Our good friend and pastor Gus, his wife and two children are planning on moving to Toral, Spain next year to aid David and his team there at the bible institute. It was really neat seeing the city that they will live in, and the church that they will be a part of. It was really strange to think about how this will be the place that Cael (Gus and Melissa's son) will call home, and will soon forget what it was like to live in the States. He will grow up playing with David's two girls and the kids at the church in Leon... probably at the new church location.
What new church you might ask? Well, (continued from the last post)... David took us to the site where they are planning on building the new church. This new location would allow them to grow as a body, have fellowship groups and have a place to do local outreach.
This is the church building they have had for over 100 years...
As you can see, it's very small and has very little room for church growth or fellowship groups. This is the main room and there is a small room upstairs for the nursery. And this is the new location... wide open and full of possibilities.
There are a lot of new apartment buildings in the area, which in one aspect is amazing because they could be making money on the land, but instead gave it to a church (that was not catholic; the main religion in Spain), and in another aspect it is an awesome opportunity to have local outreach.
The current church has a baptism, but they only use it about twice a year whereas at the new church lot there is a river that they could do baptisms in on a more regular basis.
Manuel was able to finally get the deed to the land after relentlessly attending city meetings to inquire as to when they would be given land to build on rather then to the catholic church... the city finally gave in and gave the church the land free of charge with the stipulation that they had to have something started by 2011. God has been so gracious to this humble church all these years, and is now providing a means for the church to grow.
There are a number of ways that you can help the Gus and his family and the church in Leon:
1. Pray for the church; financially, for building permits, for volunteers/missionaries to start the building project, for local outreach and an impact on the community...
2. Pray for Gus, Melissa, Cael and baby on the way; financially, learning the language and adjustment to the culture...
3. Organize a short term missions trip together from people within your church group to aid in the construction of this church. This church has very little resources and needs anyone who can come and help (especially people who have had experience with construction or operating machinery)...
4. Commit to giving financially to the Pidal family so that they can move out to Spain and make an impact on the ministry there...
5. Commit to giving financially to see the building of this church through...
Thank you, we really appreciate your support!
If you would like to get involved you can contact Gus directly by emailing him at thepidalsinspain@gmail.com
1 comment:
Thanks for the post Julie! We miss you guys.
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