In July, a team from Waverly Church of the Nazarene from Tennessee traveled to Spain to partner with several Nazarene churches on a missions trip. The team was joined by one participant from Milford Church of the Nazarene in Delaware, making a missions team of thirty-one people for a ten-day trip.
They were divided into three teams: twelve served at Arrabal church in Zaragoza, ten at the Madrid church, and nine at the Fuenlabrada church.
Each church hosted the team in its own unique way. All three churches had ongoing construction projects to improve their worship spaces. One hosted a Vacation Bible School, while the others engaged in community outreach programs. Team members attended local churches for meals, prayer nights, Sunday worship services, and youth group gatherings. They also had the opportunity to spend time learning about Spanish culture and building relationships with Nazarenes from around the world.
“When teams visit, our church sees people who care about them, pray for them, and are ready to partner with them in ministry simply because we are all part of the same Nazarene family,” said Chad Dickerson, a missionary on the West Mediterranean Field.
Pastor Giovani Echeveria of the Madrid church said that the team gave them a great lesson in humble service.
“A great lesson that they left us with is that humility doesn’t have a connection to a stage of life; instead, it has everything to do with the spiritual maturity of each person,” Echeveria said. “Our experience with them was one of humility and service that we didn’t expect to have with a team that has so much experience. We could see the love of God reflected in the faces of those who came to give their best, without worrying about the weather or the [challenges they would encounter]. May God bless them and their families and their ministry.”
From Zaragoza to Madrid to Fuenlabrada, the trip strengthened partnerships, supported local ministries, and encouraged the churches in Spain in their mission to be hands and feet for Jesus and partner with believers from other cultures.
–Church of the Nazarene Eurasia Region