Embracing Spain: Our Family’s Faithful Step Forward

Heads up: this one’s a long read 😅. Thanks for sticking around and actually taking the time to walk with us—it means a lot.

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A step of faith, taken without full financial certainty, but with deep peace, clarity, and trust in God’s calling.

There are moments in life when obedience does not come with guarantees, only with peace. This move to Spain is one of those moments for us.

As a family, we are prayerfully preparing to transition from Romania to Alicante, Spain, planning to move this coming spring. While this step may appear bold, or even risky, from the outside, it is a decision shaped slowly and carefully through prayer, fasting, counsel, and honest conversations with people who have walked closely with us for many years.

Even though we do not yet have full financial sustainability in place, we carry a deep and unmistakable peace. We believe God is leading us forward once again, inviting us to trust Him—not recklessly, but faithfully. We see growth ahead: spiritually, relationally, ministry-wise, and as a family. Because of this, we choose to trust God one more time and begin again.

Gratitude for Romania, Openness to What’s Next

Our years in Romania have marked us deeply. We have seen God move in powerful ways within the church, among young people, in discipleship relationships, and through moments of quiet faithfulness that may never be publicly seen but will echo into eternity. Romania has been a place of refining, growth, and grace, and we leave it with gratitude, not disappointment.

At the same time, we have sensed God gently but persistently stirring our hearts toward something new. Not because Romania lacked fruit, but because seasons change. Obedience sometimes means letting go of what is good in order to embrace what God is preparing next.

Spain is not simply a new location for us; it represents a new chapter, one shaped by calling, family health, accountability, and long-term vision.

Rooted in the Church, Reaching the World

Our primary calling has always been, and continues to be, deeply connected to the local church. We believe the church is God’s frontline—where disciples are formed, leaders are shaped, wounds are healed, and communities are transformed. From that foundation, true outreach flows naturally and sustainably.

In Alicante, our full-time focus will be directly connected to church life: discipleship– one-on-one conversations, mentoring and caring for leaders, meetings throughout the week–, supporting church planting and long-term community development.

We are convinced that healthy, consistent ministry requires stability, people walking together over time, sharing vision, accountability, and responsibility. In our experience, while working with organizations can be meaningful, it often comes with changing structures, shifting leadership, and limited long-term continuity. People come and go, visions change, and teams dissolve.

As a growing family, we have learned the value of stability, not as comfort, but as wisdom. Serving alongside a church with a long-term vision allows us to build something together, slowly, faithfully, and with depth.

We believe accountability is not restrictive, it is protective. It protects our hearts, our calling, and the way we live before God and others. This is why we choose to live transparently and honestly about our journey.

Social Justice Flowing From the Church

From this church-centered foundation, we also feel called to engage in social justice and outreach. In Spain, we will have the opportunity to partner with organizations supported by the church that are actively involved in combating human trafficking and providing safe spaces and support for women through safe houses.

This work matters deeply to us. But again, we believe it is most effective and sustainable when it flows out of a healthy local church, where prayer, discipleship, and shared responsibility sustain the work over time. As the church grows, outreach grows. As community strengthens, impact deepens.

Spain and the Doorstep of the 10/40 Window

One of the reasons Spain holds such significance for us is its unique geographic and spiritual position. Alicante sits at the doorstep of what is often called the 10/40 Window, a region of the world between 10 and 40 degrees north latitude where the majority of the world’s unreached people groups live, including many Muslim communities.

Reaching Muslims has been a desire in my heart since I was sixteen years old, when I first encountered Jesus and sensed a call to missions. While this began as a personal burden, it is now something we carry together as a family.

Spain offers a rare opportunity to live among people from Muslim backgrounds, to build genuine relationships, and to share the Gospel not through pressure or argument, but through presence, hospitality, and long-term faithfulness. This is not about strategy alone, it is about obedience to a calling that has been forming for many years.

Church Planting Is Full-Time Work—Not a Hobby

We also feel it is important to address something honestly and clearly.

Church planting is full-time work. It carries weight, responsibility, accountability, and real human cost. It is not a side project, a lifestyle hobby, or something done in spare hours. It involves pastoral care, leadership development, preparing home groups throughout the week, prepare for Sunday's services, developing and studying in the word of God, discipleship, administration, counseling, crisis response, teaching, vision casting, and constant presence among people, often in moments when life is hardest, among many others.

