On June 22, over 300 people met to praise God for 36 years of gospel witness and gospel progress in the Spanish seaside tourist town of Salou, south-west of Barcelona.
Thirty-six years ago, an English missionary and his Spanish wife began to pastor a small group of believers in a town of 2,000 inhabitants on the north east coast of Spain. Little by little the town (and the church) began to grow and the fellowship decided that the best thing would be to buy the small hall (which was a disused garage, under a block of flats) as a permanent home. This seemed to be confirmed when the church was given a piece of saleable land on the outside of the town.
Ten years of prayer
A long process of prayer pleading for a buyer for the piece of land seemed ‘in vain’. Ten very long years went by with no answer. ‘We even tried to give the land away but without success!’ Then suddenly the Town Hall offered a ‘swap’ and the church was given a larger piece of flat land in the middle of the town. The pastor said: ‘How grateful we are that the Lord did not answer our ten-year long prayer! Or perhaps we should say he was answering our prayer, just saying: “Wait for a little while; I’ve got a better plan for you” ’.
Sacrificial giving, generous help from churches and friends in the UK (channelled through Spanish Outreach Ministries (SOM), and a lot of work, gave birth to a 7,000 square foot purpose-built venue with ample space for future growth.
Kindness in the crisis
Due to the appalling social crisis in Spain, the distribution of free food and clothing has grown enormously these last years and the ministry from the church is so recognised that local folk, schools, shops, international institutions and even local political parties send the church food for distribution. Sunday school, youth work and Sunday congregations have grown, like the town of Salou – now 14 times bigger than 30 years ago.
New pastor
On June 22 the induction of Josué García took place, who gained his doctorate in Queens University, Ireland. The original pastor, Eduardo Bracier, after 36 years of continual ministry, changed his role to pastor emeritus. This may well change as a church near Barcelona is in contact with him to be their interim pastor as from January 2015.
But the service of induction itself was indeed most moving. Pastor Alistair Campbell from Ireland, Brian Goldsmith of SOM from Bognor Regis and two Spanish pastors took part in the preaching of the Word and challenges given to the church and to the new pastor.
Amazing Grace
The service ended with a short account of John Newton’s life and how he was transformed by God’s grace and how that was available to all present (including the local mayor and his wife!) and then, when it was said: ‘… and one of his hymns was …’ with perfect timing a member of the choir stood up in the middle of the congregation and started to sing ‘Amazing grace, how sweet the sound’. Others, in different parts of the congregation, joined in and while still singing, made their way onto the platform. The last verse was sung by all the congregation, now on their feet (!), and Josué, as the new pastor, came forward to end the service in prayer. One member stated: ‘The memory of his grace being sung [about] like that will stay in the minds of all for a very long time’.
Tears of joy
In the evening, the ‘ex-pastor’ cried with joy as Josué baptised two men. One of them came as a direct result of the social ministry. He had been a hard-working and successful executive but, due to the crisis, finally lost everything: job, house, family and friends. He began sleeping in his car as the only thing left. He sought help in different places to have a shower but found none. Finally he was directed to ‘the Protestant Church, they will help you’. Weekly showers, a haircut and food led him to ask lots of questions as he avidly read the Scriptures, finally rejoicing in the experience of the work of God’s grace. In his testimony that night he said: ‘I had nothing, but now have everything.’ The glow in his face indeed corresponded to the glow in his heart.
