Editor’s note: This is the fifth part of a multi-part story highlighting a family in Spain who has partnered with BILD since 2016. This story will focus on the families of the church in Spain and how their participation in the global church network has grown because of their faith establishment and maturation.
The Monroy family has a unique stewardship as they serve God through His church in Spain. They are committed to God’s plan for this age, progressing the gospel through the growth and establishment of churches. They have labored tirelessly, making the most of every opportunity to engage with their neighbors and community, inviting people into the church that meets in their home, and seeing to the faith establishment of each believer in the church.
As the individuals and families in the church have come to understand their role in God’s plan, they have also come to recognize the role the local church plays in the global work. For many years, Mario has been training a number of church leaders in 10 Latin American countries, helping them develop strategies for planting churches across Latin America. Because of this connection, the needs of the Latin American churches are being shared with the church in Spain, and there is a great desire to help meet those needs.
One of the ways in which this is happening is through the women in the church in Spain. After the church studied the First Principles and Women and the Spontaneous Expansion of the Early Church encyclical, the women began to see they had more to offer than just preparing the meal for church or hosting in their homes. “They started saying, we need to do something to help. We need to be useful and do things we’re good at doing,” Amuy said.
However, it wasn’t until the women completed their Motivated Abilities Pattern (MAP) and saw where their giftedness fit into their roles within the church that these women started making changes and aligning their lives to serve the needs of the church and the churches in Latin America.
Amuy said one woman, after studying her MAP, found she was gifted in marketing so she earned her online degree and started a business in her home. Another woman who was good with children started teaching the basics of English in her home. She started teaching five children and within a few months there were 50, and she rented a small space close to her home. All the women of the church have started small businesses from their home, and a portion of the money these women earn is sent to strengthen the church network in Latin America.
Amuy said that even in Latin America, the wife of a church leader in Venezuela wanted to start a business that would help support their ministry. She had studied graphic design, but in order to start her business, she needed all the supplies including a computer, printer, ink, etc., and she could not afford that. The women in Spain pooled some money together and were able to send it to Venezuela so this woman could start her business.
Last fall, the Latin American leaders Mario is training were invited to come to Spain for a gathering to continue training and develop strategies for church planting and expansion. While some of the leaders were able to pay for their own tickets to fly to Spain, others could not; so the church in Spain collected money to pay for the tickets. The families of the church also prepared their homes to receive the leaders from Latin America, as well as paying for formal invitations required by the Spanish government for visitors to Spain.
Mario said five years ago it would have been impossible for people in the church to spend money on someone else’s invitation letters and plane tickets because people are very materialistic. It is a sign of the growth in the church’s understanding of the larger church network and their participation in God’s plan. The suggestion of hosting the Latin American leaders last November came from the church, and during the event, the families of the church helped with meal preparation, hosting, and transportation to and from the airport.
Not only was the visit from the Latin American leaders significant to Mario because he was finally able to meet face-to-face with some of the leaders he has invested years of training in, but he also saw the beauty in the larger global church family as his church in Spain embraced the leaders who visited.
Mario shared that his favorite city in southern Spain is Seville, and during the leaders’ visit a plan was made to take some of the Latin American leaders to Seville. It wasn’t until the day of the visit to the city that Mario realized all the families of the church were going, including wives and children. “It was this big group of people walking around in Seville, and it was very beautiful,” he said of seeing the families together as one large global church family. When he realized it hadn’t even been planned that everyone would come, but it naturally happened that way, it was a big moment for Mario. “It was very joyful for me,” he said. “The commitment of the church is growing.”
Growth and maturation can be seen in the church in Spain as the women and families have embraced the Teaching and their role in the church and how it serves the global church network. The next story will focus on Mario’s training of church leaders in Latin America and his growing stewardship in BILD’s global work.
Read more stories in this series on the BILD stories website here:
Spain: Understanding the Church as a family
Spain: The home as the church’s mission center
Spain: Cultivating opportunities for church growth, establishment, and expansion
Other related stories:
The Heartbeat of Christian Mission: Segunda Parte
European Civilization Gathering focuses on implementing ‘the way of Christ and His Apostles’