Small Steps. Big Faith.

Penny Saunders is a long-term staff woman from Canada who joined Agape Spain during the pandemic, first part-time and later full-time as assistant to our national director in our national office in Valencia. Although Penny has been on staff many years, we decided to go use the New Staff Training material to help her improve her language skills. She and I have been meeting every week to practice speaking on a different topic, using and developing her Spanish vocabulary.  It has taken a while for Penny to feel comfortable in our ministry here in Spain....but over time we have seen her open up and also develop her capacity as a leader.  While she has served faithfully in this role, the large part of her ministry experience has been working as a teacher in Christian schools in Russia, Moldova and Madrid, Spain. Her dream is now to start a new Christian school in Valencia. It is in this context that teachers can teach students a Christian worldview as well as present the gospel wit...

After obtaining the rights to print EL ARTE DE SER PADRES in Spain last May, we finally had our first batch of manuals available to promote for parents and churches in Spain.  Several small groups have started up in and around Madrid. We also launched a pilot group on Friday evenings in our church in Terrassa (near Barcelona) at the beginning of May.  The 8-lesson study covers topics such as helping our children to develop relationships, identifying and nurturing their identity, forming character, applying discipline, preparing them for the mission God has for them and realizing the power of family. It's been a great chance for us to get to know a few of the families in our church better. The study has also given us all a lot to think about in our role as parents and grandparents. Please pray for those pictured here: Dámaris, Oscar, Miquel, Fina, Ruben, Iolanda, as well as Ruben, Sara and me (not pictured) that God would continue to give us wisdom, perseverance, patience and l...

In March 2021, Pep y Silvia participated online along with 25 other couples in the S.O.M. (Seminario de Orientación al Matrimonio), our pre-marriage weekend conference offered to engaged couples and recently married couples throughout Spain. In April of 2022, although they had a previously scheduled commitment, they participated through video by sharing the benefits they received through their experience with the S.O.M. Because of their incredible communication abilities as well as their maturity and love for the Lord, we challenged them to consider giving one of the talks at the most recent S.O.M. What a great decision that was. There were 12 couples this year participating on-site in Barcelona AND simultaneously online. Pep and Silvia were amazing, not only in their talk about Marriage and Society in the 21st Century, but also in their servant hearts, connecting with couples and serving until the very end of the conference and then getting into their car to make the 3-hour drive back...

This spring has brought numerous opportunities to interact with our new staff. On this occasion, Donna Cannella (pictured front row, 2nd from right) and I invited 5 new staff, 2 interns and their trainers from a variety of Agape ministries to join us near Barcelona to cast vision for them about the value and purpose of ministry training. In our organization, Ágape prioritizes faith, growth and lasting fruit. The " Capacitación de nuevos coordinadores " (CNC) (or "New Staff Training" (NST)) exists to create a space to develop life change and ministry effectiveness. Our aim is to equip our staff not only in skills (hands), but also with knowledge (head) and attitude (heart).  At the CNC Orientation, we begin this 2-year training process by tackling together the first 3 of 39 topics. Another important component to the training includes an intentional relationship between the trainer (the director or some other senior staff) and trainee (new staff member). During the CN...

pictured above: front row - Donna, Jill, Lucía, Liz back row - Andrés, Dani, Jemima, Mateo, Laura, Israel, María, Penny 12 of us descended on Barcelona, gathering in a rented Air B-n-B apartment. It almost felt a little bit like the 12 disciples in the Upper Room. Many had come from very busy ministry schedules. Some flew in from other countries. Others were flying out to other countries after we finished.  These staff represent a variety of ministries:  GAiN , Athletes in Action , Operations and Human Resources , Family Life This group of new staff were wrapping up their two-year training period as New Staff with Ágape. Just as in the orientation, we looked together at 3 more of the 39 topics. We took time to be with the Lord. We reflected on what it means to be a servant leader, the role of coaching others and how to put to evangelize with our actions. Pictured below: María, Lucía and Laura spend time with the Lord before our first session. Pictured below: Andrés and Liz tak...

Finish packing. Drop Aaron off at school. Drive the 26 miles to pick up my teammate, Donna.  Load the car with the groceries. Drive 22 more miles to the retreat house reserved for our 5 most recent recruits who will be joining our staff in 2023. Sometimes, I can get so caught up in the details that I forget that what we do is making an impact in the lives of people in Spain because what we do is share the Good News of Jesus with others. In January, these 5 women were invited to join us outside of Barcelona for the most recent New Staff Orientation. These 2 days are reserved to get to know these new staff better, to allow them time to get to know each other, to orient them to the culture and mission of Agape and to address their concerns as they begin. If we do this part well, they are more likely, not only to have a positive, fruitful experience, but also to stay longer. (left and counterclockwise) Jill at the bottom, Donna, Andrea, Nathy, Zuleika, Becca, Laura, Begoña  The mi...

In May, the Global Family Life office granted us the rights to print The Art of Parenting study. There were several edits that needed to be made to adapt the Latin American Spanish to Spain Spanish. Due to supply chain issues, there were challenges in getting right material to print. Then the month-long Spanish vacation time hit in August.  FINALLY, near the end of September we got our first batch of these books, in Spanish called El Arte de ser padres .  I am so hopeful for how God might use this study in the lives of moms and dads here in Spain. Please pray for the first study that will start at our church in Terrassa in early 2023. Also pray that the Lord would open many doors for us to promote this study to churches and communities throughout Spain.