IMB Europe partnership: Open doors and open hearts in Madrid

Editor’s Note: The BCNE has entered into a partnership with the European affinity of the International Mission Board. If your church is interested in participating in the partnership, contact Kimber Huff for more information.

The Lord never ceases to amaze us. This past year in Madrid, Spain, started out as a series of “closed doors” for us. The spiritual climate in Madrid has always been a challenge. Only one in two hundred Spaniards is born-again, and it sometimes feels as though people are numb to the Gospel. This year was different, though. Although we intentionally labored in the missionary task through evangelism, discipleship, leadership training and healthy church formation, we were met with quarantines, lockdowns, and restrictions due to the pandemic. 

But God was at work. Doors slowly began to open. Restrictions from the pandemic began to ease up, and gradually we were able to gather in groups of four to six people. We used small group activities such as English conversation and scrapbooking classes as a way to meet people after having been locked in our homes for four months. In July of 2020 we launched a church plant with a rented storefront and began to use it almost daily. A church in the Spanish Baptist Convention became the “mother church” for this new work, and we officially added a young Spanish couple, Jesús and Keyla, to our church planting team. 

We soon were working with a professor, a lawyer, a librarian, a soldier, a dentist, and a variety of neighbors and university students. We realized that God was not only opening the doors for us to get together, but he had been opening the doors of people’s hearts. The distractions and extra trappings of life were no longer there. Instead, people were seeking answers to the important questions of who they were, why they were here, and where they were going. One of our first visitors was a lady named Myriam. She attended my wife’s English and scrapbooking classes and started out by saying, “I want you to know upfront that I’m an atheist.” She turned out to be the first of three ladies my wife led to Christ and began to disciple. It wasn’t long before these friendships transitioned from activities to Bible studies.

“We realized that God was not only opening the doors for us to get together, but he had been opening the doors of people’s hearts.”

Fast forward to July of 2021. We just celebrated out first anniversary of “El Vínculo,” a church plant born during the pandemic. We also ordained our church planting partner, Jesús, who will be leading the new church plant into the future. And we just celebrated our first baptismal service with, of course, our ex-atheist, Myriam!

We are extremely grateful for the churches in the States who have always helped us by praying, giving, sending, and going. Your faithfulness in praying, sending, and giving enabled us to faithfully continue the work during the pandemic. 

And now, we look forward to them adding “going” back to the list, as teams can once again return to help us with events such as VBS, English lessons, sports camps, and other ways to build bridges to the lost. “El Vínculo” is only one of several new church plants we have started across the city, so the opportunities are endless. It is exciting to see how God uses our partnerships to reach people and transform lives. These four areas of praying, giving, sending, and going, consistently carried out, will make all the difference here in Madrid. 

Once again, God never ceases to amaze us. He not only does so with so many open doors for ministry, but even more so with the many open hearts that he has prepared to receive the Gospel.

Steve Marlin serves as the International Mission Board team leader in Madrid.