When he came through the door that Sunday morning, it was evident by his face that he was an Arab. At first with certain mistrust, I approached him to introduce myself and welcome him to the service. His name is Jaleb. When the preaching began he pulled a packet out of his pocket: “Oh no!” I thought to myself, “I hope that is not an unpleasant surprise.” Slowly he started unwrapping his package and, to my amazement, I saw it was a Bible!
Afterwards Jaleb told us that he is from Algeria, and the reason for which he hides his Bible with such care is for fear of the muslims that live here. Evidently, if they find out that Jaleb has become a Christian, he will be in great danger. I ask you to pray for this brother in the faith, that he would grow in his knowledge of God and that he would rest in Him; that his fear will not be of man, but a fearful reverence to the Lord.
Our last Intensive Bible Institute was a great blessing, almost 70 brethren were present. On this occasion the teacher was Pastor Julio Montes, who did an excellent job.
Another great blessing was to have our pastor, Rev. Alejandro Ramirez, with us for a week on which he was able to participate in several different ministries, among which, of course, was the preaching of the Word; we also visited together some sick brethren, and worked at Aierdi.
Another great blessing was that, thanks to the Lord, the House of Culture in Urretxu/ Zumarraga has lent us one room to begin our Bible studies and, by this means, a future work on these two towns of the Basque Country. In the meantime, we have a group of about ten assisting these studies.
One of the girls that comes to our church, Sol, invited her mom to the special Mom and Daughter banquet. It wasn’t the first time that Maritza came to church, and we have prayed for her salvation for a long time.
Thank God, after hearing the preaching on this special day, she was brought to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, and Maritza was saved. We know that the trials will come and that her new faith will be challenged, but thank God now Sol isn’t the only believer in her home, and we will keep on praying for Javier, Maritza’s husband, and for Sol’s brother to come to the Lord.
We don’t stop giving thanks for Santi and for the gift of grace from God to him. His testimony goes along with the truth that God has worked in his life, and little by little Santi is giving signs of his new life, not only with his actions, but also with his words.
Santi works at a gas station, and some of his fellow workers are not very honest and steal money from the register, which bothers Santi very much, for which he felt he had to talk with his boss about this. It is not usual to find this kind of honesty nowadays, instead these kind of situations seem to be very normal. But God, who sees all, is a faithful rewarder, and Santi’s boss, obviously surprised, raised his salary! God is faithful and just!
In April, Tete had to travel to fulfill a couple engagements she had in Mexico and the US, and to serve her family. During her absence, the Lord used our daughters, Raquel and Andrea, in a great way. They worked hard at home and in the ministry, always with an excellent attitude and good spirit. Thank God for allowing us to see the fruit that comes as a result of sowing the right seed in our childrens’ hearts! Thank God for His faithful promises. Amen!
Thank you for your prayers and faithful support! We don’t have a single doubt that the Lord blesses you for your love and vision. Let’s remain faithful ‘till the end!
For He is worthy,
The Alvarez Family, Spain
