Basque Country Prayer Points for April 2025
Prayer Points and verse: Prayers points: On Monday April 28 at ~12:30pm all the electricity went off in Spain, Portugal and portions of France. It was quite the event for the country. Some people had the power back on in an hour while others waited for multiple hours. It was quite the disruption to daily…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for February/March 2025
Prayer Points and verse: Prayers points: March 2025 marks 5 years since the start of the pandemic. In Basque Country/Spain the state of alarm went into effect on March 14, 2020. Several pages of the paper walked through various themes from the pandemic discussing the impacts. It included remote work, tele appointments, medical diagnostic requests…
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When Forgiveness Isn’t the End
What does the Bible say about what needs to happen after you’ve been hurt by someone you care about? There are many books written over the need to “forgive and forget” which has led to many misconceptions about the implications of forgiveness. Forgiveness DOESN’T mean that the other person gets a “get out of jail…
Basque Country Prayer Points for January 2025
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: The religious diversity in Gipuzkoa has changed quite a bit over the last 10 years. The number of places for worship for the minority religions, those that are not catholic, increased 40% for a total of ~70 new places of worship being added. Gipuzkoa has ~200…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for December 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: Christmas Eve dinner is a very special occasion for Basque & Spanish families. The local paper showed a comparison between cost for typical food items last year and this year. A couple of the items were down significantly, with one other having a large increase. The…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for November 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: The flooding that happened in the Valencia region continues to be a major topic. Aid is still needed to support those who were impacted, workers to help clean-up from the devastation and people are looking to understand why and how this happened. Pray for those impacted,…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for October 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: While the Basque region has not been impacted by the recent heavy rains, it’s quite an issue for Spain. The number of deaths is over 200 people as of this writing and is increasing every day. The devastation is immense and the mobilization of relief is…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for September 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: This time of year, sees an influx of existing, new & Erasmus (Europe’s study abroad program) university students arrive in the city. It is becoming more difficult for students to find affordable housing. The city is also looking for solutions with the number of homes that…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for June 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: The increase in home prices is continuing for both renters and buyers with no relief expected in the near term. They are saying it is due to several different factors. One of the largest of those is the lack of available housing. Others are the recent…
Basque Country Prayer Points for May 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: Recently pharmacies have agreed to help share the phone number to report sexual aggression with it being visibly posted. Additionally, people can ask for a small piece of paper that will have the number for them to call, report and ask for help. Pray for those…
Expectations
What does it mean to have expectations? Oxford defines the word to mean: “a strong belief that something will happen or be the case”. I have an expectation that the sun will rise each morning, and that I will want a cup of coffee when it does. I also expect to have a headache if…
Basque Country Prayer Points for April 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the month: Prayers points: Elections for Basque Country happened on April 21. Part of the coverage included an article stating that ~94% believe corruption was present in the political system. Part of this they felt was due to some old cases that have been re-opened for both socialist and populist…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for March 2024
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Recently the Basque police visited the local schools to talk with students about the dangers of social media. They have seen a rise in Sexting, Grooming, Sextorison and cyberbullying. Pray for the young people, parents, school staff, and government officials as they work to address this…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of January 22, 2024
Prayers points: The number of healthcare workers in the Basque system who requested mental health assistance has almost doubled compared to what was seen in 2019. The treatment is for anxiety, depression and for burn out. The increase in requests are also being seen across other communities in Spain. Pray for the mental health of…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of November 27, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Recently the Spanish government reduced the hours for a work week from 40 to 37.5. Employees will still be paid for the 40 hours, though employers will have 2.5 less hours of their time. Spain already had a lower productivity rate than the rest of Europe,…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of October 23, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Over the past 10 months the Canary Islands have seen more 28,000 African immigrants. This is the highest number they have ever seen and the support system is having a hard time keeping up. Some of the immigrants are likely to be arriving in Basque Country…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of October 9, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Statistics for crime were recently released for the first half of 2023. An upward trend was seen in some areas: sexual violence was up ~20%, Cybercrimes was up ~30%. With a down trend being seen with robberies using violence and intimidation down ~10% and forced robberies…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of September 25, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Inflation continues to be a problem, while it’s not as high as it has been people are still feeling the effects. To help, the government has reduced taxes on gas and electricity while reducing public transportation fees, though households are still feeling the effects as wages…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of September 4, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: The number of cases of sexual diseases in Basque country is on the rise, so much so that health care officials are concerned. The number of cases of syphilis and gonorrhea have gone up exponentially since 2018. The director of public health shared this was not…
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Which Direction are You Running?
