Greetings from Andalucía

We pray that all is going well with you, may you be greatly blessed.

As we are quickly moving towards the Christmas celebrations, we rejoice that Christ came in fulfilment of the plan God had before He created anything. It isn´t finished, Christ will come again, come for us. He hasn´t forgotten His promise. Hold on until His coming. Don´t stop, don´t let anything prevent you from running the race you are in. Your prize will be yours. Build your faith in these days and walk in the call of the Lord over your life. You are not alone, He is with you, and He has planted you in His Church, in His Family.

Jesus said, “and surely I will be with you until the very end of the age.”

These words Jesus spoke sustain and nourish us here in the 21 st Century. Personally, these words our Lord said have carried me, Sue, during the high days and the low days. HE is with us within every situation and circumstance, and it is good to know it. When we find ourselves in difficult situations we are not alone and when we are in joyful situations, He is with us. There is no place where Jesus can´t be, He is our Lord and He is Lord of All. It´s good to know.

OUR PLANT IN ALMUÑECAR

We are delighted to say that our church plant in Almuñécar (Elim International Christian Community) under the Pastorship of Pat is beginning to grow, both numerically and in spiritual maturity and we give the glory to God. Please pray for Pat and her husband Antonio both for guidance and Antonios health.

AS I REFLECT UPON 2023

As I reflect upon this last year, I think it has in some ways been one of the most difficult and stressful years. We have been challenged in so many areas of life, challenged in faith, duty, and responsibilities, in ministry and in family. There are so many life issues and pressures that we can´t prepare for and it´s so good that we are not alone in them, Jesus is with us. Hallelujah! He never promised life would be easy, it isn´t but it´s not boring!

As the disciples said, where else can we go, Jesus has the words of life. He is Life.

The adventure of following Jesus is not predicable, and once you start you cannot stop .

We live in such unpredictable times, and we still see a change in the society here. We witness the effects of Brexit as British people are restricted to the amount of time they can be here. There are so many things that we can´t be trained for. Times when we don´t know how to do something, don´t know what to do. All we can do is know that Jesus is with us, and He will lead the way and teach, He will minister through us, He will glorify His name, He will glorify our Abba Father and our Precious Holy Spirit lives in us. Oh, ALL glory and honour belong to our God.

Many years ago, as we stepped out further into the call the Lord had upon us as a family, I believe He told me, “One day you will look back on these days with longing.” I couldn´t imagine at that time, that that would ever happen. I thought it was a bit tough then! was God saying it would get harder? Howard and I had full time jobs, 3 kids in education, we led and had the responsibility for two churches we had planted in two different towns, we had many house groups, meetings, kids’ groups etc. We were always on the go. Yet now I see the pressures have changed and now I see something of what the Lord was saying. We have so much more responsibility, locally, nationally, and now internationally. Those early years were so different.

Even though there are days that seem overwhelming we rejoice as the Lord ministers into people’s lives. They are so precious and only our God can meet some of their needs. Our joy is great when a soul gives themselves to Jesus, we are encouraged to witness spiritual hunger and growth in folks. To see them stepping into areas in Jesus that they had believed was too hard for them.

…afraid to pray aloud with other people …

We have a lady who is very softly spoken who was afraid to pray aloud with other people. We explained that the prayer of agreement is extremely powerful and that if she agreed with a prayer, her amen was powerful, so she came every week to the prayer meetings. After quite a while during covid in our zoom prayer meeting she decided to overcome her fear and made herself pray aloud, she prepared beforehand by writing out a prayer or used a prayer book to pray. Now, she prays freely from her heart and is hosting and leading a house group where she also brings some of the teaching which she is amazed at as she had always said she could never…. Jesus is with her every time she feels ‘I can´t.
We rejoice in her victory.

ELIM LEADERS CONFERENCE 2023

We had the honour of hosting this year’s National Leaders conference where God spoke powerfully and minister to all who attended from both the North and South of Spain. We believe 2024 will be a year of increased unity and growth.

