, sects and other similar things, to the Lord. A subsequent awakening of gifts in the areas of music and other creative arts would follow. Likewise, young believers will get to positions of influence in politics and business and a round the clock prayer chain would be maintained. The last item on this agenda is already happening as the 24/7 prayer movement has established a goal to have a three month long prayer meeting! Young people beyond Barcelona - and Spain- are welcome to join in! The three months began on 29th February and will continue until the end of May. You can sign up writing a mail to: jas@oracion24-7.com or online at: http://www.oracion24-7.com

Translator's note: Barcelona already has the largest concentration of evangelical youth, with many effective youth ministries, such as youth for Christ, Campus Crusade, etc.. But like many cities where this is the case, they are not all wildly alive and concerned for the needs of those around them, far less for the unreached towns of Spain. Thus prayer for the awakening of this comparative mass of young people will be very welcome!

3- We must reach our Universities. Alfa and Campus Crusade join forces to reach students

Mary Klein, Spanish coordinator of Alpha, thanks us for our prayer for the ministry going on in the universities where Agape-Campus Crusade is active. A special version of Alpha has been adapted for students and meetings are held in public places. For example, in Madrid they meet in a pub close to the Plaza Mayor; in Malaga a course began in the university during February; a third course is due to start soon in Barcelona.

Pray, likewise for the IFES work (locally GBU) which also has its headquarters in Barcelona. And pray for the many universities which still have neither an on-going work, nor even any evangelical students!

4- CONTRACORRIENTE, and LLAMADA congresses, big quarries for young talent.

These youth congresses will take place in Huesca, close to the Pyrenees, and aim at encouraging young people to get involved in the Lord's work. Llamada will major especially on missions. Dates: Contracorriente: 19-21 March (San José bank holiday); Llamada 8-11 April (Easter). Pray the Lord of the harvest that He call many to the harvest fields of Spain and the world.

5- VALENCIA and TALAVERA outreaches

These cities need your prayers. In Valencia the El Salvador church will be holding an outreach on 7th March. Pray for the results of this outreach.
from March 11th to 21st a church team from the USA, recruited by OM (c.f http://www.usa.om.org/Spain04/MainMenu.htm ) will join the local church in outreach and prayer ministry. Pray for effective results.

6 EASTER outreaches

Easter is almost here. Pray for the outreaches which will take place at this time, particularly the OAC Pray4Spain outreach in Córdoba, with the baptist church. More: http://www.prayforspain.com/projects/index12.html

National Elections, 14th March

Elections will take place on 14th March for the National Parliament. The same day the regional parliament of Andalucia will also be elected. The atmosphere is tense and the outcome will be important for God's purposes in Spain. pray that each believer will know how to vote and that the Lord's will be done! The choice is not easy, as you can read on the comment pages of this site: http://www.prayforspain.com/comment/index6.html

Mel Gibson's Passion of Christ

This could be used of God to bring many to Christ, despite the film not being so faithful to the scripts as the Luke-based Jesus film. Comments from Billy Graham and Greg Laurie of Harvest Crusades, who have already seen this film, encourage us to make the most of the opportunity this Easter. Launch date in Spain is April 2nd. Agape-Campus Crusade have produced a 16 page leaflet in Spanish or Catalan leading from scenes from the film to the 4 spiritual laws. Pray that evangelism this Easter will make the most of the event and that the leaflet and counselling of contacts will see many saved. It is obviously very violent and the suffering far more cruel than anything previously seen on western cinema screens (there is a similar film in India) on the pasion subject.

Thank you, intercessor, for your prayer for Manuels and Tims! We appreciate your prayer and continued commitment to us in Spain. if you are able to pass on this prayer letter to others and get them involved in praying for Spain we will be most appreciative!

May the Lord bless you.