SPAIN/PORTUGAL: TO MIRANDA DE EBRO

Courtesy of the Banner of Truth UK we went on our yearly camper van trip with 3 rather large boxes of Christian books in Spanish for the use of Pastors in Spain. 

Our entry point into Spain was Santander after taking the 24 hour ferry from Plymouth, England. We had 2 overnight stops in the Basque hills.  This region does not feel very Spanish. Even Madrid refers to it as El Pais Vasco: The Basque Country. It rains a lot, it has it's own language and culture, and would like to be independent!

 Just over the border  into Castilla is Mirando de Ebro, just 369 miles from Santander. Our guide book described it as "dusty" and "rather depressing", but we were not there to admire the town. We wanted to make contact with Pastor  Jorge Ruis and his wife Michela and their 4 children.

Jorge is very industrious. He is working in conjunction with the Trinitarian Bible Society, on a translation of the Bible into Spanish. He has also made a metrical version of the psalms and the congregation sings them to the Genevan tunes. He was delighted to receive some of the books that we had brought.

Here is Jorge and his wife Michaela with another couple in the congregation, Diego and Sarah, whom we met up with again near the very end of our trip. They travel all the way from Vittoria Gasteis to be worship in Miranda.

We did enjoy being with them at the service on the Lord's Day morning, and sharing lunch afterwards.  To our surprise we were invited to travel with them North to Bilbao where they have an evening service. That meant going back the same direction we had just come from!