John and Lorraine Young

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Prayer Letter/Ministry Update

June 2011

Dear Friends and Prayer Partners,

A heartfelt "Hola!" from all of us here in Spain, the home of reigning soccer world champions, and the number one tennis player in the world, and the two-time Formula-1 auto racing world champion, and the 3-time winner of Tour d'France. Plus all the outstanding basketball players currently playing in NBA, Wow! Spain is indeed living at the zenith of its sporting endeavors. But unfortunately, we can't say the same about its economy. The latest hubbub after the May 22nd local election is the debate over "hidden debt" at the local level in the form of unpaid bills or delayed payments, which if it is true and brought to light could unravel the country's entire credit-worthiness. As much as the government has put in measures to fight run-away deficits, the European Central Bank continues to urge more.
The economic crisis and huge unemployment literally has driven hords of immigrants away. Immigration policies have become more stringent and ever more capricious, making it very difficult to figure out the procedure to follow, causing many to languish in the process of waiting for approval, with ever greater cost. We suppose that all this is the cost of wanting to live in a country in Western Europe. And the government also knows it, so it is making these folks pay dearly for it (in the form of increased income tax and contribution into the social security system over longer period of time).

Our annual spring outing over the Easter week (on Maundy Thursday) is always an important event welcomed by everyone in the church. These folks work so hard through the year that spending a day away from their shops is not to be missed no matter what. So even as the weather would not cooperate this year, threatening with overcast sky and intermitens shower, they refused to budge and still made their way up to a reservoir in the mountains. The weather managed to squeeze in a few rays of sunshine while we were there. The moment we descended from the mountain, the downpour soon drenched the entire area, escorting us all the way back to Madrid. We are thankful that we were able to play in the dry. God is indeed gracious!

In the face of hardship, a response we nowadays hear quite often when witnessing on the street is "Where is God when I need Him? Why doesn't He answer when I cry out to Him in my desperation?" You know, this is not only a common refrain among the practical Chinese, but also among native Spaniards most of whom have been so disillusioned by their prior experience in Catholicism. For Chinese, most of them think religion is a matter of subjective thinking ("if you believe, then it works for you; if you don't, then it doesn't" , so when God doesn't answer their prayer (or in any sort of objective way demonstrating His power), they find it hard to believe.
This along with many other questions have prompted us to begin writing our own gospel tracts tailoring to the people here. It is not so much reinventing the wheel, but rather fine tuning the message to suit the people and the conditions here.

School is out!
Summer time is challenging for us as parents. While ministry remains the same, we often have to remind ourselves not to neglect the kids. In Spain, we haven't found too many organized summer activities for the kids to send them to. Then again, during August, everything shuts down, and each family is on its own.

Please continue remain steadfast in supporting the Great Commission Fund. Our ministry depends on your faithfulness to the Alliance Great Commission Fund through your local giving. We thank you and your church for your generosities. But please keep supporting it during this most difficult times financially-speaking. The Lord is doing remarkable things here in turning the old thinking on its head, especially among the young people. We're looking forward to the day when this country with its myriad of immigrants once again comes into Lord's column on the score board.

If you want to contribute directly, you can do so by 1) mailing your contribution to: The Christian and Missionary Alliance, PO Box 35000, Colorado Springs, CO 80935, or 2) going to the C&MA website (www.cmalliance.org) and at the homepage, click on “make a donation now” and mark the gift for Great Commission Fund.

You can also designate your giving to the "Work special" or "Vehicle special" of John and Lorraine Young. We are raising support to purchase a "Good News" van for the church.
Thanks!

For the glory of Jesus in Spain,
John, Lorraine, Sarah & Abby

Prayer Requests/Answers to Prayer

Again, your prayer is greatly appreciated:
- That there would be dedicated worker(s) to grow the youth ministry.
- That a church leader family would soon resolve the business venture with their partners and return to Madrid.
- For the three brothers who have preaching responsibility while we are on vacation between mid-June to mid-July.
- For our sight to stay on Christ to do the important work of spiritual formation among potential church leaders.
- For Sarah and Abby to have a healthy, safe, fun-filled, and fruitful summer vacation.

Spain

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