Ministry Pathways: Cafe Connections in Madrid

A Pioneer moved to Spain two years ago with a love for coffee and conversation. Lauren quickly developed a vision to use those loves on the mission field.   Over the last few years, she has stewarded her love for coffee along with her native language of English to welcome and serve people at a café some colleagues run in the city.

“Brilla (the cafe) has been a place that ‘feels like home’ for many. It’s where I’ve met my closest friends and it has given us the opportunity to invite people in the community to encounter the presence of Jesus that ‘brilla’ (shines)” – Lauren, Pioneer in Spain.

Each week, people from different regions of Spain and neighboring countries venture through the café. During the day, they serve specialty coffee, and when the café is closed, they open the doors for English conversation classes. The café serves as a place of peace for people to meet, whether they come for the coffee or the English.

Before Lauren moved to Madrid, God gave her a vision for expanding her coffee knowledge and ministry experience. She attended a training school focused on specialty coffee and its use in ministry. She developed this skillset with a specific vision for how God may utilize it for church-planting in Spain.

Lauren was born in the USA and grew up speaking English. She was exposed to other cultures and languages but was schooled, raised, and discipled in her native language. She never pictured speaking English as the tool that may open doors for disciple-making in Spain. 

English fluency is a tool that many American & British-born missionaries get to steward amongst the nations in a unique way.

“I have now lived in two different unreached areas of the world where people begged me to spend time with their children and just converse in my native language because I grew up in an English-speaking home in the USA. It’s certainly a privilege I never thought about being paid for. I’m not a trained teacher but they just want me to speak comfortably and have conversations about various funny topics. It’s been an added joy to my life on the field” – Hannah, Pioneer in Europe.

Teaching isn’t the best ministry pathway for everyone as not everyone is a trained or gifted teacher. Global Christians have all been given specific abilities to steward for the growth of the kingdom. For some, that includes teaching or utilizing your native language. Pioneers in Europe are praying for ways to “use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms” (1 Peter 4:10). Lauren and her colleagues’ willingness to steward what they’ve been given, English fluency and after hours at the café, has opened doors for great discussions and friendship.

Each week, the conversation classes have a different theme ranging from “Family and Work” to “Religion and Spirituality.” As the classes progress each week, the topics get a bit deeper and more difficult in vocabulary. The students are exposed to a variety of topics and words, allowing room for conversations about life, values, and spiritual things.  

“It’s a super natural way to get to know people from the community, and as the Spirit opens doors, we get to share our faith and the good news of Jesus with them, all over a good cup of cafe con leche” – Lauren, Pioneer in Spain.

What gifts have you been given or have you developed in your own preparation for the mission field? Do you have a love for coffee? Spain may be a great place for you to consider joining a church-planting team.

Photo Essay: Basque Country

Basque whalers and cod fisherman started the first commercial fishing industry with their trips across the Atlantic, and it was a Basque who first circumnavigated the globe, Juan Sebastian Elkano. Fishermen were some of the first disciples Jesus called, we need more fishers of men.

Green rolling hills dotted with mounds of snowy wool is such a familiar sight in the Basque Country. But the people like the sheep are lost without a shepherd.

The Basque Country is full of mountains and mountaineers, many people take a daily or weekly walk to the mountain of their town or village, almost in the manner of a pilgrimage. Many mountain tops bear witness to the Lord of the earth and yet most don’t know Him.

The modern-day history of the Basque Country is filled with division, oppression, and fighting. Freedom is a common cry, yet only knowing Jesus can truly set you free.

Bridges between island outcrops and the mainland are a stark reminder of the bridge Jesus became between people and God and the task He left us to become bridge builders.

Joaldunak are protectors who warned the people in the towns and villages of the arrival of the carnivals. They are said to also chase the bad spirits away with the noise from the bells on their backs. God longs to redeem such festivals and His creation.

Towns and villages along the coast reflect both the ancient and the modern that is the Basque Country, but there is very little reflection on God or spiritual matters amongst the people.

Layer upon layer of history and folklore are stacked up creating a fascinating and complicated people. Some of the most ancient archaeological sites in the world are here, showing God’s creation to those who have eyes to see.

