Prayer requests, Winter-Spring, 2008

Thank you for your interest in praying for Spain!

Looking back

Evangelical Congress

6th to 9th December

This is the most significant of meetings of Spanish Protestants and this was the 7th congress. There have been 2 others since the return to democracy in 1978.

Some 2000 representatives of the churches gathered for this long weekend of activities and shared their experiences and reflections on how the churches have developed and will continue to develop over the coming years. All comments are that it fulfilled its goals more than adequately. The Minister of Justice, responsible for relationships with the religious communities, spoke at the closing ceremony, while other central, regional and local government representatives were on hand at the opening.

In addition to the official participants, possibly the same number again attended the opening and closing ceremonies, as well as the 'Act for Peace' which included a mega Gospel Concert and took place at the National Auditorium of Catalonia. The rest of the Congress took place at Barcelona's Palace of Congresses.

Other happenings

Over Christmas, we were once again able to hold a televised service, but the atmosphere became embittered shortly after by press attacks on a minister from Galicia, who had been teaching young people in a church environment on the biblical teaching on sex relationships. The press accused Marcos Zapata of 'homofobia'. Since then, over 7000 signatures have been collected in his defence.

In January the main news item was the disappearance of little MariLuz Cortés, daughter of a gypsy pastor in Huelva, just over the border from the Algarve, where Madelaine McCann went missing last spring. At the time of writing there is still no news. We appreciate your prayer.

In addition, a number of prayer initiatives have joined the traditional Week of United Prayer. These include six weeks of partial fasting and a series of joint prayer days, starting locally and ending with a national rally. Among the events for the United Week, but somewhat postponed, was the first united prayer meeting in Mallorca for over 20 years. Times of difficulty have been put behind and we ask your prayer for a stronger united witness on the Balearic islands in the future.

Upcoming events

On 15th and 16th February, the Conference for the Evangelisation of Spain has a major committee meeting to prepare the next conference, to be held in December. Your prayer is welcome for effective use of this time to take the decisions necessary.

The winter will not be over when Easter arrives, the earliest possible date! Many groups are planning activities, such as conferences and retreats, to take advantage of the long break.

Azuqueca Easter Outreach

We particularly request prayer for the outreach being held at Azuqueca de Henares, east of Madrid. Teams will come together from around Spain and Britain to share the Gospel on the streets and in public halls through a variety of different methods. More from the Easter Outreach page.