Three and a half years ago we (BAC) sent out Jim and Tanja French with Evie and Silas as link missionaries with CMS to go and work in Spain, Valencia.
Spain is a popular European holiday destination but also very needy for the gospel. People are either traditionally Roman Catholic with not much Bible knowledge but a lot of worship of the virgin Mary and the saints or very secular, hedonistic and materialistic. Spain also hosts lots of immigrants, mainly from South America, Africa or Eastern Europe. It is a country full of history and politics which really splits the country in different regions, languages and cultures.
Where the Frenches live in Valencia people speak Spanish as well as Valenciano, the local language. Evie goes to Year 8 in the public high school where most subjects are taught in Valenciano and Silas to the British School of Valencia where besides mostly English he also learns Spanish, French, German and Valenciano.
In March Valencia celebrates the famous Fallas festival where fire crackers and big statues made by the Fallas clubs around town are paraded before being burned down with a lot of noise.
Of course Valencia is also home to the Valencia oranges, the famous rice dish Paella and will host this year’s tennis Davis Cup in September. However soccer is still the main sport (e.g. Valencia Bats), followed by basketball and people like to run in the Turia park which used to be the river that got flooded too often.
