“And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold” (Luke 8:8). I was recently back in the homeland of my ancestors, the temporal kingdom of Spain. Even though I was born in Munich and work as an LCMS missionary with Persian refugees in Hamburg, Spain is the home of my ancestors on my mother’s side. Last week, Lula and I attended the first-ever Spain FORO—in Madrid. A FORO is a gathering of stateside and local church workers to jointly promote and support the spread of the Gospel and church planting in a certain country. We were blessed to witness firsthand how the Lord is once again growing His Kingdom in Spain. Why “once again”? Christian Spain was overrun by Muslims in the 7th century and remained Muslim for some 800 years, until Islam was defeated by the Spanish Reconquista in 1492. But while Spain did more or less return to its original faith, the fact that this “mission work” was carried out by the sword would most certainly not have pleased our Lord Jesus Christ. What’s more, the type of Christianity that the medieval Church reintroduced in the 16th century was a far cry from the religion of the New Testament (just think of the Spanish Inquisition!)—not to mention, a far cry from how our Lutheran pastors and alliance missionaries on the Iberian peninsula are spreading the Gospel today—in Word and Sacrament. And so, we attended this wonderful Spain gathering, grateful to our Lord Jesus Christ that He has breathed His Holy Spirit on our beloved Lutheran alliance missionaries and pastors, who are joyfully doing His mission work. This has resulted in the Lutheran Church in Spain now having grown to nine church plants across the country. The Lord’s seed has fallen into good soil, growing and yielding a hundredfold! *** By the way, spaces for our Germany FORO (to be held September 23-30, 2026) are filling up fast. If you would like to witness first-hand the Lord’s amazing work in the Land of Luther, please contact me on Facebook Messenger.
(Photo courtesy of Rev. Rob Molina Thomae).
The Tiews in Germany 