Editor’s note: This is the second part of a multi-part series highlighting a family in Spain who has partnered with BILD since 2016. This story will focus on how the Monroy family’s understanding of the Church as Christ’s plan for progressing the gospel has impacted their outreach in their neighborhood and community.
While the most widely professed religion in Spain is Catholicism, the percentage of people practicing any religion is small, pushing Spain into a post-Christian society of people who don’t attend church or identify with any religion. An article from The Christian Post stated that evangelical growth has continued mainly because of an influx of believers from Latin America.
Mario and Amuy Monroy and their three children have been missionaries in Spain for nearly 15 years. They have been persistent in their desire to impact their neighborhood and community with the gospel and biblical teaching as handed down from Christ to His Apostles. In the previous story, the Monroy’s had embraced “the way of Christ and His Apostles” and had developed a deep understanding of how the local church is God’s plan for progressing the gospel. The church, and more specifically, the gathering and the way families meet weekly around a meal and the breaking of bread, followed by a symposium or discussion time, sharing and singing, has transformed the Monroys’ outreach.
Trying to make headway in a post-Christian society has been difficult, but the heart of the Monroy family lives in their hospitality. The way they have opened their home and hearts has had a deep impact on their neighborhood and school.
Opening one’s home to strangers is a somewhat foreign concept to the Monroys’ neighbors. Amuy describes homes that are closed off by gates while their gate is always open. People don’t just invite others into their homes, especially if they haven’t had the chance to clean yet. “They like their privacy,” Amuy said of the Spanish culture. “They have gates that are closed, and they don’t want you to see what they’re doing inside their homes.”
“We realized that to be close to people, we want them to see that we are open,” Amuy said. “First, to show them who our family is and that they are welcome to come to our house and into our lives. So we leave the gate open all the time. We are known in our neighborhood as the house with the open gate.”
This transparency has brought many opportunities to share Christ with their neighbors and others. “People are curious,” Amuy said. “They start coming to ask us who we are; how long are we staying here; why is your gate open? This is when we start opening our doors.”
The Spanish culture can be a critical one, Amuy said. People don’t want you to go unexpectedly into their homes because they are afraid to be criticized for how their houses look if it’s not neat or perfect or clean. “So when they come to our house, they see that there is a family that is not scared to be criticized and how relational we are with them as a family. They see how we are with our children and how we act as a family,” she said.
As their neighbors see the way the Monroys have ordered their family and the relationship they have with other families within their church, the neighbors realize they like it, Amuy said. “People here don’t know how to have healthy relationships,” she said. “In Europe, they have forgotten what friendship is about. So they’re always trained to look for ways to enjoy their lives. They don’t have good relationships with anyone. So for them to see a group of families and good relationships among them and they enjoy being together, for them this is something that catches their attention.”
As for inviting neighbors into their church, the Monroys first invite them for a meal on a Friday or Saturday morning. “And they stay with us for eight or ten hours!” Amuy said. “They come and they don’t want to leave. It is not easy for a Spanish person to do this, but when people come to our house, they realize they can be themselves. We have neighbors say, ‘we don’t know what happened to us, but each time we come to your house, the time goes so fast!’’’
The Monroys use that time to share the gospel, their faith, and the biblical principles they have ordered their lives around. Invitations are extended to people to come on Sunday to gather as a church. “We want you to come and know our church,” Amuy said. “We use family things and celebrations to introduce new people to the church. But this is our family.”
The way the Monroys have opened their lives to their neighbors and their home for their church has brought about an important development that Mario is grateful for: the spiritual growth he has seen in his own children. When his oldest daughter Katherina was 14 years old, she told him she just wanted to be 18 and to quit and not go to church anymore. “She was bored by what was happening in the traditional church, but right now she has told me this: ‘Now I feel connected with the church. Now I really feel I am a child of God’,” Mario said. “This is fantastic for me.”
“Keep feeding the boys.” It’s a phrase that resonates with Amuy and has become a motivational sentiment to her as her oldest son Josiah struggles as the only Christian in a high school of 2,000 students. It is hard, Amuy said, because of the needling Josiah has received from his friends and classmates. In turn, Josiah has invited his friends to his church. It took awhile, but finally a couple of his friends started coming for dinner on Friday nights. And then after a while, it progressed to coming on Sundays and staying for the meal during the gathering. And then after a while longer, they were staying after the meal to ask questions during the Bible time and sing songs. Those Friday night dinners were a turning point and with patience and perseverance Amuy has continued to feed the boys.
The Monroys have stepped right around what culture sees as a roadblock to hospitality because the Monroys understand their home is central to their mission and outreach. Their home is central to God’s plan. When families gather together in the Monroys’ home every Sunday to share a meal and break bread, they are participating in God’s plan as His Church.
The next story will look more closely at how the church gathering has helped establish the faith of believers and deepened their understanding of their role in God’s plan. This includes strong connections with churches in Latin America as Mario continues to work with and train leaders in “the way of Christ and His Apostles.”
Click on the headline below for the first part of this series: