Public Gathering in Catalan

In recent weeks, we’ve witnessed encouraging developments in our work in Girona. Nearly 6 months ago, we initiated the formation of a small core group at our place. At the outset, we had 4 to 6 adults and 3-4 children. Over the summer, another couple joined us, and just a few weeks ago, yet another family began participating in our Sunday morning core group gatherings.

While we had been contemplating ideas for hosting monthly public gatherings to practice church hospitality as a group and to better understand what a Catalan church might look like in our specific context, we hadn't settled on a date.

However, last week, due to the presence of some visitors from abroad (the US and the Netherlands), as well as other Catalan friends of our ministry, we decided to rent a conference space and hold our very first public worship service in Catalan. We also extended invitations to more “Gironins” who don’t currently attend our core group but had expressed interest. The majority of them attended, and this included other missionaries who are keen on understanding Catalan culture and serving the Catalan community.

We were delighted to see more than 30 people in attendance, including Catalans who were hearing the Gospel for the first time and Christians who were hearing it for the first time in Catalan.

We are incredibly grateful for this opportunity. Currently, we're in prayer and discussions to determine how often we can hold these services while also giving our core group a chance to grow and invite their friends.

In the afternoon, we hosted an international service, which mirrored the morning service in Catalan but was conducted in English. This was done to accommodate our visiting friends from abroad and other internationals in our community. It was a testament to God’s grace to see so many people in attendance, including some non-Christian friends who came to show their support or were genuinely interested. We continue to pray for the impact of last Sunday, both in the preaching and in the demonstration of Christian fellowship and love.

We’re also grateful for the Christian families and churches around the world who have been praying for our ministry and these initial services in Catalan.

We invite you to join us in giving thanks to God for this beautiful opportunity, for all those who attended, for those who assisted with logistics, and those who brought others along. Please, also, join us in prayer, asking that the Word sown last Sunday may take root in the hearts of all who heard it. Pray for our core group’s clarity of vision and for our daily faithfulness to our calling.