From the October-December 2009 Issue
Raising My Ebenezer
Diego and Maria Guirao
RAISING OUR EBENEZER
“Thus far has the Lord helped us” (1 Sam. 7:12). We give many thanks to God for His help day by day, year after year. After a difficult internal period, we can now say that, by the grace of God, the work in Mataró is well consolidated, with a new Council of Elders. Having been in existence for 35 years (from May 1974) the church is made up today of faithful families from its beginnings, with their children and grandchildren and also those whom the Lord has added over the years – approximately 55 people. For quite a while on Sunday afternoons a South African congregation has been using our church building and not long ago we decided to unite the two churches. They have around 15 people.
Pineda del Mar
At our mission point in the village of Pineda del Mar we hold services regularly on Sunday afternoons with about 30 people. The brothers and sisters in the church in Pineda also take part in the activities organized by the church in Mataró. We give thanks to the Lord for every brother and sister that the Lord allows us to serve and help (Acts 20:28). Many are immigrants and their situation is difficult, requiring more time and often not only pastoral but financial help as well. Recently the church has started to provide food for the families in need.
Lately we have shared in the tragedy of a family in the church: Karin, the husband, is of Syrian origin from Damascus and Irina is Russian. Sadly, she committed suicide. Their only son, Andrey (22), has had to be treated in a psychiatric hospital because of his suicidal tendency and I have visited him there. He is allowed to go out for a time on Sundays and he asked permission to return a bit later, so that he can go to the church service. We give thanks to the Lord for this and are asking also for His help, grace and wisdom. Please pray for this situation. In Pineda we have a good relationship with the local authorities. We were able to give our testimony during the so-called Fair of Entities, having there a free table and music. We pray that the seed that has been sown may bring many fruits of salvation. They also gave us a room for services organized in Dutch from June to September and we are hoping that we will be given time on the local radio station. We are very grateful because the Lord has provided new facilities, cheaper and better, for the church in Pineda del Mar.
Mataró
In Mataró we have Sunday services and Sunday school for children, as well as weekly meetings for prayer and Bible study. The young people have a fortnightly meeting with other young people from the churches in the area. Two conferences are arranged each year for married couples, including dinner, and men’s meetings are also held. Every month after the Lord’s Supper we have a fellowship lunch in the church to encourage a richer church life and brotherly communion, which we consider very important in this secular society that is imposed by the government, culture and modern philosophies.
As a church we have a good relationship and some common activities with six other churches of different denominations in our County Maresme. We are also part of IRE, the Reformed Presbyterian Churches of Spain.
We are very grateful to the Lord for the work of EMF and pray for it regularly, as well as for the universal Church of Christ. In closing we would like to ask our brothers and sisters to pray for the work in Mataró, Pineda del Mar and Spain as a whole. So, we continue to work, trusting and believing in the Word and the purposes of the Sovereign Creator of the heavens and earth (Psalm 37; Acts 17:16-34).