Turkey and dressing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato casserole and apple pie – all the makings for a delicious American-style Thanksgiving dinner. But what happens when Spaniards decide to indulge in the same tradition?
What you get are television cameras, honorary guests, curious onlookers and the perfect stage to present the gospel.
“The evangelistic campaign in 1999 was the best ever,” said Blandina Ronsano, former president of the Union Feminina Misionera Bautista (similar to the Woman’s Missionary Union) and current leader of the Binéfar Baptist Church.
“We put on a typical American Thanksgiving meal (complete with three turkeys),” she said.
Before the meal was prepared, the Alabama team visited the mayor and invited him to the meal. He came and ended up being the last to leave.
“It was presented as a cultural exchange,” Ronsano said, noting she prayed for him and his leadership publicly before the meal. “He appreciated the prayer,” she said.
Some English professors also came and translated for the team as they shared what Thanksgiving meant to them.
This provided an avenue for witnessing to the professors, she noted.
Along with these guests, all people previously contacted by the church were invited. “Some that came had never been in an evangelical church before,” Ronsano said.
“And above that, the local television station came and recorded all this – the preparation of the turkey, the finished project and what went on,” she said. “They showed it on the local television station and some called in to say they wanted to see that again.”
Out of all the projects throughout the partnership, the Thanksgiving meal turned out to be the best, but Ronsano said Alabama Baptists encouraged her church every year they were there.
From open-air evangelism to prayer walking, Alabama Baptists “have been an incredible encouragement,” she said.
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