Your Partnership in Reaching Europe
Abel and Rafi Nuño, ECM missionaries in Spain, recently finished a visit to churches across Australia and New Zealand. Below they give an overview of their ministry in Europe and give thanks for the crucial part their supporters play in enabling their work to continue.
We met at the Evangelical Seminary (IBSTE) in Castelldefels (Barcelona). We both had a very clear call from the Lord to preach the gospel in pioneering ministry. On finishing theological training, we then moved to Peñarroya-Pueblonuevo, Spain, to join the ECM team.
After eight years of service we left the small congregation to the charge of colleagues,
and moved to Cabra. There we took on the responsibility of a small congregation (six members) that, by the grace of the Lord, grew to 35 in 2012. At that time, Rafi’s mother was in need of urgent care, so we then moved to Alcalá la Real, where we currently serve.
The goal in Alcalá is to ‘sow the seed of the gospel’, pleading with the Lord to make it ‘germinate’ and to raise a congregation that glorifies him among their neighbours. In pursuit of this objective, we became volunteers in the Red Cross social program and in other community groups in the town, in order to build relationships that give opportunity to share Christ in a clear and personal way.
I (Abel) also am a lecturer in Christian Ethics at the Faculty of Theology in La Carlota (Córdoba). Rafi participates in the University Senior Program, the Adult School and Group Gymnastics, so she can build relationships; a strategy that has been very effective in the past. In addition, we have organised other activities such as conversational English workshops in summer, exhibitions with Christian themes.
We thank the Lord for the privilege of serving him in his work and experiencing every moment his kindness, grace, mercy and love in multiple ways. Yet we do not do this alone. Behind us is a whole network of pray-ers and givers, many of whom are Australians, and under God enable us to bring the gospel to these regions. For this we are incredibly grateful and we’re thankful for the privilege of meeting people at churches across Australia and New Zealand from 31 January to 5 March.
The Baltic nations of Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia have a combined average 4.3% evangelical population, which is above Europe’s average. Even so, the need is acute, so our desire is to serve this region where we currently have no ministry presence. 
A five-week sabbatical became an opportunity to strengthen churches, encourage believers, and serve alongside ECMI worker Eberson in Portugal. It is a reminder that even a short-term mission trip can leave a lasting impact. 
When war in Ukraine devastated the communities around Irpin, relief centres became places of refuge for those in need. But something even greater happened. As people encountered the love of Christ through practical care, new communities of faith began to grow. Today, Illia and Iryna lead one of those church plants.