“You Are”: An Unexpected Call
A simple question asked from a car window in rural Spain became God's answer to a calling BJ Whitaker never expected. Years later, that call led to a church plant in a town with no evangelical church, where the gospel is transforming lives, families, and futures.
BJ Whitaker never imagined he would spend his life planting churches in Spain.
He certainly didn’t expect it, having grown up in a small town in Illinois with only a few hundred residents. After coming to faith as a teenager and sensing a call to ministry, he attended Asbury University, where he met and married Rachel, the daughter of missionaries serving in Spain. Together, they believed God might one day lead them into missions, but they had no idea where.
That changed in 2005 during a visit to Spain.
As they drove through the countryside, Rachel’s father pointed toward a small town and asked, “Who will tell the people of this town about Jesus?” Though the question was rhetorical, BJ distinctly sensed Jesus speaking to him: “You are.”
Four years later, BJ and Rachel began full-time ministry in Spain.
Today they serve in Meco, a town of around 16,000 people just outside Madrid. Although many people identify culturally as Christian, few have a personal relationship with Jesus. When the Whitakers arrived, there was no evangelical church in the town.
In 2020, they planted a church in Meco. Like many church plants, growth has often been slow and the work demanding. Teaching, discipling, organising outreach activities, mentoring believers, and even fixing plumbing are all part of ministry life. Yet year after year, they have seen God at work.
One woman had longed for years to see an evangelical church in her town. When she discovered the new congregation, she quickly became involved, began reading Scripture publicly during services, and grew steadily in her faith. She was eventually baptised, and today her walk with Christ is influencing her entire family.
Another story began through the church’s men's ministry. A retired police officer attended an event and shared, with tears in his eyes, that he had never once heard his father tell him he was loved. He feared he had repeated that same pattern with his own daughter. The men gathered around him to pray and encourage him. Over time, God began transforming the family. His wife has since come to faith in Christ, and his daughter is now beginning to explore Jesus for herself.
Stories like these remind us all that, even when ministry feels slow, God is at work. The church in Meco stands as a testimony to what can happen when people faithfully respond to His call and trust Him for the fruit.
Through church planting, discipleship, and community outreach, lives are being changed, one relationship at a time.
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.