The partnership between New England Baptists and the International Mission Board of Europe continues to grow.
This partnership was requested by Vice President John Brady, who believes that the New England Church is best suited to assist in Europe because the Church of New England and the European Baptist Church have similar postmodern missionary backgrounds. It started from.
Since then, BCNE churches have responded with support to European IMB personnel and the indigenous churches they serve. Mission partnerships are currently underway in Ireland, Wales, London, Manchester, England, Scotland, Portugal and Spain, with the first Vision trips to Italy and Sweden planned for 2024.
Related: Check out more articles about ministry in the New England area here.
Below is an interview with Pastor Raul Elizalde who reports on how BCNE Hispanic churches are involved.
BCNE: Pastor Elizalde, you just returned from a trip from New England to Spain with a team of five Hispanic pastors. Who attended and what was the purpose of the trip?
Elizalde: …Our purpose was to meet Spanish pastors and find out how we could help them. We knew they were a blessing to us, and we wanted to know how we could be a blessing to them.
BCNE: Your Vision Trip was organized by IMB missionary Rusty Ford. How is his ministry going?
Elizalde: Rusty is doing a great job. He made everything easy and arranged for each of us to visit different churches. Rusty is a catalyst. He has a good relationship with the Spanish pastors and they respect him.
BCNE: Please tell us about the spiritual situation in Spain.
Elizalde: In general, Spain is similar to New England, where most people do not support evangelicalism, nor do they participate in indigenous Catholic churches. There are no evangelical churches in most places in Spain. The church is almost in survival mode. They have good companionship with each other, but are scattered 1-2 hours apart from each other. Although there are exceptions, Spanish evangelical churches generally have more Latino immigrants than native Spanish residents. The people there are passionate about God’s work and long for the growth of the kingdom.
BCNE: Many churches in New England are small and struggle with limited finances. Is it reasonable for a small church to form a missionary partnership in Spain or other European countries?
Elizalde: The answer is yes. We need to remember the principle that when we give, we also receive. So we should do whatever we can, even if it’s a small thing. For example, I visited a young church that needed the wisdom of an experienced pastor to know how to select an additional pastor. Our church in Worcester currently has four pastors and I was able to share my insight to help them. All churches must find out what they can do to help their partner churches. It might be sharing pastoral wisdom, supporting prayer, or financially supporting a small project, such as helping purchase an inexpensive video monitor.
BCNE: How do you think the church in Spain will benefit its partner churches in New England?
Elizalde: From my own experience, when I visited the churches in Spain and saw their energetic spirit, their example moved and motivated me and continues to inspire me today.
BCNE: Do the pastors who accompanied you plan to have an ongoing partnership with the church in Spain?
Elizalde: Absolutely. That was our goal. I don’t want to be guilty of what I experienced here in New England, where a visiting team comes in, talks about being our mission partner, and then disappears without getting any results from the visit. We pray that the Hispanic church team will remain united and work together to help the church in Spain.
Editor’s Note — This story was written by Sam Taylor and originally published by the Baptist Church of New England.