I was recently asked a question that stuck with me for a while. The question was: How do you balance the desire to be a Christian with the desire to simply avoid going to Hell? My short answer was that you must decide the motivation, whether you are running away from something, or running towards…
Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of August 14, 2023
Prayers points: The results of the July 23 election are in, with the PP party gaining some additional seats and PSOE losing some seats. Neither party has the absolute majority by themselves. Each party was working to put agreements in place to have an absolute majority for the election of a new legislative leader. Pedro…
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Sharing Christ on the Diamond
Victor R Moran, President | Crossroads Global Initiative, Inc. “My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.” Psalm 71:15 This weekend two key Crossroads Ministry colleagues will join me in Minden, Germany as we lead out in teaching the basics of baseball…
Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of June 19, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: After the recent local and regional elections, the different parties are having to renegotiate the relationships to determine how they will co-govern as no single party won an absolute majority. This has been completed and leadership in the various levels of government is in place including…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of May 28, 2023
Prayers points: On May 28 elections were completed for the local (city) and regional level. I was incorrectly stating the national level in the past editions. The regional and local levels have several different political parties who are looking to either maintain or gain power to make changes. In the Basque region the party who…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of May 8, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: On May 28 elections will be happening at the local (city), regional and national level. The regional and local levels have 5 different political parties who are looking to either maintain or gain power to make changes. Leaders across the different parties are communicating messages for…
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An Opportunity to Participate on Mission
Victor R. Moran | President & CEO Many have asked me numerous times to identify specific opportunities for financial support. I am highlighting two initiatives for consideration by our financial partners. 1. Intercultural Student Trip The first initiative is the opportunity to partially sponsor a Basque region student on this summer’s cohort to Texas. Mandy…
Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of April 17, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Over Holy Week the province of Gipuzkoa saw a significant increase in the amount of tourists both national and international, with hotels being filled to somewhere between 85% to 95%. Also restaurants and tourist spots saw a similar large increase in tourism. Praise that over the…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of April 3, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: The Basque Public Health Care system continues to be under strain. Some of the local clinics are having to reduce hours as they do not have enough staff to cover them. Another problem is the average number of days patients are having to wait before surgery.…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of March 20, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: The Basque Government is offering several different options to help families offset some of the costs associated with having children. Historically the requests have been made by women, however over the past 2 years the number of men who are requesting these options have increased. Pray…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of February 27, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Some apartment buildings have communal heating. The area had a very mild December, however in January the temperatures were lower meaning more heating was needed. The places with common heating powered by natural gas saw a doubling of the gas bill over the previous year. Pray…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of February 13, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: The government sponsored family mediation service is reporting an increase in use with a large percentage of the overall request being couples conflicts. Pray for the mediators and couples as they work to find common ground, along with the health of families. The Spain & Basque…
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LETTER TO CROSSROADS PRAYER & FINANCIAL PARTNERS
Victor R. Moran | President & CEO As a ministry and education organization with international reach we appreciate the dedicated cohort of prayer warriors and financial partners who sacrificially underpin the ministries of Crossroads Global Initiative, Inc. Crossroads is in its 21st year of offering ministry and educational opportunities with its U.S. based and international global…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of January 23, 2023
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: The Basque region was the second most generous region in Spain with donations to charitable organizations. The data showed the region had a 4% increase from the previous year. Praise that the people in the Basque region continue to be generous with their money. The general…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of December 12, 2022
