Dear Friends,

One always wonders whether to send negative thoughts out in Emails like these.  I mean, these are supposed to be reports from the field about the victories Jesus Christ is giving us in response to your support and prayers, right?  Our last report talked openly about some of our discouragement. 

But we definitely sensed your prayers as a result, and have been able to see some progress on several fronts.  We've been able to do some initial evangelistic Bible studies with a couple of neighbors, Luis, and with Nacho, Amelia and their son Daniel.  They didn't jump into the Lord's arms, but the Word of God is in their hearts.

Last week I did a seminar: "How to do Evangelistic Bible Studies for People who don't Believe the Bible".  It was for missionaries that aren't full time church planters, and we were very pleased with the response.  We're praying God will use His Word in the lives of our friends that don't yet know Him.

Meantime we've been planning a conference for next week which could have important repercussions with regard to how we do church planting in Spain in the future.  It implies significant change, and change is never easy.  So please pray for a Christ-like spirit and for unity for all those involved.  Also pray that the logistics will all come together: I'm responsible for that part, and there are 80 people to be concerned about.

Jesus is planting His church.  Not that I ever doubted it!

Thanks for your prayers,

Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian

Dear Friends,

In some ways these have been discouraging days, at least for me (Mark).   One reason is feeling rejected by some neighbors I had considered friends over the Christmas season.  They are probably rejecting Christ, but it's difficult to not take it personally.  Another reason is simply that church planting goes very slowly in Spain, and I like to go fast!  We've just posted an article on our web page that describes the process pretty well.  You can read it by clicking on this link:  http://johnsonjournal.com/id68.html 

This is not new, we went through something very similar in Venezuela.  Establishing a church is the most rewarding thing a person can be a part of, there is nothing else I'd rather do.  But to get to the fun part we have to go through these initial stages of just slogging it out, at least when in a place where the ground is hard as it is here.  I just long to get to the point where we see people coming to Jesus, when we have evangelistic and discipleship Bible studies going.

So we don't give up.  We have lots to be thankful for: good ministry partners here in Spain, loving family,  the prayers and support of people like you back home.  And the news is really not bleak.  Carlos Ramos, a Spanish pastor friend, asked me to accompany him last week to look at potential sites for his church to start a daughter church.  He's encouraged by that prospect, and so am I.   Kay has great relationships with a couple of neighbors and we spend time with their families almost every week.  We're going to do a seminar on leading evangelistic Bible studies for our team and some other missionaries that have expressed interest.

TEAM Spain is in the process of redefining our direction, specifically along the lines of TEAM International's vision, to establish churches where the most people have the greatest need.  It's been exhilarating to be part of that and it's been fun to apply some of the things learned in Venezuela to the ministry here.  I'm responsible for a mini conference next month for 80 people so have been finding a site and trying to firm up details.  I'm busy and that keeps me happy.  Which leads me to the obvious, the discouragement does not come form the Lord, it is an attack from the enemy.

We appreciate your prayers. 

Thankful for you,

Mark, Kay,

Greg and Ian