I´d like to devote an entire post to Ruth de la Mata, since she is the reason this trip came to be. I arrived in Barcelona on Friday, and her pastor graciously picked me up from the train station. Pastor Cerni also has his own fascinating story, so I´ll detail that later.
Ruth lives in a modest apartment in the Gràcia neighborhood. She and I spent an entire day catching up.
Tenth has supported Ruth since she and her partner in ministry (and really, a mother to her, she says), María Bolet, were introduced to Dr. Barnhouse in the sixties.
Ruth´s actual name is Rosario, but María changed it when a girl commented, "You're the only evangelical I've ever met with such a Catholic name!" So that was the end of that!
As is common with many her age, the Spanish civil war greatly affected Ruth's life. Her father died when she was only seven. She and her mother lived in Madrid and would go out to look for food once the "dreaded buzzing of airplanes stopped." As a young adult, she worked first in securities, then eventually María recruited her for work in the Bible school that she started. Because of Franco´s crackdown on non-Catholics, they moved everything to Tangier in 1953. It´s hard to think of Morocco as a center for religious freedom, but in that time it was.
After a few years in Tangier, María contracted a form of malaria and on the advice of the doctors, they all moved the work to the Pyrenees. Soon after, they began work at la Granja, a farm in a more westerly rural portion of Spain. There they continued with Bible clubs, camps and youth events. In fact, the work begun by Ruth and María continues there today. After some years, though, María's illness persisted and it was recommended that she retire in Barcelona. Ruth went with her to care for her and refused to be recalled to la Granja. "I couldn't leave María by herself," she said. So she took a job in the evangelical hospital in Barcelona, first as a receptionist, then in administration. On the Saturday that I visited her, we walked around the different hospital wards and Ruth greeted all the nurses we encountered. She said she has enjoyed many opportunities to share the gospel in that job.
María went home to be with the Lord in 1992 and Ruth still misses her greatly. Now retired, Ruth stays active in the church, Iglesia Reformada Presbiteriana. On Sunday she stood up to give the reading from Isaiah 51:1-6.
Please pray for our dear Miss Ruth. She scrapes by on social security from the hospital, but that income is again threatened by the austerity cuts. Tenth (and the Lord, she says!) is her only other support. But she is steadfast in her faith and couldn't stop talking about God's goodness to her through the years. What a testimony to God's faithfulness!
Ruth lives in a modest apartment in the Gràcia neighborhood. She and I spent an entire day catching up.
Tenth has supported Ruth since she and her partner in ministry (and really, a mother to her, she says), María Bolet, were introduced to Dr. Barnhouse in the sixties.
Ruth´s actual name is Rosario, but María changed it when a girl commented, "You're the only evangelical I've ever met with such a Catholic name!" So that was the end of that!
As is common with many her age, the Spanish civil war greatly affected Ruth's life. Her father died when she was only seven. She and her mother lived in Madrid and would go out to look for food once the "dreaded buzzing of airplanes stopped." As a young adult, she worked first in securities, then eventually María recruited her for work in the Bible school that she started. Because of Franco´s crackdown on non-Catholics, they moved everything to Tangier in 1953. It´s hard to think of Morocco as a center for religious freedom, but in that time it was.
After a few years in Tangier, María contracted a form of malaria and on the advice of the doctors, they all moved the work to the Pyrenees. Soon after, they began work at la Granja, a farm in a more westerly rural portion of Spain. There they continued with Bible clubs, camps and youth events. In fact, the work begun by Ruth and María continues there today. After some years, though, María's illness persisted and it was recommended that she retire in Barcelona. Ruth went with her to care for her and refused to be recalled to la Granja. "I couldn't leave María by herself," she said. So she took a job in the evangelical hospital in Barcelona, first as a receptionist, then in administration. On the Saturday that I visited her, we walked around the different hospital wards and Ruth greeted all the nurses we encountered. She said she has enjoyed many opportunities to share the gospel in that job.
María went home to be with the Lord in 1992 and Ruth still misses her greatly. Now retired, Ruth stays active in the church, Iglesia Reformada Presbiteriana. On Sunday she stood up to give the reading from Isaiah 51:1-6.
Please pray for our dear Miss Ruth. She scrapes by on social security from the hospital, but that income is again threatened by the austerity cuts. Tenth (and the Lord, she says!) is her only other support. But she is steadfast in her faith and couldn't stop talking about God's goodness to her through the years. What a testimony to God's faithfulness!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.