August 2024 Newsletter [ENG]

It has been two months since we moved to Spain, and with all that the Lord has allowed us to do and see it feels longer. We have seen His mercy in every moment along the way, and we remember Psalm 117:2 “For his unfailing love for us is powerful; the Lord’s faithfulness endures forever.”

In the beginning of this month, we traveled to Madrid to meet with the continental director of Harvesters. On this trip we met the leaders of some organizations that are already working in the region. We know that we can’t work alone and that is why we want to partner with other ministries so we can complement each other’s work.

From Left to Right. Raul from the Free Methodist Church in Spain, us, and Ian Stanton, Continental Leader for Harvesters

We met the director of the church planting division of the Free Methodist Denomination. We are excited to start working alongside them in the next months. This opens a big door for us to start working with all their churches in the region, starting with Spain.

Another organization that we met with was Simply Mobilizing. They are focused in awakening the missionary movement in the churches, starting with evangelism in the local environment and extending to sending missionaries. With them, we want to activate the local churches in evangelism and as a result of it, develop capable leaders to guide local churches. These partnerships remind us that we have been designed as a body, to work together to make His Kingdom move, not our personal agendas. We are happy to serve in the design of the Body of Christ.

We had a fruitful conversation with Collin Bakon, from Simply Mobilizing

We lead worship at our friends church, Vida Real Hope

Another of the motives that took us to Madrid was to talk with some of the pastors that we are currently working with in our Madrid stream. Being able to see them, encourage them, listen to their stories and share a time of fellowship has been a blessing. We were invited to lead a time of worship in one of the churches we visited. It’s always a privilege to serve the communities we go to. We love to listen to the stories of God´s faithfulness in men and women that have decided to serve Him.

Here we are with our Spain Country Leaders, Luis and Bealí Ramirez

 One of the most important tasks we have here is to raise local leaders to develop and guide the projects in each country. We met Luis and his wife Bealí during the first gathering we had with Harvesters in Madrid, back in April 2023. They are pastoring  a church in Madrid and the Lord has brought him very close to us since then. He has been a key piece in developing the ministry in Spain and we are very happy to welcome him and his wife to our team as the national director. They will be helping us with all that is needed related to Spain.

Now, the not so good news, Rodri was not able to get his South African visa. The Spanish government has not given us our residency cards yet, and because of that the embassy did not let him file the request for the visa. Although we were very excited to be part of the strategic meetings and the conference, we know that the plans of God are perfect and that his answers are always based in His love and care for us.

This month was Katie´s birthday and it ended up working out to celebrate on our way back from Madrid, so we made did a little detour and spent her birthday in Córdoba. After a long week of intense work, it was a good day of relaxation together.

This upcoming month presents new challenges for us. We have lived in a studio apartment these last two moths which has been very nice and comfortable, but we are in need of a larger space. That is why we will be moving in the beginning of September. We are going to host a missionary family next month and moving to a bigger space will allow us to have them with us and host them better. The Lord gave us this apartment since day one, it was an answer from God and a demonstration of His care towards us. Now we move knowing that the process continues and His care remains. The trip to Italy is also coming up. We keep praying for grace and favor from the Lord for our activities with the pastors in that region and the provision it requires.

We are very grateful for your support in prayer and financially. We know that He who began a good work in us will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ (Philp 1:6). Thank you for being a part of this work in us and through us.

Rodri & Katie.