Don Benito, mission accomplished! (And other changes)

During the summer of '95 our campaign was in the southern provincial capital Badajoz. While there, we were visited by OM veterans Hugo and Fátima Vivas (from Venezuela and Brazil, via Logos) who were completing the task of planting a church in Huelva, west of Seville. They were looking for a new challenge and Pedro Arbalat invited them to join the Extremadura team and take a look at the twin towns of Villanueva de la Serena and Don Benito, both at the time with no established church. The combined population of the towns is over 70.000, meaning this is the third largest conurbation in the region, almost equalling Cáceres itself.

After six years of hard work, involving a summer outreach in '99, the task has come to an end for Hugo, Fátima and daughter Priscila. They have handed over leadership to a young pastor from nearby Mérida who is now leading the church forward. It is a great encouragement to pass on groups of believers under local leadership. The Vivas family returned to Brazil this summer and look forward to a more settled life after many years on the move.

As a result of this change, we were left with just one mission point in the province of Badajoz, in the outlying town of Castuera, 45 km from Don Benito. The Molina family, David, Cecilia, Lucas and Nicolas, from Argentina, have been there two years, but have so far seen no fruit. We decided in these circumstances that it would be best to consolidate in the province of Cáceres. They have been invited to take over the group we have in Coria from interim church-planters Bruno and Lydia González (from the Canary islands) who now feel free to move on to complete their training at Madrid’s SEFOVAN Bible school.