Throughout Scripture, missionaries are not described as a separate or lesser category than disciples or church workers. The Bible does not distinguish between “real jobs” and “ministry work.” The call of Jesus is the same for all: to be disciples who make disciples. Some are sent, some stay—but both are part of the same body.

The early church understood this clearly. Those who labored in preaching, teaching, and shepherding were supported so they could devote themselves fully to the work entrusted to them. Paul himself makes this explicit when he writes that “the worker deserves his wages” and that those who preach the Gospel have the right to live from the Gospel (1 Corinthians 9; 1 Timothy 5:17–18).

We share this not to justify ourselves, but to expose a reality that is often misunderstood: church planting requires full availability, emotional investment, spiritual responsibility, and long-term commitment. Divided focus weakens the work—not because work outside ministry is wrong, but because the calling itself demands presence.

Being fully supported allows us to serve the church with integrity, accountability, and consistency. It allows us to walk with people through discipleship, crisis, doubt, growth, and leadership development, not occasionally, but faithfully and over time.

This is not about comfort. It is about stewardship. And it is about honoring the seriousness of the calling God places on those who serve His church.

Even when Paul worked with his hands, he made it unmistakably clear that this was a personal choice, not a command for others. He repeatedly affirmed that those who labor in preaching, teaching, and shepherding the church have the biblical right to be supported.

Paul’s tentmaking was contextual and missional, not prescriptive. In fact, he strongly defended the principle that “the worker deserves his wages” and that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel.

The Bible does not present self-funded ministry as a higher form of spirituality. Rather, it presents a shared responsibility: some are sent, and others support, both equally obedient, both essential to the life of the Church.

A Decision Made Carefully, Not Lightly

This transition was not rushed. It came after extended seasons of prayer and fasting, and after receiving counsel from pastors, mentors, close friends, and supporters who have walked with us faithfully for many years. Some of these relationships go far beyond partnership, they are family to us.

What has been consistent through all of these conversations is peace. Not the absence of challenges, but a shared sense that this move is right for our calling, for our family, and for the season ahead.

A Healthier Environment for Our Family

As parents, we carry not only a calling to ministry, but a responsibility to steward our family well. Spain offers us a context where we can pursue ministry with depth and focus, while also cultivating balance—emotionally, spiritually, and relationally—for our children.

This move is not about doing less for God. It is about doing what He has asked us to do, in a way that allows us to endure, grow, and remain faithful for the long term.

From Spain, we will also remain connected to other nations in Europe, including continued involvement in Ukraine, relationships and responsibilities that remain close to our hearts.

Trusting God for Provision as We Move Forward

As we prepare to move this spring, we are trusting God for provision. Our monthly goal is €3,500, which covers housing, living expenses, and allows us to serve as full-time church staff, fully devoted to vision, discipleship, and mission.

At this stage, the church itself is not able to provide a salary. It is a young church—just one year old—and still in the process of being established financially. This is why our support does not come from the church budget, but through partnership with individuals and churches who believe in the long-term vision of planting healthy, sustainable local churches.

Our commitment is not dependent on immediate financial return, but on obedience and calling. We are stepping in to serve and help build something from the ground up, trusting that strength, stability, and sustainability will grow over time.

At this moment, we are still €2,200 short of that goal.

We share this not as pressure, but as transparency. Reaching this goal will allow us to step into Spain fully available, without divided focus, so we can invest deeply in the church, in people, and in the mission God has placed before us.

Once again, we choose to trust God, believing that He will provide through His people, as He always has.

To partner with us visit Donate.

A Request for Prayer

We ask for your prayers in this season: for wisdom and clarity, for provision, for protection over our family, for fruitfulness in Spain

And we also pray for the wider church, that we would all remain sensitive and obedient to God’s calling, supporting His work and His people with faith and generosity.

As the apostle Paul writes:

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7)

We step into Spain trusting that God is already at work—preparing hearts, opening doors, and inviting us to join Him there.

Thank you for walking with us in prayer, trust, and faithfulness as we follow God’s leading. God bless you!

The Venegas Family

The Table Collective