We have been in full-time ministry for 20 years now. We have lived in Valencia, Spain for the past three years sharing the love of Jesus and helping people follow Him. Before coming to Spain we served on staff at Victory Church in Denver, Colorado for 7 years. During this time Ryan began a Spanish-speaking congregation, coordinated local and global outreach and Christy led the Children’s Ministry. Prior to our time at Victory we served as missionaries in Mexico for 8 years, working with youth, outreaches and church-planting both in Mexico City and Leon, Guanajuato. Our oldest son, Nathan, was born in Mexico City. Evan and Elijah came later during our time in the United States.

Spain is a beautiful country with rich history, incredible architecture and a beautiful culture. It also happens to be a country where less than 1% of the population of over 40 million people are born again believers in Christ. Valencia is located on the east coast of Spain, about 3 hours south of Barcelona. It is the third largest city in Spain and one of the busiest ports in the Mediterranean - an important economic hub with over 2 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area.

Interesting Facts

• They don’t just speak Spanish in Valencia! “Valenciano”, a language just as old as Castellano, or Spanish, is also an official language here and is taught in schools, spoken in all government offices and is a commonly used dialect in the towns of the Valencian Community. All street signs and names of buildings are listed in Valenciano.

• The Holy Grail is in Valencia! Well, supposedly. In the main cathedral of Valencia lies the supposed chalice of Jesus used at the last supper.

• Fallas (pronounced “fajas”) is an internationally renowned festival that takes place every March in honor of St. Joseph where every neighborhood builds a large wooden structure… and then burns it! Valencia qudruples in size for this UNESCO heritage festival that lasts 19 days and is considered the largest street party in Europe.

• The Romans founded Valencia 130 before Christ. They gave the new settlement the latin name “Valentia”, which means “courage”, and the city is believed to have served as a pseudo retirement village for brave Roman military officers.

• Paella, the famous Spanish rice dish, was created here. Authentic Paella Valenciana contains chicken and rabbit meat, and sometimes snails.

• Valencia boasts the largest market in Europe and the largest public park in Spain right in the heart of the of the city.

• The symbol of Valencia is a bat. Yes, a bat. In fact, twice DC Comics has attempted to sue the city of Valencia for copyright infringement. They’ve failed both times.

God spoke to us to raise up a “sending church” in Spain. How do we do this?

• We are serious about prayer. We spend a lot of time seeking God’s face and blessing our city. People need a spiritual breakthrough and we believe strongly that our best time is spent in prayer. Relying on the Holy Spirit, God gives us creative strategies that are out of the normal, religious box.

• We meet people where they are. We disciple people who have little to no interest in anything to do with “church” yet who are very spiritually hungry. We don’t wait for them to attend an event at a building, we meet them were they are and share the good news of Jesus in their context.

• We work to start a disciple-making movement. Jesus told us to make disciples, not start churches. Our passion is to see a disciple-making movement sweep across Europe and the entire Mediterranean region.