Walking in these mountains is a favourite pastime for many Basques, surrounded by God’s glory. “I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Narrow streets and laneways mark the old part of most towns and villages, life on life, and yet people are lonely and broken. People live in close proximity and yet don’t know their neighbours.

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Pray for the Crisis in Catalunya, Spain

Pro-unity demonstrators wave Spanish and Catalan flags during a protest in Barcelona. REUTERS/Albert Gea

By a Pioneers in Europe Field Worker

Catalunya, one of Spain's 17 Autonomous Communities (as they are called - each community has certain authority to govern within their region under the Spain constitution) is seeking independence from Spain to become a Republic, and have recently officially declared it! This has driven the government to disband the Catalunyan government and begin the process of installing their own (under article 155 of the constitution).

Sadly, this has had some negative impact on unity between Evangelical believers and churches, so we invite you to join us in prayer for Spain and the churches and ministries involved.

PRAYER:

• Please pray for the Spanish government to make decisions with proper respect for their authority and responsibility, and that this situation would bring an awareness to them of their impotence and need for a sovereign God.
   
• Please pray that God would allow this disruption at a national level to ONLY reach a point that unsettles people to consider where their trust, security and ultimately their identity lies. Please pray that local Evangelical churches would answer that clearly by proclaiming the true gospel and the impact it has on their lives and this situation. 
   
• Please pray for unity between Evangelical Christians and Churches who have been publicly divided on this issue in recent months, that they will have, and display, a God-rendered unity that will serve as an example to Catalunya and to the rest of Spain. 

Trusting the Lord to Open Hearts in Madrid

“I love God and I love the people.  So what can I do?” 

I marveled at Sarah’s faithfulness.  She has been a Pioneer in Madrid for five years and served in North Africa for 20 years prior to that.  When I asked her about the spiritual fruit of her labors, she only had a few converts to report for her decades of work.  When I asked her if she gets discouraged she said, “Yes, sometimes.  It’s lonely work, but God called me to it.  And He has to provide the fruit.” 

After leaving North Africa during a recent expulsion of Christian missionaries, she arrived in Spain in the midst of their Great Recession.  She immediately saw the needs of the North African immigrants and refugees and she moved in amongst them to provide relief and to shine the light of Christ.  While she baptized seven women in her bathtub in North Africa, she has yet to see someone come to Christ in Madrid.

Sarah attends a local Spanish church, but is the only one in her community with a vision for sharing Christ with the local Arabs.  She has had teammates at times, but is currently serving alone, as she often has over the years.  Because she is fluent in Arabic and knows North Africa well, she has had no trouble forming friendships amongst the women.  They are drawn to her kindness, generosity, and cultural familiarity—things not readily extended to them by the Spanish community.  

North African Arabs are kept an arm’s length away from Spanish society.  Because they are not integrated into the local culture, their identities as North African Arabs grows stronger as they reside in Europe.  As they draw into themselves, they form neighborhood enclaves where they have their own shops, their own butchers, their own mosque.  Those who were nominal Muslims back in Africa grow stronger in their religious identity when they get to Spain.  ISIS finds fertile ground from which to recruit, as young men especially feel rejected and then themselves reject Spanish culture. 

Sarah knows the Arab ladies love to gather for parties, so she hosts them often.  She serves tea, provides food, and makes space for moments of levity and enjoyment.  She is diligent in sharing Christ’s love and says that the women are usually very open to conversations about God and the Bible.  Next week she’ll be hosting about 50 ladies for tea and to watch a movie about Christianity.  The film was made by Arabs for Arabs and explains the Gospel message.  Sarah regularly reaches out to the immigrant children, as well, hosting holiday parties and events for the kids. 

While Sarah has had much success forming friendships and even sharing Christ and praying with and studying the Bible with Arabs in Madrid, she has yet to see one surrender to the Lord.  She says that they stick around for awhile, but then she suspects they are persuaded away by the Muslim community.  “It’s a close community,” she says, “they all see where each other goes and what they are doing.” 

Sarah dreams of opening a community center for the Arab immigrants—a place they can go to learn to sew, to learn to read, where kids can get help with homework, where newcomers can gather for refreshment and to hear about the love of Christ.  Pray that God would provide humble and hardworking teammates for this work in Madrid—teammates who, like Sarah, love God and love the people.