Basque Country Prayer Points for August 2025

Sampie Brown on August 31, 2025

Prayer Points and verse:

Prayers points:

  • The public university system is unable to keep pace with the number of students who are registering to attend. This results in the students turning to the private university system, though some do not have the financial resources to attend. The public system had ~8700 open spots across different degree plans in 2025/26. Thus far they have received ~20600 pre-registrations. The number of open spots has remained consistent over the last 10 years, with pre-registrations increasing from ~16k to ~20.6k.
    • Pray as students and families work to determine next steps for college and the public university system as they try to best determine how to meet the increasing demand.
  • One of the political parties is attempting to introduce legislation that would look to expel about 8 million illegal immigrants. This is quite concerning to the Gipuzkoa region. They are seeing immigrant workers as a pillar of the economy. This group makes up more than 25% of the workers in the following sectors: Agriculture, workers in the home, restaurants and construction.
    • Pray for the immigrants, their families, employers and the political leaders as they explore options for immigrants living in Spain.
  • The Spanish Police Central Operative Unit has produced a report showing how some inside PSOE were potentially using their positions of authority to route public contracts in exchange for political loyalty or illegal payments. These allegations are adding additional pressure on Pedro Sánchez, who is the leader of the PSOE party, to resign though he remains committed to serve out his term through 2027.
    • Pray for those in the judicial system as they review the material, those who are involved, and the Spanish political system.
  • The Muslim population in Spain is starting to be considered persecuted by some. In Jumilla Spain, which is located in the south, it was recently communicated that Muslims would not be allowed to use public spaces for religious, cultural or social events. Other parts of Europe are also reporting an increase in discrimination for them. Islam is one of the fastest growing religions in Europe with the other increasing category being agnostic. Christianity is seeing quite the decline in Europe.
    • Pray for those attempting to protect the persecuted, those who are doing the persecution, the persecuted and leaders as they explore options and the deeper roots of these issues.
  • The week of August 11 saw quite a wave of heat come through Europe. In San Sebastian the temps were reported to be over 100F, which is challenging since most buildings do not have air conditioning. Thankfully it only lasted a couple of days. Other regions of Spain have not been so fortunate. They have seen fires break out and several hundred thousand hectares have burned. Some fire fighters from this area have traveled to provide assistance in fighting those fires.
    • Pray for those who have been impacted by the fires, those who are assisting and for the weather to remain cool the rest of the summer.

The verse for the month:

For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

James 3:16

Basque Country Prayer Points for September 2024

Sampie Brown on October 2, 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 are designated for tourism.
    • Pray for students, home owners and the government as they work through solutions for affordable housing.
  • A recent report is pointing to several different unhealthy habits that are causing problems for the Basque Hospital system. One of those factors is that ~50% of the population drink some amount of alcohol. Another factor is they are seeing that ~25% of young people (14-18) have smoked cannabis within the past year.
    • Pray for the health of the public and the Basque hospital system as they explore solutions to provide better care to the citizens.
  • Pedro Sánchez has announced his plans to move forward with a government with or without a legislative body in place. They are scheduled to meet between November 29 and December 1 to have elections and set the agenda for the upcoming legislative session. An important item will be a new budget since a new one was not passed for 2024 as they are using the one from 2023.
    • Pray as the political leaders prepare to meet to have a legislative body to address issues for the citizens in Spain.
  • The public hospital system continues to face criticism from the public. A new leader of the system has been appointed. They are working to hire more staff to address the needs of the system, though not enough staff exists. They stated it will be 3-4 years before the staffing needs are met.
    • Pray for the leaders, medical staff and patients as they work through the current challenges in the medical system (Osakidetza).
  • The number of workers that have two jobs has doubled over the last year. Various reasons were shared with one of them being the need for some to have a second job to be able to afford the increase in living expenses. Another was related to the change in employment contracts, along with the number of new jobs in the area. Data from the summer shows that spending stayed the same or went down compared to last year. Businesses also saw this summer about a 10% increase in credit card usage.
    • Pray for the employees, families and businesses as they navigate these uncertain economic times.

The verse for the week:

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Isaiah 41:13 NIV