Greetings from Alcázar de San Juan!In August I had the privilege of participating in an evangelistic campaign in Alcázar de San Juan, in the heart of La Mancha. A good friend of mine by the name of José Moreno is the pastor there and they dedicate a week every summer to “doubling up” their evangelism efforts. I have been wanting to join him and his church now for a couple of years but until this past summer it hasn’t been possible.
The campaign lasted from the 30th of July to the 5th of August. On a typical day we would visit one of the nearby towns and pass out tracts near the open markets in the hopes that along with the tracts we might engage folks in conversation. In the evenings we would set up a book table in the center of Alcázar in an area which had lots of pedestrian traffic. The table featured different tracts and booklets that were free as well as a good assortment of books and some films which people could take on loan. So every evening a few people would man the table and a few of us would pass out tracts and strike up conversations with those who were willing.
A number of things caused quite an impression on me. The first was how difficult an experience it was for me to pass out my first tract. Because it has been some time since I have passed out tracts like that it was quite the butterfly-in-the-stomach experience. The second thing I observed was how much more Roman Catholicism is entrenched in this part of Spain. Whereas in Catalonia we face mainly atheism and agnosticism, in deep Spain there is still a very strong Catholic mentality and everything else is a cult. I found it quite challenging as I was quite unprepared for the responses we received.
I failed to mention earlier that I went down with Samuel Barceló, one of David’s younger brothers. We both came away with the sense of thankfulness to the Lord for the experience. We were able to talk with many people and it helped me think a lot about our own context here in Catalonia and what things we might start doing in order to more effectively share the Gospel with folks in Vilassar.
I’ll be sharing more about that in future updates...
Thanks again for your prayers and support,
Steve
The campaign lasted from the 30th of July to the 5th of August. On a typical day we would visit one of the nearby towns and pass out tracts near the open markets in the hopes that along with the tracts we might engage folks in conversation. In the evenings we would set up a book table in the center of Alcázar in an area which had lots of pedestrian traffic. The table featured different tracts and booklets that were free as well as a good assortment of books and some films which people could take on loan. So every evening a few people would man the table and a few of us would pass out tracts and strike up conversations with those who were willing.
A number of things caused quite an impression on me. The first was how difficult an experience it was for me to pass out my first tract. Because it has been some time since I have passed out tracts like that it was quite the butterfly-in-the-stomach experience. The second thing I observed was how much more Roman Catholicism is entrenched in this part of Spain. Whereas in Catalonia we face mainly atheism and agnosticism, in deep Spain there is still a very strong Catholic mentality and everything else is a cult. I found it quite challenging as I was quite unprepared for the responses we received.
I failed to mention earlier that I went down with Samuel Barceló, one of David’s younger brothers. We both came away with the sense of thankfulness to the Lord for the experience. We were able to talk with many people and it helped me think a lot about our own context here in Catalonia and what things we might start doing in order to more effectively share the Gospel with folks in Vilassar.
I’ll be sharing more about that in future updates...
Thanks again for your prayers and support,
Steve
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