OUR PROJECT IN THE SPANISH COUNTRYSIDE

Our Project in Guaro

We have more or less recovered from the break in which meant the loss of most of the building equipment and tools. The Guardia Civil sent their forensic team to the property, they couldn't uncover any evidence of who had stolen so much. We put a conservative value at about 3,000 euros. We had no insurance. Thankfully we have been able to replace the major tools we need. Thank you, Jesus, for being with us so we could forgive and bless these unknown people.

Over this year we have been able to successfully install the septic tank, so we have a fully functioning bathroom which is so good!!!

The last YWAM group we had this year from Chicago enjoyed our new facility and even better some received the baptism of the Holy Spirit during a time of prayer and ministry after a day’s work there. Following the storms earlier this year that once again caused problems with our track in and out we have been able to install a cement drive in which has made such a difference. Also, we have been able to submit paperwork to establish the ruin as a dwelling. This is a matter of prayer, that the authorities will give us favour and not penalise us if we have stepped out of their regulations. We have tried to do everything within the guidelines, which seem to change with each person of authority.

ELIM EUROPE GLOBAL CONFERENCE

In December we joined other Elim National Leaders to represent Spain at the Elim Global Conference in Palermo, Sicily. It was a great time of fellowship and hearing what God was doing through Europe. Europe has been overlooked as far as mission is concerned for many years, but The Holy Spirit is putting this dry, secular land on the hearts of the churches to see God move powerfully, bringing freedom and salvation through the knowledge of His son. It is an honour to be working with these people and we have the responsibility of arranging the next Elim Europe Global conference here in Spain.

AS WE HEAD TOWARDS A NEW YEAR

As we head towards a New Year 2024, we have a strong sense of expectation. The promises of the Lord, those things we have been standing in faith for, for such a long time are about to be released. What that will look like, the Lord knows. We don´t. However, we are feeling encouraged to continue to prepare for the harvest that is coming. We have been teaching and making plenty of room for our folks to learn and practice the things of the Lord, spiritually and naturally.

PRAYERS FOR A MINIBUS

Whilst we were praying, we believe part of the preparation is to have a 9-seater minibus/van so that we can have pick up points for those who find it difficult to travel. As always in the natural this looks completely impossible, but we all know that with God it´s not.

Be encouraged, Jesus is with you

Whatever you have ALWAYS faced, whatever is before you please know and remember that Jesus is always with YOU, in every situation, every circumstance. He can when you can´t, Jesus will enable you when you think you don´t know what to do or how to do it. He will give you the words to say when you really don´t know what you can say.

When Jesus faced the tortuous sacrificial death that was before Him, He knew what it is like to feel afraid, to want to change the path before Him, yet He was able to say, “Not my will, but Your will be done”. He understands how it is when things seem too big, too hard.
Be encouraged, Jesus is with you ALWAYS.

PRAYER POINTS

• Give thanks for our congregation who are nearly all serving in some capacity within the church.
• Give thanks for the loving concern our members have for one another and those who are outside of us.
• Pray the Guaro paperwork will pass quickly and easily.
• Pray that we can better help those who are homeless and dependent on drugs or alcohol. That the Lord give us wisdom to know what to do.
• Pray for our church plant to grow in Almuñécar and Antonios health (1hr30 drive from us).
• Pray that our relationships with the Spanish Pentecostal Evangelical Churches in our town continues in unity as we encourage them.
• Pray for our Church to grow in numbers and maturity.
• Pray for protection from the evil one´s plan to destroy God´s family here.
• Pray for a 9-seater minibus/van.
• Pray for finances to continue and growth.

THANK YOU

• Give thanks for everyone who has the Lord´s vision for Spain and supports us here in prayer and finance.
• Give thanks that our Lord Jesus is with us ALL ALWAYS.
• Thank you so much for being with us in this mission. Together we are stronger.

May the Lord bless you, give you His peace and strengthen you in His grace.

With love from
Sue and Howard

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