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Letter from Bryce and Phyllis Little
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September 2004
Dear Friends,
In November and December 2003, we visited both Spain and Portugal.
We met with the general secretary of the Portuguese Presbyterian
Church, and made plans for the Presbytery of Northern Waters to
visit Portugal in May, 2004. We also attended the Spanish Evangelical
Church’s bi-annual synod meeting in Zaragoza, Spain. We
met many local pastors and lay leaders.
On March 11, 2004, the Madrid, Spain, train-station bombing created
new challenges for the churches and people of Spain! Plans are
being developed between the PC(USA) and Spanish Evangelical Churches
to partner in dealing with the spiritual and psychological impact
of the bombings upon the churches and people in their respective
countries. |
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The Reverend Alfred Aba Heras (center), local pastor and General
Secretary of the Spanish Evangelical Church visiting in Northern
Kansas Presbytery, June 2004. With Alfredo are Peg and Ed Lakin.
Peg is chair of Northern Kansas Presbytery’s Mission Project
Committee, which is responsible for the presbytery’s partnership
with Spain. |
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In May, 2004, we brought a team of four persons
from the Presbytery of Northern Waters for a ten-day visit to Portugal.
We met church leaders and visited projects of the Presbyterian Evangelical
Church of Portugal. They identified many ways that they could partner
in mission. In Spain we met with the Reverend Alfredo Abad, local
Madrid pastor and general secretary of the Spanish Evangelical Church,
and finalized plans for his June 2004 visit to the to the Presbytery
of Northern Kansas and the Presbytery of Wabash Valley (in northern
Indiana). |
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We also met with
PC(USA) missionaries in Spain: the Reverends Melanie Mitchell,
Donna Moros, and Edgar Moros.
In June 2004, we accompanied the Reverend Alfredo Abad from Spain
on a successful trip to explore potential presbytery partnerships
with Northern Kansas and Wabash Valley. Both Portugal and Spain
are heavily impacted by new immigrants. Spain is receiving South
Americans, Spanish Guineans (from Equatorial Guinea, the only
Spanish-speaking country in Africa), and Eastern Europeans. Portugal
has immigrants from Angola, Brazil, and Eastern Europe. |
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Portugal
The Brazilian population in Lisbon, Portugal, has increased from
10,000 to over 45,000 persons in just the last two years. There
are also many recent immigrants from Angola. The IEPP (Evangelical
Presbyterian Church of Portugal) leaders want to develop new evangelistic
patterns to reach these new groups of people.
Spain
The theme of the 70th bi-annual synod meeting of the IEE (Spanish
Evangelical Church) was, “Responding to New Immigrant Groups
in Spain.” The IEE was challenged to reach out to newcomers
from South America, Central America, Spanish-speaking Africa,
and Eastern Europe. Several presentations focused on moving from
a “survival” church to a “missional” church—by
honoring other languages and worship patterns. There is a strong
similarity between this challenge in Portugal and Spain and other
urban areas around the world! |
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Right to left: Stephen Kilderup, partnership committee chair for
Wabash Valley Presbytery; Alfredo Abad, general secretary of the
IEE; and Phyllis Little. |
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We encouraged some of the leaders
to honor first-eneration languages as a way of building bridges
to immigrant groups. Languages such as Korean, Taiwanese, Mandarin,
English, d African dialects are used in Spain and Portugal.
Gibraltar
We visited Gibraltar and met the pastor of Saint Andrew’s
Church (Church of Scotland, European Presbytery), the Reverend
Stewart Lamont. Rev. Abad is very interested in working with Rev.
Lamont to develop English-speaking congregations in eastern and
southern Spain. |
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Bryce and Phyllis Little with their 10 grandchildren (2004).
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Change of address for
contributions
Should you be moved to contribute to our ministry, checks from
individuals may be sent to: Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Individual
Remittance Processing, PO Box 643700, Pittsburgh, PA 15264-3700.
Write the title (support for Bryce and Phyllis Little) and the
ECO number on the subject line (ECO # 074383) of the check and
put it on your cover letter, too. Send a copy of the cover letter
to the Area Office for Europe and the Middle East at 100 Witherspoon
St. Louisville, KY 40202-1396.
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Should you wish
to support our program work, the appropriate Extra Commitment
Opportunity is: 051727, and it is simply called “Program
support for work in Spain and Portugal. To contribute online,
click the "give" button below.
Sincerely,
Bryce and Phyllis Little
The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p.
342
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