The Spiritual Battle for Spain
In our May Prayer letter, we shared these sobering statistics and details. I see Spain as a land of contrasts - beautiful, yet broken. My dream is to see its Spiritual influence as beautiful and whole as its culture is rich. Spain is a place many people want to visit, and for good reason. But it is struggling in many ways - on the world's stage, it suffers economically. And in God's realm, Spain is still a very dark place. Our prayer is that God would use us to shine the Light, Jesus Christ, in Spain. These statistics are part of the spiritual battle, but we serve a Mighty God! We believe that although these facts are sobering, God has a plan to use them to draw people to Himself.
Spain edges out France and Italy for first place in Bible Illiteracy. Officially a Catholic nation, Spain today has more people who say they have little or no interest in religion than it has actively committed Catholics. What this means for us is that we can start from the beginning and tell the Story of Hope in a new way. The stories might be familiar and we might have to answer questions and correct old superstitions, but God's plan for redemption as outlined in the Bible will take center stage.
Spain is the 5th country in the world in terms of percentage of atheists in the population. Most of these people are young influencers with whom we'll be neighbors! Although they don't believe in God, this does not mean that Spaniards don't have an interest in spiritual things. Superstition, horoscopes, and new age beliefs are common as well.
According to social statistics, Spaniards speak the worst English in Europe! English is the felt need in Spain. God has opened doors because many people who are not interested in the Bible want to learn English. The lack of English  means that young adults have fewer global opportunities than their peers from around Western Europe. So we offer English camp, English lessons, and English practice. We meet this need out of love for Spaniards, and we praise God that it's so "easy." Then we pray that through the friendships we form, we can share His love for them by sharing the Good News.