Editor’s note: Verbo Spain began in 2002 when ordained evangelist Edgar Monterroso and his family moved to Madrid with the double purpose of working with the Guatemalan diplomatic mission and establishing the first Verbo congregation in Europe. The idea was to form a beachhead in Spain, which is a crossroads for both Europeans and North Africans, as well as a continuing socio-political force in Latin America.
Today the congregation is a blend of people of different ages and nationalities, especially immigrants from South America and a solid number of recently converted Spaniards. In a nation in which less than a half of one percent of the population is a born again Christian, Verbo’s growth to 80 personas in a short time is extremely encouraging, reflecting Edgar’s and his wife, Rosita’s, evangelistic anointing and bilingual and multicultural abilities.
By Edgar Monterroso
One Saturday earlier this year a middle-aged man—whiskey glass in hand--walked into the Madrid, Spain, Verbo church curious to know what was going on. A couple from our youth group kindly explained who we were and that we were having a youth meeting and offered to pray for him.
A few of the other young people thought it would be better, given the man’s tipsy condition, to share the Gospel with him later on when he wasn’t drinking. But for God, anytime is the right time. The man was so touched by the prayer and attention that he invited the young people to his apartment to continue praying.
That’s how taxi driver Manuel Martinez started his walk with Jesus. The next morning he attended our Sunday worship meeting. We learned that he was profoundly wounded by the blows the world given him as a consequence of his sinful ways. Manuel found hope and love that morning and has become one of our most faithful members. {mosimage}
He’s on the Team Now
He’s an enthusiastic collaborator with a great desire to learn, who recently told the congregation, “You all knew me as the neighbor on the third floor, but from now on I want all you to know me as your brother in the faith.”
Today Manuel is strongly and positively impacting those who knew him before because of his new godly lifestyle. They see the strong contrast between his new lifestyle and his old reputation as his family’s black sheep.
We thank God for the extraordinary work he is doing in Manuel’s and many other Spaniards’ hearts as they draw into a personal knowledge of, and relationship with, a living and present Jesus.