Portugal is currently experiencing growth in new churches, with nearly half of the country’s evangelical congregations having started since 2001. The vision to grow and plant more churches is widespread, and the OM team in Portugal is working alongside like-minded organisations to bring new groups of believers together in new church communities in areas which have previously had little gospel input.
One of these new communities is Monção in the Vale do Minho, a region in northern Portugal with about 70,000 inhabitants that faces deep challenges, including ageing, rural depopulation and youth emigration.
Pastor Carlos, who is leading the Monção fellowship, explained, “Spiritually, the need is enormous. The predominant faith is popular Catholicism, expressed in processions and feasts, but for many it is cultural heritage rather than a living relationship with Christ. In many villages, there has never been an evangelical church.
“We started in 2018 with Bible study groups in homes. Since November 2022, the Lord has provided a rented place for us to preach, study His Word and worship.
“Currently, it is a church in a consolidation phase. We are in a stage of growth and formation with a core group of believers, working on holistic discipleship and outreach to both local families and immigrants. We meet weekly in the place the Lord gave us. We continue working on discipleship, Bible teaching and community outreach.”
Monção is one of the churches of the Vale do Minho Network, which also includes the historic churches of Valença (founded in 1928) and Pias (founded in 1985). OM is working to expand the gospel throughout the region.
The Monção church’s relationship with OM began in 2020. “At that time, we were alone, with no mission agency supporting us. OM reached out to help us,” Pastor Carlos said. “Their help included buying a television for the church and, during the first two years, helping with part of the rent for the premises. That support was very valuable to us.”
Pastor Carlos said the project is going well, but with some challenges. “We face the challenges typical of a church plant in a rural area with strong popular Catholic roots and little evangelical presence (only 0.21 per cent of the population of the Vale do Minho),” he said. “Nevertheless, we have seen fruit, and the Lord has been faithful.
“What we need is for the financial support to continue, given the financial difficulties typical of a church plant.”
Pray for the church plant in Monção. Pray for the training of new leaders and the financial stability of the project.
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