Basque Country Prayer Points for Week of April 3, 2023

Sampie Brown on April 8, 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. It is currently an average of 64 days versus before COVID being 49. The public health leaders are attempting to put measures in place to help reduce the time.
    • Pray for medical staff, leaders and patients as they navigate the different aspects of the healthcare system
  • The leader of the Spanish Pension system is communicating that currently they do not see a reason to delay the retirement age. The reason for this message is because of changes that are happening in the French retirement system. They communicated that the Spanish system is robust enough and is viable through 2050
    • Pray for the leaders of the retirement system. Also pray for those who are considering retiring as once that happens the wage is locked in except for cost of living increases and for those who are already retired as they try to make the salary they receive from the system work given the economic environment.
  • Recently the Spanish Congress passed an increase in the minimum payments for those on the retirement system. This will benefit more than 3 million people as they will see an increase over the next 4 years.
    • Praise that those in the retirement system are seeing an increase in the pay that helps offset some of the increases in the cost of living
  • Access to pornographic material by minors is something Non-governmental organizations and the government are investigating. France recently put a technology solution in place to verify those accessing the material were over 18. With the average of first access being as young as 8 and the average age 14, the government and others are looking for ways to ensure the material is only accessed by those of age.
    • Pray as solutions are being investigated for preventing access to pornographic material to those who are underage.
  • On May 28 elections will be happening here in Spain. During these elections new leaders will be selected at the local, regional and national level. Those choices will have an impact on the upcoming legislative calendars for what projects will continue and/or law changes that will be made.
    • Pray for the people as they look to determine which candidate will best represent them in the coming years to make legislative decisions.

The verse for the week:

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5 ESV

News for prayer for Week of February 21, 2022

Sampie Brown on February 23, 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 the first large community gatherings are starting to happen. One happened this past Saturday night, called Caldereros here in Donostia. Then tomorrow (Thursday, February 24) Fat Thursday starts the kick off of carnaval in a nearby town of Tolosa.  With the number of cases down significantly normal surgeries have restarted at the hospital.

The trial of a serial sexual predator who assultated women for 7 years in Lasarte-Oria (small town just outside of Donostia) has started. They believe he assaulted at least 10 women. During the trial it was reported that he used chloroform to subdue the women in the attacks. They were able to confirm his identity thanks to DNA.

The sexual abuse that happened in the catholic church continues to be reported on. An independent council of 18 people has been established to review all the cases. The two focuses of the council are to review the previous work done by the dioceses and to establish contact with the victims. The Basque Government made a statement that it condemns what happened and will make available all protocols to hold those responsible for what happened.

Economy:

The cost of inflation for January reported at 6.1% which is down 0.4% compared to December. This was the second straight month that it was above 6%. These levels have not been seen in almost 30 years. Salaries are not expected to match this pace. The expectation for February is to be 7.1%, while the whole year is expected to be 4.6%.

The IBEX35 ended last week on a small upward trend closing at 8,590.00, a 0.01% increase for the week.

Political:

As stated above, the headlines have been focused on the schism that is happening in the PP party, who are considered conservative. The news broke last week after Ayuso (a member of the PP who leads the city of Madrid and has been rising in popularity) made accusations against Casado, the current leader. The accusations are that the leaders in the by PP party were attempting to discredit Ayuso and were investigating irregularities with a purchase made in April of 2020. The purchase in question was done by Ayuso’s brother for 250K FFP2 and FFP3 masks for ~1.5 million euro. One leader has already stepped down and there is a call for Casado to step down as well.

International:

The focus of a majority of the international headlines has been the conflict between Russia – Ukraine and the response of the rest of the world. Easing of some EU border control regarding COVID restrictions starting March 1 was also reported on.

Sports:

Real Sociedad played two games last week. The first was for the Europa League, in which they are in the playoffs of one home game and one away game. The first game was played in Leipzig (Italy) and the result was a 2-2 tie. The next game is at home tomorrow (Thursday, Feb 24). On Sunday it was back to La Liga play in which they played their Basque rival Athletic Bilbao to the result of a 0 – 4 loss. This moves the team to 7th place overall. The next La Liga game is Sunday against Osasuna. 

GBC has played two games since my last update. The first was against Estudiantes which was a 54 – 72 loss. Next they played against in-province rival Juaristi Iraurgi. The result was a 80 – 70 victory. The team is currently in 9th place, last spot for the end of the season playoff. The next game is March 6 against Leyma Coruna.

Prayer Points and verse for the week:

Prayers points:

  • COVID-19 continue downward trend
  • Impacts of inflation
  • Political stability in Spain & the world

The verse for this week focused on peace given all that is going on. I thought this verse fit well:

And the Peace of God, Which Transcends All Understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus Christ.

Philippians 4:7