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: The public healthcare system (Basque name: Osakidetza) is having lots of tension as several leaders have resigned after a couple of leaders were let go. The system was already under quite a bit of strain and this is adding to it. Pray for the frontline healthcare…
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Daily Reflection at Crossroads
DAY 1: “The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself.” 2 Timothy 2:11-13, English Standard Version Life Point: Rejoice…
Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of November 28, 2022
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Violence against women has seen a 14% increase over the last year. This information was shared in the lead up to International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on November 25. A call center has already received ~2500 calls this year from women requesting…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of November 14, 2022
Prayers points: Rising energy costs and inflation continue to be a concern for businesses, families and those on fixed incomes Pray for all those who are being impacted by these rising costs In 2021 people who desired to have their sex changed has doubled in Basque Country Pray for the participants and those facilitating these…
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Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of October 24, 2022
Prayer Points and verse for the week: Prayers points: Government making plans to increase pension payments for those receiving retirement benefits With rising costs and inflation at historic highs, retired people have been asking for an increase in how much they receive each month. Pray for the government as it looks to meet this need…
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News for prayer for Week of October 3, 2022
Headline News: The Basque medical system is continuing to feel the effects of the pandemic. The number of people waiting for an operation has increased 20% over the last 2 years. In 2006 the Basque Government established that the maximum time to wait for surgery should be less than 180 days. Currently about 1000 people…
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News for prayer for Week of September 19, 2022
Headline News: Non-government organizations are seeing a decline in volunteers, especially in young people. Most of the new volunteers are those over 30. The last study of people that volunteered or helped socially was from 2017, with 14% of the general population participating. That was ~6% higher than when the study was done in 2012.…
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News for prayer for Week of September 5, 2022
Headline News: This section is a little longer than usual as I thought it was important to highlight additional items. On Tuesday September 6 2022 Spain celebrated the 500th anniversary of the return of Juan Sebastián “Elcano’s” completion for circumnavigation of the world. The crew started out as ~250 and included Magellan. He was one…
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News for prayer for Week of August 15, 2022
Headline News: The local director for Cáritas, an International organization belonging to the Catholic Church which is a service organization dedicated to combating poverty and other areas, was interviewed recently. He was sharing concerns given the high cost of living and amount of help families are needing. They are seeing that the numbers since the…
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News for prayer for Week of July 25, 2022
Headline News: Last week this area experienced a heat wave for several days. It resulted in a red alert given the high temperature. The temperatures were in the upper 90s to low 100s for those days. Many in this region do not have air conditioning so cooling off can be a bit of a challenge…
News for prayer for Week of July 11, 2022
Headline News: COVID has made its way back into the news. One area is the impact they are now seeing on the admittance to the hospital for assistance with mental health. They reported that those between the ages of 11 to 17 have seen the largest increase, 45% since 2019. In 2021 they have also…
Called to Lead
“He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’” John 21:17 (ESV)…
The Church is Out of Style
There was an article in the local newspaper recently explaining how the Basque society is more and more secular. The youngest Catholic priest in our province was interviewed and he was quoted as saying “we aren’t in style”, referring to the church. Part of his reasoning was that as society flourishes from a material and…
Leadership by Example
“Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.” Philippians 3:17 (ESV) In his writing to the Christ followers at Philippi, the Apostle Paul challenged his audience to imitate him and keep focus on those in harmony with his life’s example. What eternal…
News for prayer for Week of June 13, 2022
Headline News: The Spanish legislature is attempting to introduce legislation that would make prostitution illegal, as currently it’s not illegal and quite a gray area in the law. In Gipuzkoa it is estimated that ~700 people work in this industry. Most of them are from Brazil and Columbia. An organization that works with these women…
Who is Your GOAT?
“Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” The words of the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 11:1 In his first letter to the assembly of Christ followers in the city of Corinth, the Apostle Paul challenged his audience to imitate him as he imitated Christ Jesus. His challenge is bold. By his statement, Paul…
News for prayer for Week of May 30, 2022
Headline News: The Basque Government is looking for ways to increase the birth rate in the region. The latest measure passed will be that for every child under 3 years old, 200€/month will be sent starting in 2023. They will also see some tax breaks in the following year. The paper also shared how other…
A Faithful Leader
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Gospel of Mark 10:45 Every family, organization or community seeks the person or persons committed to serving the role of principal, shepherd, guardian, or steward. The group confers titles and roles on…
News for prayer for Week of May 16, 2022
Headline News: Addictions are seeing a rise here in Gipuzkoa. One organization that helps people with addictions saw a ~18% increase in people seeking them for assistance. While alcohol is the largest substance abuse, they say it has stabilized. Cocaine saw the greatest increase for substances people needed help with. The celebration of first communion…
News for prayer for Week of May 2, 2022
Much appreciation to Jeff for writing an extra news for prayer while we were out for family vacation. Thanks also to Jeff for all the years of writing the newsletter and providing us all with information on how to be in prayer for the Basque people. Wishing you well as you move into the next…
News for prayer for Week of April 4, 2022
Headline News: New COVID cases are continuing a downward trend. One of the big discussions is when do masks go away for indoor spaces. Initially they were talking they would go away before Holy Week, however today it was communicated that it will be going away on April 20. Places where you will still need…
Leading Amid Chaos
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.” Gospel of Matthew 5:14 (ESV) As first quarter 2022 comes to a close, we look back on a prior year of great challenge. Generations before us have faced famine, disease, war and insurmountable economic stress, yet history has paved…
News for prayer for Week of March 21, 2022
Headline News: COVID coverage has been greatly reduced. Overall the number was up double compared to last week, though they are not seeing an impact in the hospital system. They are currently saying the increase is from the large gathering of Carnival that happened. The territory map is showing considerably more color, as previously it…
News for prayer for Week of March 7, 2022
Headline News: COVID continues moving in a very positive direction as the overall number of cases continues to be low. With restrictions easing people are returning to activities that they used to do. One of those is going to a Cider house where they eat a meal and drink cider. The Cider houses are seeing…
Intentionality in Ministry
Ever since we moved to the Basque Country, we’ve been very intentional and specific about where we do our shopping, what restaurants we frequent, and how we spend our time. We make a point to talk to the people who work in the stores and restaurants we go to and have even exchanged phone numbers…
News for prayer for Week of February 21, 2022
Headline News: The big headline as of late last week is the schism that happened in the PP party. I’ll discuss it in the political section below. Over the last week COVID cases have continued the downward trend. This is good news considering that our restrictions have been greatly reduced. Night clubs are open and…
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News for prayer for Week of February 7, 2022
The cover page images for the 4 papers last week were the following: Rafa Nadal after winning the Australian open for his 21st Grand Slam, restaurant owner removing the sign about needing COVID-19 passport after the TSJPV ruled against them and results of the Real Sociedad game against Betis. The Sunday front page had two…
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News for prayer for Week of January 24, 2022
The cover page images for the 4 papers last week were the following: The mayor presenting the honorary drum for Tamborada, children preparing for Tamborada, children in the street as they were preparing to perform in the Tamborada parade and image from a town showing the family where the last person born was 2017. Headline…
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Who Causes my Problems?
It was my first outing after a particularly severe case of strep throat during our first year in the Basque Country. I was getting my hair cut and I was talking with the stylist about all of the unknowns surrounding the current restrictions due to Covid and school for the girls, the seeming impossibility of…
News for prayer for Week of January 10, 2022
The cover page images for the 4 papers last week were the following: Results of the Real Soccer Game against Alavés and Celta, the start to sales season and the winning numbers for a lottery drawing.Headline News:COVID continues to be the main story for this region. COVID passport’s are required to enter restaurants, concerts and…
Continue Reading News for prayer for Week of January 10, 2022