I.  The Lord’s Leading

The CEC in Barcelona has been established for more than three and half years. Praise the Lord, that even though the church is still in an unsettled situation, the number of believers saved by the Lord is increasing.

There were a lot of difficulties for a new graduate like me to shepherd a new church. The greatest challenge was the language barrier in a foreign country. In the beginning, I didn’t want to waste my time to learn Spanish. Working alone, I was so busy that I did not have extra energy to learn another language.   But I could see the Lord’s guidance in leading me to learn Spanish on a few occasions:

1.         In the beginning, when there was a language barrier, I would ask for help from the church members who have been in Spain for quite some time. But I found out later that most of them could not give much help. So I found no one to help me when there was problem.

2.         Due to the language barrier, a lot of inconveniences were made, including my residency in Spain.

3.         Not only could the church members not help me, but, in turn, sometimes, they needed help from me.

I felt so helpless being in a foreign country. So I determined not to ask for help anymore. But, physically, I was so limited.  I really did not want to spend that much energy and money. So I put this in my prayer and I was willing to submit to the Lord’s guidance.

II. The Grace of the Lord

After moving, the Lord led me to an apartment, shared with four other people. I was not used to this environment at first. Later on, I understood the goodness of the Lord’s will because the best language school was in Barcelona. It was very difficult to be enrolled in this school. Not only was there a rotary, one had to pass the entrance exam. Most of the students had spent some time in other schools. At my age the most important thing was ministry work. It was really not possible for me to spend too much time in studying.

Before I went to seminary, I had a limited church background and no pastoring experience. The two years of studying was so inadequate that I needed more spiritual knowledge before I could feed the sheep.

The church did not have any co-workers and most of our church members were of the working class, so I had to handle the church bills, bulletins, visitation, caring, giving out Gospel tracks, and other stuff. These were not my preferences, but I knew that the Lord was teaching me.

Thank the Lord! I could not imagine that, not only did I pass with flying marks, but I was promoted to three levels higher. This was truly a testimonial of what the Lord is able to do. In Zechariah 4:6, “This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” I believe that the seed of the Gospel is sowed among a lot of students.

I realize now that God allowed for me to study Spanish, while and at the same time, share the Gospel by using the language in ministry. Before, I expected help from others, but on the contrary, God wanted me to be a people’s servant. His thoughts are higher than ours and the Lord’s wonderful arrangement and guidance was found when I needed to use my Spanish to apply for residency in Spain. Thank the Lord for it is He who walks with me through the difficult path in ministry.

Other than attending classes, I had to prepare sermons every week. Like a housewife worried about every meal, I had to worry about the topics for the spiritual meal every week for the same congregation. Sometimes there were non-believers and I had to be careful about their spiritual appetite, whether it’d be a revival or evangelistic message. Sometimes I was clueless in what to say.  I just had to hand this to the Lord and the Lord told me in Mathew 6:34, “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”  So every weekend I knelt before the Lord, and prayed for His Word. I’m thankful to the Lord that by His Grace, He gave me His Word continuously, otherwise, I would be speechless.

Now, we have three Bible study classes every week and it was such a burden for one to handle. But I truly believed that the Lord provides strength and that there’s nothing that He cannot do.

Most of the church members are workers and new believers, but they started to understand how to take care of the needs of the Lord’s home. Early this year, our church needed a piano, so I prayed to God hoping that the church members would donate this before the year’s end. Praise the Lord, He answered my prayer. Though they were not well off, but there were a few brothers and sisters who loved God and were willing to donate.

When I think back about the path of pastoring, full of hardship with some frustration and disappointment, God’s grace is still sufficient. Even though I’m a lone ranger fighting a lonely battle, I know that God’s hands are always there to lead me and walk with me in every step.  I always remember the promise that He gave me when I came to Barcelona, in Psalm 10:14, “the poor committeth himself unto thee; thou art the helper of the fatherless.”

During the 40th anniversary, I like to express my gratefulness to all the pastors and co-workers who cared and taught me how to live by faith! In the short two years, time has built a deep foundation for my ministry so that I can courageously face the difficult path of ministry.