Basque Region Background, & YOUR Prayers!

Economic prosperity.  Strong work ethic.  Frequent restaurant dining.  Distant luxury vacations.  DEBT.  DRUGS.  ALCOHOL. VIOLENCE.

This familiar description is not of the United States but of the Basque Region between Spain & France.

The Basque people are morally more conservative than the rest of Western Europe, yet they remain in spiritual darkness.  With no evangelical witness among them, they are practical atheists living as if there is no God.  While a small amount of Christian literature does exist in the ancient Basque language, most people have no access to the Gospel.  They live only for the pleasures of this life, missing any eternal perspective.

While the Basque language, unique and difficult, is itself a source of national pride, decades of evangelical work has been done in the Spanish language.  The few evangelical churches in the Basque Region are in Spanish and are composed primarily of Latin American immigrants.

While previous attempts for evangelism have been frustrated, many mission opportunities remain among the Basque.  The most attractive of these is teaching English classes and English camps or weekends.  

One worker among the Basque people has formulated a strategy for using volunteer native English speakers from the USA as conversation partners for Basque students and adults who pay a nominal fee for their participation.  Through leading conversational questions, these volunteers have opportunities to share their own faith and to find out more about the spiritual status of the Basque participants in a relaxed, fun setting.  Ongoing relationships are established that are maintained through e-mail, phone, and potential future visits with one another either in Basque country or in the USA.

The Basques’ love for international travel also opens up doors of opportunity to minister to them right in our own homes in Texas.  Arrangements can be made through our missionaries for Basque students, young adults, or even families to visit and stay with FBCK members for a week or longer.  These situations would afford excellent opportunities for informal interaction (most likely in English) and sharing of the gospel.  This is an exciting opportunity to explore.  There are large concentrations of Basque people in places like Reno, Nevada, Boise, Idaho, and other U.S. cities (including Dallas). 

From MARCH 17-24, a team from FBCK will be participating in a Chat event.  [Video 1]  [Video 2]

·         Pray that each team member (Karen Anthony, Eva Duhon, Ed Nelson, Bob & Lourdes Vigoren) would be clean vessels, and blameless for God’s work in Basque country.

·         Pray that the Holy Spirit will not be quenched.

·         Pray for the Basque folks that God wants to come to this weekend.

·         Pray that each team member is led by the Holy Spirit to do His work, not selfish desires.

·         Pray for team unity and a right spirit among the team.

·         Pray for safe travel and that the team’s luggage arrives with them.

·         Pray that when they see an open door to witness that they will be bold to proclaim the Truth in love, and that they say the right words to convict them to repentance and to put their faith in Jesus Christ.

·         Pray that the team’s thoughts, words, actions, and motives are pure and honor God.

·         Pray anything else as God leads.