Surrounded by the Nations

Before moving to Portugal, I had the expectation that it would be quite a while before we could engage in conversations about faith. Our team planned to take at least one year of language school in order to learn, with conversational fluency, how to speak Portuguese. I thought, “How can you possibly share the gospel without speaking their language?” Well, as usual, God uses the little things to expand his glory!

We stumbled upon a language school in our city that offers intensive language studies for both long term and short term learners. The classes are intense! However, many new students arrive each week and stay anywhere from one week to several months. We usually get new classmates each week from all around the world. So far, we have had a lady from Denmark, a couple from Italy, a gentleman from Finland, and an American woman who lived in France before moving to Portugal. Not to mention all the Portuguese teachers at the school. The common denominator? They all speak English!

If you look at the whole picture, you might notice that God isn’t allowing us to waste a single moment. We spend four hours a day, five days a week surrounded by the nations who have not heard the good news of the gospel!

We gave a Bible to one of the ladies, and two of the women have attended church with us. We have shared the gospel with several of them as conversations open doors. Also, every single one of our classmates know that we are in Portugal to spread the love of Christ. And we haven’t even finished language school yet!