It's All More Than Worth It: Testimony


God is blessing us and we have so much for which we can be thankful and grateful. Everybody has some kind of hardship and difficulty in this life, but Paul said it so well when he said that ours, as Believers, are really not even worthy to be mentioned when they are compared to the glory that is yet to be revealed!

As is expected of missionaries and as did the Apostle Paul, Gina and I have totally died to our own culture and people to become of another in order to win them for Christ. We dearly love the people of Spain and our hearts and souls are committed to them. Paul said however, I become all things to all men in order to win some” (1 Corinthians 9:22). So, even though God has given us great favour with many, it’s a given that we are not going to please everyone.

Over the years we have been through everything from horribly frightening incidents of persecution to laughable occurrences of opposition. These things do not move or discourage us… actually many times they rather tend to encourage us because at least we know that God is doing something that the enemy wants to resist. In my heart, all of these events ultimately glorify God. (Notwithstanding all of the natural difficulties that the mission field or ministry in general can or has presented to us, one of our most difficult is being far from our grandchildren and children and not being able to see them whenever we like.)

One Sunday morning I arrived at the church to find a pile of broken bricks, chunks of concrete and stones piled up under the large window in the front of our sanctuary. Some people had gathered in the night and took their time to go to a construction site down the street and stone the church! The window is cracked but did not cave in! This was no, “throw the stone and run”, effort for there are at least 12 points of impact on the glass.

The thing that fascinates me is that you can see where the chunks of concrete and the rocks pulverized and broke apart (like they exploded) when they hit the plate glass window! This is not wire reinforced glass or anything special. The aluminium frame around the window was hit and dented, yet the glass did not break!It’s just the hand of God that kept the glass from caving in and come crashing down. The building’s owner said that he believed that God kept us from suffering a great loss, for we didn’t yet have insurance that would cover this.

These people took a concerted effort to do what they did and had to make a great deal of noise in the process. That Sunday morning I led the congregation in praise and thanksgiving because this opposition is just a manifestation of God’s work in our midst and because the glass did not cave in during the attack. (We have not yet been able to replace the glass but we did place a metal screen in front of the window!)

A few days afterwards we were on the street to do some open air evangelism with a precious group of short term missionaries from Conroe, Texas, when a small crowd began to stone us from a near by hill. Only one person in our group, a young lady (a real trooper), was hit on the leg. But she was undaunted as were all of us, and we proceeded to minister in two open air meetings in a park until about midnight.

Soon afterwards I arrived at the church and found that the Neo-Nazis, a very serious organization here in Europe, had glued a threatening sign on the door of the church telling us to get out. These are probably the ones that did the “rock” concert on the church. Anyway, I took the sign down and have kept it as a trophy in my office. There are a few other “things” happening but I’ve got calluses with this stuff and am only moved to praise.

At the same time, we are seeing great support and favor from various sectors of the community. Everyone greets us warmly and with sincere kindness. We really feel the love and acceptance of the people of Cáceres as we distinguish that God is doing something different here.

There is nothing the world could offer to take the place of the immense joy that we have found in following in our calling to serve Him on the mission field all of these years. The only things that I would change are the mistakes that I have made in judgements, dealings in relationship with people and certain decisions. Yet even these, even when they caused me some temporary setbacks, have been incredible learning tools and have taught me as nothing else could have. I just wish I could have obtained this wealth of knowledge without the knots on my head!

It is all extremely worth it if another precious soul comes to know the love of God that is found only in Jesus Christ. When I see these new Believers loving the Lord and raising their hands in worship and marvelling at the wonders of God that they are seeing for the first time because of their deepening relationship with Him. I am reminded all over again that it is worth it!

I love the Lord with all of my heart and His work in our lives is absolutely irreplaceable. We feel that the fulfilment of our calling is the total zenith of our earthly existence. We want to thank you for your love, prayers and your financial support of our ministry.
Would we obey our calling without your financial support? No doubt about it, we answer with a resounding, YES!! Would it be just as easy or just as fruitful? NO WAY!! You are so very crucial to what God is doing here! For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building” (1 Corinthians 3:9).

"I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance." (Luke 15:7)
Thank you for your love and prayerful support of our ministry!
"... For as the portion of him who goes down to battle, so shall be his share who remains by the baggage. They shall share together." (1 Samuel 30:24)

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 5:50 PM, ,




Fruit From Personal Evangelism

"God in his mercy has given us this work to do, and so we do not become discouraged. We put aside all secret and shameful deeds; we do not act with deceit, nor do we falsify the word of God. In the full light of truth we live in God's sight and try to commend ourselves to everyone's good conscience.
For if the gospel we preach is hidden, it is hidden only from those who are being lost. They do not believe, because their minds have been kept in the dark by the evil god of this world. He keeps them from seeing the light shining on them, the light that comes from the Good News about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. For it is not ourselves that we preach; we preach Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake." (2 Corinthians 4:1-5 GNB)
The above photo is of an open air meeting in one of the many beautiful parks in Cáceres. After scratching on my guitar and singing (or at least trying to sing) at the people for a while I was able to share a message of the love of God.

We don't have many open air meetings; we had one last week and several new people showed Sunday morning. But many times it's difficult to get permission for such events. So we strongly encourage the new Believers in our congregation to share their faith in creative ways during their daily lives and invite others to our meetings. We let them know that that is where the greatest opportunities are presented to us when sin does not hinder our personal testimonies... "Walk is far better than talk".

