The Creu Alta Baptist Church building in Sabadell, Spain, was full. Folding chairs had to be brought in for the overflow. Local dignitaries responded to the invitations by attending the dedication of the church’s new facility.
While dedication services are common in Alabama, the scene is a little unusual in Spain since most churches there remodel rather than build, according to A. Ray Lee, retired pastor of Lebanon Baptist Church, Falkville, in Morgan Baptist Association. His church enabled part of the building project in Spain when it sent two work teams and $20,000 to help finance and construct the new facility.
Though the new church was dedicated in November 2003, Lebanon has had a partnership with the church since 1996 when Lee and his wife, Effie, went on a two-week missions trip to Spain.
Friendships grew from that visit and several later trips, including three visits to Alabama from Creu Alta’s pastor, Lorenzo Gonzalez.
Lee credits his wife, a retired Spanish teacher, with making the partnership between the two churches work because of her ability to translate.
“None of this would have been possible without Effie,” he said.
Lebanon was the first of the two partnering churches to embark on a building program. The church building needed major renovations because of an aging structure, Lee said.
Lebanon worked with a consultant from the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions to set its building goals, Lee said. Reaching their highest goal of $190,000, Lebanon’s members chose to give 10 percent of the money to Creu Alta.
In 2002, members of Creu Alta faced decisions about an aging building. According to Lee, the expected action would have been for Creu Alta to remodel. “Churches in Spain generally use existing buildings rather than building new ones,” he said.
Damaris Playa, a member of Creu Alta, said the government agreed to remodeling but would not allow the congregation to change the floor plan.
After examining the options, Gonzales brought the matter to his congregation. They voted unanimously to build a new building. He sent them home to pray about it, then called for another vote. Once again, the vote was unanimous.
“We didn’t have a choice,” Playa said. “The building was in bad shape, and there was not enough room for the ministry we wanted to do.”
Once committed to the project, the congregation purchased property in a different neighborhood. Before long, the pastor called on his old friends at Lebanon.
In the meantime Lee had retired as pastor in 2001, replaced by Randy Ashley, who shares Lee’s interest in the project but speaks no Spanish. Because of this, the Lees continue to coordinate the partnership.
Lee said, “Pastor Lorenzo called and asked me to bring three teams to help with construction. I told him I was too old to cross the ocean three times, so we settled on two.”
Lee started searching for people to work on the project. He put together two teams comprised of people from Lebanon Church and other Morgan Baptist Association churches. The result was 22 total members on the teams.
“I tried to match people who had skills to the needs,” Lee said.
Ashley said the missions teams found fellowship when they lodged in church members’ homes.
He remembered a conversation with his hostess, in which she talked to him at length in Spanish. Although he didn’t understand a word she said, he sensed the warmth and welcome from her and the others at Creu Alta.
“We spoke different languages and had different cultures, but the connection was the Lord,” Ashley said.
Lee, now serving as interim director of missions for Morgan Baptist Association in Hartselle, said, “The people who went were overwhelmed with the whole experience. They came back with a changed view and enthusiasm about missions. They were grateful for the opportunity.”
The newly completed church is in a fast-growing part of the city. They have begun reaching out to the surrounding neighborhoods.
“We have room for activities now. We are getting in touch with our neighbors, asking them in,” Playa said.
Playa described a ministry to the handicapped and a food and clothing distribution center the church has set up in the more spacious facility.
Ashley said, “They have a tremendous potential. There are eight to 10 high-rise apartment buildings within sight of the church.”
The Lees made their sixth trip to Sabadell, Spain, to help their friends celebrate the new building with its expanded potential for ministry.
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