The Alvarez Family: September-October 2020 Prayer Letter

The Alvarez Family – Missionary in the Basque Country   

Services in our church building
Praise God, after almost three months of remodelling, our church was able to gather once again in the building. What a joy was seen in everyone present! A good group of brethren and one visitor arrived; the environment was very good and the reencounter between brethren was precious and very sweet. No one wanted the meeting to end! The brethren seemed very content with the changes and the transformation in our building. We are all excited about the possibilities that these new installations will give us. But we were left with a bittersweet taste. After the confinement ended, for a time we lived with a certain degree of normality, but unfortunately people began to relax and stopped being careful; this has caused the situation in Spain to go back to a state of emergency and new restrictions are being applied, which, for the time being, don’t allow us to gather. Our comfort is that our Lord is in control of everything.

In the face of a lack of certainty of what is going to happen, we are seeing here in Spain a restless society that is beginning to protest, in some cases violently, because of the loss of employments and the freedom of movement. In some of the bigger cities you can now see large lines of people asking for food in various help centers. I personally believe that humanity has to reach a point of such hopelessness that, when “someone” appears offering peace and security, he will be received and worshiped like a god. I believe that the way for the antichrist, of whom the Scriptures teach us, is being prepared and we will be witnesses of great events in coming days. This should not take us by surprise. As children of God, we must rest in the faithful promises of our Father, and nothing should take away our peace and hope. How we long for the Lord to come soon for His church! But I believe that He will leave us here for still some time so that we might be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, just when humanity needs the faithful testimony of Christ’s church the most. Let’s not live in confusion or desperation; let’s make the most of time. The days are evil, but let’s not forget that in Christ we are more than conquerors.
This year we had to cancel our Missionary Teen Retreat, one of our favorite activities, since it is impossible to carry it out because of the current situation. But, Lord willing, we will be sending out Christmas postcards with a simple message of the Gospel to approximately 40 thousand homes in the region. Please pray that the Lord would bless this effort.
Pray as well for Iratxe, who lives in a town that is almost two hours away from us; she believes in God and seems to have a great interest in the things of the Lord, but lives under great pressure because of her faith. We understand her well since for years we have witnessed how this people reject the Lord. It is possible that a door might be opened to start a Bible study with her.

Please pray for Spain. At this time the authorities here in the Basque Country are talking about confining us once again in our homes. This would be a hard blow in many ways, but, as I said before, we trust and rest in the faithful promises of our God.

May the Lord bless you!
Because He is worthy,
Juan, Teté and Andrea Alvarez