Carlos, Ana and their family are church planting in Coimbra Portugal. This is their latest report.

"Coimbra is a special city in Portugal because it’s our city! It is also a university city which boasts one of the oldest universities in Europe, dating back to 1290. 
There are 35 evangelical churches for a population of 140,000. The vast majority of these are Brethren and began between 1950 and 1960 in a movement that sprang from God’s activity through foreign missionaries from the UK. Many are very small and struggle to have an effective witness in their communities. Although in the last 5 years the population has increased by 7000, no new churches have been planted.

"The need to plant churches is real and we believe that God has been preparing and making us uncomfortable with being comfortable with the gospel message. The book of Acts portrays a movement of God by His Holy Spirit, through the disciples of His Son. It was not a ‘comfortable’ movement (it turned the world upside down) but it was transforming and joyful. Today in Coimbra we see the message being spread, Jesus being witnessed, lives being transformed, and we see joy.

"Until 2013 we thought church planting was a good thing but not a priority. The priority was to revitalize existing congregations to do the outreach needed. Today, we believe both are necessary because, from what we see in Coimbra, existing/established churches struggle to reach unchurched people or people with no religious background.

"We need to live out the book of Romans, not being “ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16.) We need to feel a sense of joyful obligation to the people around us over whom the “wrath of God is being revealed” (Rom 1:18.) Romans chapts.1 to 7 should spur us on to plant churches through the power, mercy and grace of God revealed in the gospel, and Romans chapts. 8 to 16 should encourage us to revitalize existing churches with the wonderful implications of the gospel.

"Our society still has people, like the eunuch in Acts 8, like Saul in Acts 7-8 and especially like the philosophers of Acts 17. So, let us be the people of God, who share Jesus, like Philip, Stephen and Paul."