Spain Update #2

Tuesday night men from Mali, Nigeria, Morocco, Egypt, and Libya gathered at the community center. These men told harrowing stories of their journeys to Spain, leaving civil war behind, and crossing deserts and the Mediterranean Sea by raft to arrive on the shores of Spain. They are trying to build lives with nothing and from nothing.

A few days before we left for Spain, the community center team told us they wanted an immigrant story for the men’s group they host. By the providence of God, we had an immigrant couple with us, Leonel and Lilliana Chacon.

Fourteen men were present for the men’s event. The room could not have held more. Six were first-time visitors. They came to the Cultural Center because they heard they could learn Spanish and be helped in adjusting to life in Spain. Leonel told an engaging story. They could relate to him, being immigrants, living in a culture that did not want them, where customs are different, and they did not know the language. Leonel talked about perseverance and trying to engage with the culture of your host country. He spoke of the blessings of God.

The men who come to the cultural center are Muslim background, but they know that the people who welcome them and serve them are Christian. We were there to love them in Christ. After Leonel’s talk we ate Moroccan food and listened to their stories. No one listens to them in Spain. But we listened. We planted a small seed. We pray and ask you to pray, that God will show Christ to them and that the welcome they receive at the Cultural Center will show them that God welcomes them also.

Blessings,
Pastor Stan and the Spain Team