Spain's Christians Brace for Syrian Refugees
October 22, 2015
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When
Catholic rulers retook Cordoba and its famous mosque in 1236 (a
cathedral was later inserted into the mosque in the 16th century), they
preserved its celebrated architecture. (Wikipedia)
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As a first step in addressing Europe's refugee crisis, European
Union (EU) leaders on Sept. 22 assigned 15,000 mainly Syrian refugees to
Spain, with still greater batches to follow in subsequent years. Some
in Spain fear the wave of Syrian refugees will bring more Muslim
influence to a country where radical Islam has made inroads, but one
Spanish ministry is eagerly welcoming them.
The refugees are Spain's share of an initial distribution of 120,000
refugees across Europe. Having established churches in the southern
province of Andalusia and in Morocco, which lies nearly nine miles from
Spain's southernmost point across the Strait of Gibraltar, the ministry
director sees the EU plan as an unprecedented opportunity. In Ceuta, a
Spanish enclave on Morocco's northern tip, he already has substantial
experience with Syrian refugees; he's been proclaiming Christ to them
for three years.
"Our experience is that they come to the Lord fast," said the
director, identified only as Antonio for security reasons. "They say,
'We are here because Islam [jihadists such as the Islamic State] put us
here and broke our family and broke our country,' and they open very
fast. There are house churches among Syrians."
With 6,000 refugees arriving at European countries every day, more
than 500,000 have flooded the continent's borders this year, according
to United Nations figures. While that figure may pale compared with the
more than 4 million refugees that have fled to Turkey, Lebanon and
Jordan, the refugees have created political crises in Europe as
infrastructures fray and cultures clash.
Only Germany and France have been assigned more refugees than Spain,
which for decades has seen Muslim immigrants from Morocco grow into a
kind of religious target group for competing radical Islamists from
abroad – kindling Catholic-Muslim tensions in the autonomous region of
Andalusia, named from the Arabic "Al-Andalus" caliphate of Muslim
conquerors that ruled from 711 to 1492.
Analysts point to the revelation by Spain's National Intelligence
Center (CNI) in 2011 that Islamic-ruled countries from the Middle East
and North Africa have channeled millions of dollars to radical Islamists
in efforts to compete for Spain's nearly 1.9 million Muslims, of which
800,000 are Moroccans. Saudi Arabia heads a list that includes Kuwait,
Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, according to
the CNI. Saudi Arabia funded a $30 million Islamic Cultural Center in
Malaga, as well as mosques in Marbella and Fuengirola, for the purposes
of promoting its repressive Wahhabi brand of Islam, according to the
CNI.
Furthermore, imams in more than 100 mosques in Spain preach Islamic extremist doctrine, according to the Spanish daily
ABC.
Salafism, an Islamic extremist movement based on restoring the original
traditions of Islam, has increased its presence in Spain, according to
the newspaper.
As the Syrians and other refugees arrive, Spain's Islamic centers
also will be keen to welcome them, the ministry director said. Islamic
extremists such as the Salafists aim to re-conquer Spain for Islam,
Antonio said.
"It's evident in every place – in every place they go, they build a
big mosque with a big minaret to say, 'We are here,'" he said. "Saudi
Arabians are sending imams and money. They're buying many things.
They're sending missionaries. They pay for a place, and they take
control of the Muslims of the area."
While extremist sects such as Salafism and Wahhabism tend to be
separatist and discourage integration into Western society, Antonio said
that, overall, Muslims quietly adapt when they are a small minority. As
they become a majority through population growth, migration and
conversion, they seek to exercise more influence through government and
influential networks, he said.
With deep love for Muslims in relationships he has developed in
Morocco and in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta along Morocco's
northern-most border, Antonio can hardly be labeled an Islamophobe, even
if some might read that into his description of Islamist wishes that
he's detected.
"They want Spain," he said, citing Islamist wishes to retake
Cordoba, with its Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba, an architectural wonder
that is more than 11 centuries old, and Granada, with its mighty
Alhambra, a former Islamic palace and fortress complex. "They say, 'This
is my country, and we want it back.'"
Antonio said those who make first contact with the arriving Syrians will have the most impact.
"We're encouraging the church to be the first to contact them and
have an impact with them with the gospel," he said. "I am beginning to
work with 100 Syrian families just in Jerez, but I'm working with other
believers to do the same. They say, 'I don't know how to work with
Syrians.' I said, 'It doesn't matter – you receive them, and I'm ready
to work all year to train you so you can work with the Syrians.'"
About 30 volunteer workers help Antonio in the outreach in Jerez,
and the same number of volunteers work in each of the other Spanish
cities where his ministry has planted some of its nearly 70 house
churches, including Seville, Malaga, Jaen and Cordoba. In the three
churches that he pastors, four or five people at each church receive
Christ each week, he said.
His experience with Muslims includes proclaiming Christ and training
leaders in Morocco, which has resulted in 100 small fellowships.
Whereas in Morocco he takes care not to speak against Islam, in Spain he
refrains from speaking against the dominant Roman Catholic Church,
where surveys have repeatedly shown few practice their religion, and
even those who do are rarely familiar with the Bible or Christ's
salvation.
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Holy
Week in Jerez includes processions with idols that evangelicals eschew,
but they focus on proclaiming Christ rather than deriding Catholicism.
(Wikipedia, El Pantera)
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"In the past, the missionaries didn't do a good job in southern
Spain; they began to fight against Catholicism," Antonio said. "In the
Bible, I don't see Paul fighting against other religions. I only share
the gospel. I share about Jesus, His love, how it changed my life, how
he impacted my family and relatives. When you talk about this, they
change."
His ministry team establishes relationships with people by
identifying their needs, which in southern Spain's weak economy often
means distributing food, visiting people in hospitals and helping with
other medical needs. Through EU networks, the ministry has ample access
to food supplies, so Antonio said his main need is financial assistance
for transportation, Bibles and tracts.
"Gas is four times higher in Spain than what it is in the United
States," he said. "My main need is this, because it's expensive to
spread the gospel. People call me from Jaen, and I cannot go, because
how am I going to pay for everything? It's not possible."
His ministry also hopes to renovate a building to start a Christian
school for U.S. families at nearby Rota military base, which ultimately
would render his ministry completely self-sustaining. Until then, he
primarily seeks funds to purchase the Word of God in Arabic, Spanish and
English, and the wheels to get its message to otherwise unreached
people – before radical Islam reaches them.
To help indigenous missionaries meet needs,
you may contribute online using the form below, or call (434) 977-5650.
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P.O. Box 9037, Charlottesville, VA 22906. Please use Gift Code: 314GMM.
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SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS - October 21, 2015)
-- Sister Hayat, a 30-year-old Iraqi nun, lived a quiet life of
devotion in a Dominican monastery near Mosul, Iraq. She helped care for
children in an orphanage and also taught anthropology at a local
university. Then Islamic State jihadists overran the city.
She
is now helping refugees in the city of Erbil, where she spent the last
five months caring for elderly nuns, according to a report by World
Watch Monitor.
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS - October 21, 2015)
-- God has given a Pakistani pastor the vision to build a 100-bed
Christian hospital in an area south of Lahore that is 98% Muslim. He’s
building a 10-foot-high wall around the property and housing for
security guards first.
“The Christians are working for the Muslims as bonded slaves. We go there so we can lift them up.”