History
Early Phoenicians gave Spain its name, calling it “Span,” which
means hidden or remote land. Roman legions took two centuries to complete
the conquest of Spain, which became final in the 1st century AD. Vandals
(a Germanic tribe) and Visigoths entered Spain from the north in the 5th
century and settled there. Because of its proximity to Northern Africa,
the southern parts of Spain came under Muslim control for many centuries.
Spanish Muslims—called Moors—and Christian kings fought over
Spain for many decades. Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, a Christian knight, organized
an army and drove most of the Moors from Spain during the medieval period.
In 1492, the final Moorish stronghold in Spain was conquered.
An age of Spanish exploration and conquest began soon after, with the Spanish
Armada ruling much of the open seas. However, storms destroyed the Armada
and the Spanish Empire went into decline. Modern times have seen Spain at
the center of other major world events. From 1939 to 1975, Francisco Franco,
a fascist dictator, controlled Spain. When Franco died, Spain became a democracy.
Church
History
Although Catholicism has been present in Spain for many centuries, the Pentecostal
Movement entered Spain in the 1920s. Swedish missionaries pioneered a church
in Madrid, the capital, in the 1930s, and other missionaries soon followed.
When Civil War broke out in 1936 all missionaries were forced out. Anti-evangelical
sentiments continued after the war, hampering further evangelism efforts.
In 1950 in the city of Ronda, Pentecostal ministers, Roman and Carmen Perruc,
discovered a group of Pentecostal believers who had survived the war and
subsequent persecutions. This group became an Assemblies of God church.
The national organization of the Assemblies of God in Spain was formed in
1963.
The
Movement Today
Though small, the Pentecostal Fellowship in Spain is growing. Evangelism
to children, evangelism literature and correspondence courses have touched
tens of thousands in Spain. Several regions of Spain have no Pentecostal
work and many congregations are without fully trained pastors. The people
of Spain and the church there need continual prayer. The Assemblies of God
in Spain report the following statistics: 200 - 300 ministers, 200 churches
and outstations, 20,000 members and adherents, one Bible school with two
extension programs serving a total of 69 students. The Assemblies of God
in Spain are developing a program of foreign missions with missionaries
in Romania, North Africa, Peru, Equatorial Guinea, and also programs of
aid in Ecuador, Cuba and the Honduras.
Additional
Facts About Spain
Capital:
Madrid
Area:
195,364 square miles
Population:
40,217,413
Ethnic Groups: Multiple mixes of Mediterranean and Nordic
races
Languages: Castilian Spanish (official), Catalan, Galician
and Basque
Agriculture:
Grains, olives, grapes, citrus and vegetables
Industry: Machinery, metals, textiles, tools, shoes, vehicles,
processed foods and tourism. |
