The late Bruno Radi and Gustavo Crocker, respective directors of the South America and Eurasia regions in the Church of the Nazarene, had been working to create a plan bringing Latin American volunteer missionaries to Spain, Italy and Portugal. (Later, the Mexico and Central America Region joined the venture, as well.)
They hoped the Latin Americans would help ignite the small and scattered Nazarene churches with new energy and focus, and lead new people to faith in Christ.
The plan was named Project Caleb.
The obstacles
Tossing and turning, my husband Carlos Fernandez couldn´t sleep -- he spent the night in April 2006 struggling with God.
Carlos and Noemi Fernandez helped launch Project
Caleb in Spain before returning to Argentina to
continue their ministry.
"Lord," Carlos prayed during his restless night. "I don´t think Project Caleb missionaries will help me. People in Spain are frustrated with religion. They do not want to hear from you. I don't think this project will work here."
His mind turned to the obstacles in the culture. Many young people in Spain, as in many modern and large cities, are caught up in violence, gangs, alcohol and drugs; and people are indifferent to matters of faith.
Then there were the obstacles in our work. We had few leaders and some churches were without pastors.
Carlos also worried that the Project Caleb plan was flawed. In developed countries, people are reluctant to trust in others until they become friends. Friendship is one of the best ways to lead Spaniards into transforming faith in Christ. How would these Latin American young people make true friendships in only two years, especially while in the throes of culture shock?
What could we do in this postmodern, post-Christian, post-community society?
That night the Lord answered my husband: "You are asking me to help you and now you reject what I am offering?"
Carlos awoke at peace and resolved to contact leaders at the Eurasia Region office to request the Project Caleb missionaries we'd been planning for.
The plan
Three missionaries from Mexico and one from Argentina agreed to come in August 2007. Dr. Crocker, the Eurasia Region director and one of the minds behind the Project Caleb idea, put up half the funds to support the missionaries, and the MAC and SAM regions raised the rest.
Meanwhile, Carlos, other leaders in Spain, and I started to think, "What do we do now? What will these new missionaries do here?" They did not have experience in planting churches--all of them belonged to organized churches. Fear invaded us. But the Lord said, "Be still, and know I am God."
The Lord gave our district board and pastors a vision. We should develop the strategy for Spain in three columns: 1) prayer and fasting, 2) evangelism, 3) education. Every member of the district council and the pastors came to our home to pray that the Lord would open doors and show us how to reach our beloved Spaniards.
After several months, the Spain District strategy for Project Caleb was ready.
The team
Sixteen families become so excited that they opened their own houses for the new outreach projects before the Project Caleb missionaries arrived.
The missionaries we'd selected arrived in August 2007 and spent a week training with missionaries Kyle and Jamie Himmelwright, who are Project Caleb coordinators. The Spain District trained the 50 people who were opening their homes for the mission work. Then everyone came together for a camp meeting.
Latin American volunteers from Mexico, Nicaragua, Brazil and Argentina spent two years in Spain
and Italy building the church, while other volunteers with Project Isaiah, a partner strategy, went
to the Eastern Mediterranean Field.
Those days were a blessing to all of us. God worked among the group and in Spain the strategy developed by the pastors and advisory board launched. It was not a perfect strategy, and we knew it would likely be adjusted as we went, but it worked.
Alcalá de Henares, a university city and second in importance after Madrid, was one city we targeted for Project Caleb. Students from different parts of the world come to study and live there.
For a long time we looked for a place to meet and re-start the church. A Nazarene church here was closed and inactive for many years. At the beginning we met at a Bolivian pastor´s house, but the work didn´t flourish.
One day, as we looked for a place where a new church could meet, we found a small apartment. It was too expensive, but the owner lowered the rent for us. During June and July 2007, a Work & Witness team from the Church of the Nazarene in Madrid remodeled the little apartment as a chapel. We celebrated our first service there on the first Sunday of September.
The results
Project Caleb missionaries María Rodriguez, Jessica Torres and David del Angel worked alongside us to plant a new church. They started with English classes, tutoring and homework assistance for children (Jessica is a teacher). They also distributed Christian fliers and invitations to church from door to door for almost a year. Although many people rejected them, they made several contacts.
Today, the Alcalá de Henares church is growing with a pastor and small congregation.
In 2004, a Youth in Mission team and other volunteer missionaries had helped pastors in Ventilla, a suburb of Madrid, to open their home to plant a new church. The two Project Caleb missionaries who arrived in 2007 -- Vanesa Cruz from Nicaragua and Irene Quiñones from Mexico -- assisted as the new work became a fully organized church.
David del Angel, from Mexico, joined the work in Barcelona. He helped us at the church until the Pesados family graduated from the European Nazarene College in Switzerland and arrived in February 2008. Del Angel´s hard work also helped open several missions.
As a result of the combined work between the families who opened their homes, and the incredible leadership of Project Caleb volunteers, 16 new prayer groups were reported at the Spain district assembly in October 2008. Their intent is to become fully organized churches.
Saying goodbye
In early 2008, both Carlos' mother and my own mother became very sick. We asked World Mission to transfer us back to Argentina so we could care for them. Carlos' mother passed away in April 2009. My mother is doing better and is living with us.
We were sad leaving such a blessed ministry, but God had another plan for us, sending us to work in the South America Region.
Meanwhile, God was calling leaders to ministry in Spain, because if we plant churches but we don´t prepare leaders, the work will not be complete. This was our last column in the vision: Education.
Five ot the youth who attended this retreat December 2007 were called
to ministry and are studying at EuNC.
Before we left, five students went to European Nazarene College (EuNC) to pursue ministerial studies. These students, although born in Latin American countries, have grown up in Spain and received a call to ministry during a youth retreat in December 2007 where Project Caleb missionaries presented workshops on the theme of God´s call. I believe their influence impacted these young people's lives.
EuNC also opened three theological extension education centers in Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona, and 56 students registered for theological studies there.
On October 2008, Mark and Kristine Ryan were named superintendent for the Spain District where they are continuing what we put into motion. We know God is working through them and completing His will in them.
While we are now in Argentina, Spain is still in our hearts. We are happy that God´s work keeps bearing fruit, blessing the Project Caleb missionaries' work and the new district superintendent Mark and Kristine Ryan.
-- Carlos and Noemi Fernandez are serving the South America Region in leadership development, regional literature and regional JESUS Film and evangelism