Coleys News from Spain December 2024

Greetings and a quick catch up from Andalucia, Spain

We expect that you are prepared and full of peace ready for the Christmas season. We have been trying to get organized however we are behind schedule, or rather we would be if we had a proper schedule!

We make our plans, and the Lord directs our footsteps, we all know that scripture and when He changes things we have to adjust and it´s not a problem, but so close to the Christmas time activity it feels a bit …. something! I´m not sure what the word is but I´ll come back to this in a minute.

The summer this year was so very hot, hotter than normal. We even registered 54C at our project, but high 30’s and mid 40’s was the temperature we had for much of the summer, and we had been in red alert for drought for about a year, then the rains came and there was so much so quickly that floods and flash floods came. The destruction was immense and sadly too many people lost their lives, mostly north of us in Alicante. The damage here was mainly to property and some folks are still sorting it out.

Proverbs 16:9 In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.

A new leadership for Elim Spain

In November we had our Elim Spain National Conference held in Lloret de Mar in Catalunia. Mark Pugh was our main speaker, and Paul Hudson was able to join us too.

We ordained 2 new ministers and Howard and I had the pleasure of presenting the new Elim Spain National Leadership Team as we have fulfilled our tenure on that team. We have been privileged to serve nationally and are so pleased to be able to present the new team.

Howard and I are delighted with this change and are confident in their faithful service to the Lord and His people. We will, of Course, continue to pastor the church in Benalmadena.

THE HOUSE OF JUDAH
(The House of Praise)

We give God our thanks and praise because we have only had a small amount of damage at our project, the House of Judah. The high winds caused part of the metal structure of the awning in front of the house to pull out of the wall taking a small bit of the wall with it. Thankfully there hasn´t been too much damage.

The house part of the project has come along well, and we have enjoyed seeing it being used by people here and visitors from abroad.

In February Neville and Kay Walker spent some time with us and in March Mark Greenwood and Tim Cobham were here and we enjoyed some time together having BBQ´s there, exploring and crossing the river. In October we enjoyed some time there with John, Tracey and Laura Murfin from Scotland, I really enjoyed their reaction as they could see how the project has moved forward, this time we didn´t have John up a ladder helping install the roof and the track into the land is so much better than before. We have had more folks there this year and it´s been so good to see them enjoying the Lord´s provision.

Howard & Bruno, our Spanish son in law have been working very hard there and we have had a small team of guys with us sometimes which has been a great blessing as we have started to develop the outdoors.

With our daughter Lucy and myself, Howard and Bruno constructed a pagoda which has provided some much needed shade and now the guys are working on building steps to link the two terraces by the house. Lucy has even managed to hack a way through the overgrowth to clear a footpath from the house to the stream and just this week Bruno has started to develop the children´s play area

Lord to prepare us for any changes He may want to make

Last Tuesday at our church prayer meeting our prayers included asking the Lord to prepare us for any changes He may want to make, that as a group we would be able to be open and receptive to change as He grows the work here, including maybe having Spanish language lessons for those who struggle with Spanish. Then two days later, on Thursday we had a meeting with Pastor Marco who leads the Spanish Evangelical Pentecostal Church near us in our town. We have worked together closely for more than 20 years and have been privileged to help train and support the pastors, elders and some of the congregation there and Pastor Marco told us that the council have sent a notice to tell him that they can no longer use their building for a Sunday meeting because one lady keeps complaining of the noise of their clapping and singing and as Pastor says you can´t prevent people from praising and all the other people around are not complaining, it´s only 30-40 minutes a week!! However, one woman has managed to shut them down. They are between 100-150 people on a Sunday.

The result of this is that we have invited them to have their meeting following ours on a Sunday morning which means that we have had to adjust our meeting time a little, and we are adjusting our rooms to fit them. We shall now start our Sunday Service at 10.30 and the Spanish meeting will start at 13.00. What a pleasure it is to know that the Lord had the solution for them. Of course, this means that our folks have to adjust too and so do our December plans a little. We trust that there will be no serious issues.

OUR CHURCH PLANT IN ALMUÑÉCAR

Approximately a 90-minute drive away in the province of Granada.

Pastora Patricia is pleased to be able to report that they are still experiencing growth which is very encouraging and is talking about finding a new meeting place because they are almost filling the building. They are almost able to financially support themselves but more importantly they are experiencing the Lord´s presence in their meetings.

ywam Youth With A Mission (YWAM) use our building in Almuñécar some weekdays which is a great blessing that it can be used to train young people who will go out into the world with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We appreciate your support; you are very important to the work the Lord is doing here. It is a great reassurance to know that you are there with us and you have been so faithful to us and the Lord´s calling to take the gospel to the land of Spain where there is a level of religiousness and a lack of personal encounter with Jesus. The younger generation, mid 40´s and younger have less faith in God and are disillusioned with church although they do their duty when there are parades etc.

2025
Thank you so much everybody.

Your prayers are precious and those who support the work here financially please know that without it we wouldn´t be able to continue. We would love to completely pay off the mortgage as soon as possible which would ease the monthly outgoings.

Because this area is so transient we have people moving on and new people arriving. Lately our arrivals have all been Spanish speaking folks. A young couple who have been here for the past four weeks are from Argentina and their accent and the words they use are very different and it´s not easy for me to understand them easily yet. I´m sure it will be easier soon; I had a similar difficulty with some people from Chile but that´s much better now.

As we move into a new year our expectations are high. We are believing for a fresh outpouring of the Lord as He uses His church in this town to reach those who don´t know Him yet.

PRAYER POINTS

For wisdom and patience going forward into 2025
For sensitivity to hear the voice of the Lord and His directing
For the ability to understand different Spanish accents
For the new situation within the church building, that both congregations will adjust easily and quickly
For the Lord to use us to grow His Kingdom in this place and that He receives ALL the glory
For an increase in financial support and the paying off the mortgage. (65,000€)
For continued growth in both Benalmadena and Almuñécar and suitable buildings
For the resources as we go forward