Spain: All in a years work - 12 Nov 2004
A year and a bit ago, the leaders of 24-7prayer gathered together in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Jonah Bailey writes. My role with 24-7 was stepping up internationally, the church plant that we head up in Sevilla, Spain was starting to heat up and I was still leading 24-7's office in Spain.
The strain of all these roles was really beginning to grate on me. I had so much on my plate, I didn't feel like I was
fulfilling any of my duties properly. In the run up to the Roundtable in Amsterdam, I began praying God would raise up a leader from among our team here in Spain to take a more forward role. I asked the team to pray about this as well and set a deadline for my departure from the team.
Midway through our time in Amsterdam, two members of the Spanish leadership team, Kenny Clewett and Jaz Jacob, approached me and said they felt they heard from God about who should lead the team forward in Spain.
| They both felt like God had said that Jaz should take leadership of the team. I suddenly got really excited. Jaz would be our first female office leader (yayayayayayay!) and she was 18 at the time. It was so crazy and risky, there had to be something of God in it. I told the guys that I would take this decision back to the International Base Team and that I would get back to them soon. |
...55 prayer rooms, up to 7 months of continuous prayer.... |
Churches throughout Spain and across every denomination prayed 24-7 for at least 4 straight months (They started praying non-stop just 3 weeks before the tragic Madrid train bombings in March - Ed.).
If we include the "bootleg" prayer rooms that sprouted up, they may have even prayed for 7 months! To put this in perspective for you, let me give you some contextual information about Christianity in Spain.
When I moved to Spain 10 years ago, over 88% of Spaniards considered themselves "Christians". Being a Christian was almost part of the culture in this country. Out of that 88%, 87.99% were Catholic.
Out of those Catholics, only 28% would ever go to mass outside of their baptism, first communion, wedding and burial. Only 17% would go to mass on anything close to a regular basis. That was then. Things have only
gotten worse!
According to the latest statistics in Operation World, only 66% of the country now consider themselves Christians.
The Evangelical church has grown to make up a whopping .42% (that's less than one half of a percent) of the total Christians in Spain. For those of us not very good at maths, all that means this: Christians who are actively following Jesus in Spain are very few.
The Church (both Catholic and Protestant) is not as big as it would seem and is definitely shrinking at an alarming rate.
In the midst of all this, prayer seems to be sprouting up amongst young people.
55 prayer rooms, up to 7 months of continuous prayer, a leadership team which has expanded to include people from several regions of Spain, a functioning website, new resources... All in a years work for these guys!
As part of the International leadership team, I want to recognise the fantastic job that Jaz and her team have done. It's important to recognise the victories and successes in our midst. If you think of it, pray for Jaz and the rest of the Spanish leadership team.
They have really spent themselves this year promoting 24-7, supporting prayer rooms and developing new resources. They are resting up at the moment and getting prepared for the coming year. Ask God to bless them in every way possible... and that the new year will bring exciting developments across the Kingdom of God in Spain.