The theme in our church this year is "Every One Win One". I'm not looking for our disciples to bring in a multitude of people every week, but just to try to solidly win one soul for Christ this year and to consolidate that person firmly in his (or her) faith. We will only frustrate ourselves if we ask for God to bring us a multitude of people that we cannot consolidate and disciple. A few faithful disciples get a lot more done for the kingdom of God that a multitude of mildly interested people.

We praise God, for almost every week we have several first time visitors... highly atypical for your normal church here in Spain. Yet all of this is vain if we cannot personally touch the lives of these precious people. Please pray for us, that we might be able to fully reach these beloved souls and that each one of them might come into a true relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

This photo is of the new Believers that we baptised last year. We have several new candidates for baptism again this year. They will begin their orientation classes soon.
Left to right: Prince, Patricia, Edwin, Isabel, Heidi, Gladys, Gina. (Edwin and Isabel received a job opportunity in Madrid and his family has since moved. They rest are active members of our congregation.)

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 7:05 PM, ,




Information About Where We Are In Spain (1)

God bless you!

Gina and I want you to have a bit of information about exactly where we are in Spain and some information about the beautiful city and region where we live and minister.

The politicians and economists say that this is the poorest region of the nation. This is good for us for Jesus said, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20b). And truly God is moving in the midst of these beautiful people.

So we pray that you will browse these pages so that you can know more about were we are and the people to whom we minister. Knowing this information can also be of aid in your prayers for us. On this page I just give you our flags, a few maps and a photo of part of our principal plaza. On the second page I give you just a bit of historical information and tid bits of interest about Cáceres.
We love you and thank God for you and pray for His riches and most abundant blessings over you lives, families and churches.
H.M.S.,
Prince & Gina Parker
Iglesia Evangelica Nuevo Amanecer
Cáceres, Spain
Flag of Spain
Locations of the region of Extremadura in Spain
(The red dot is Cáceres)
The provinces of Cáceres & Badajoz that comprise the region of Extremadura
Location of Extremadura in Spain
Regional Flag of Extremadura
Coat of Arms of Extremadura
The Principal Plaza in Cáceres

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 7:41 PM, ,




Information About Where We Are Located (2)

Cáceres, Spain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cáceres is the capital of Cáceres Province, in Extremadura, Spain (see map). Its population in 2004 was 88,245 (90.750 in 2006).
There have been settlements near Cáceres since prehistoric times. Evidence of this can be found in the caves of
Maltravieso and El Conejar. The city was founded by the Romans in 25 BC.
The old town or Ciudad Monumental still has its ancient walls; this part of town is also well known for its multitude of
storks' nests. The walls contain a perfect Medieval town setting with no outward signs of modernity for this reason many films have been shot here. The Universidad de Extremadura, and two astronomical observatory
are in Cáceres.
Extremadura
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Official Name
: Comunidad Autónoma de Extremadura

Total Area – 41,634 km² - 8.2% of Spain - Ranked 5th in size
Population - 1 083 879 – Total (2005) 2,5% of Spain… Density Ranked 12th
26,03/km²

Extremadura is an autonomous community of Spain. It includes the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz.

Some important cities are Cáceres, Badajoz, Plasencia and Mérida, the capital of the autonomous community. Extremadura borders Portugal to the west. It is an important area for wildlife, particularly with the major reserve at Monfragüe. Badajoz and Cáceres are, respectively, the largest and second-largest provinces of Spain.
History
Lusitania, an ancient Roman province approximately including current day Portugal (except for the northern area today known as Norte Region), and a central western portion of the current day Spain, covered in those times today's Autonomous Community of Extremadura. Mérida (capital of Extremadura), became the capital of the Roman Lusitania province, and one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire.

Extremadura was the source of many of the most famous Spanish conquerors ("conquistadores") and settlers in America. Hernán Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Pedro de Alvarado, Pedro de Valdivia were all born in Extremadura and many towns and cities in America carry a name from their homeland: Mérida is the name of the administrative capital of Extremadura, and also of important cities in Mexico and Venezuela; Medellín is now a little town in Extremadura, but also the name of the second largest city in Colombia; Albuquerque is the largest city in New Mexico and its name is due to a transcription mistake of Alburquerque, another town in Extremadura. The two Spanish astronauts to date, Miguel López-Alegría and Pedro Duque, also have family connections in Extremadura. King Ferdinand V died in the village of Madrigalejo, Cáceres in 1516.

Extremadura should not be confused with Estremadura, a historical province of Portugal. During the Reconquest, "Extremadura" was the word used to name the land bordering the Christian frontier opposed to Moorish resistance, so for a time Extremadura was the name for the present province of Salamanca. (The present Cáceres was called "Transierra Leonesa", and the present Badajoz was a Moorish kingdom with the same name.)
Administrative Structure of Spain
Autonomous Communities: Andalusia Aragon Asturias Balearic Islands Basque Country Canary Islands Cantabria Castile‑La Mancha Castile‑Leon Catalonia Extremadura Galicia Madrid Murcia Navarre La Rioja Valencia
Territories: Ceuta Islas Chafarinas Melilla Peñón de Alhucemas Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera

posted by Prince and Gina Parker @ 6:53 PM, ,