Adapted from an article written by Kent Albright. Kent and his wife, Belén, are church planters in Salamanca, Spain.
Rosana is originally from Brazil and moved to Spain several years ago for work reasons. She’s a petite, pretty woman with small features, dark complexion, thin black hair, and a captivating smile. But her life had been far from rosy. She was one of nine children, so she had to basically fend for herself. As a teen, her boyfriend left her pregnant. She loved to party at night, dressed to the hilt with very high heels. She danced the night away to counterbalance the long, weary days of survivalist jobs.
Her daughter, Marcela, caught her zest for the nightlife, and the two of them bar-hopped together on the weekends. One day on vacation at a nudist beach, Rosana met a Spaniard, Manolo, who later became her husband. But the party life stressed their marriage until Marcela was asked to return to Brazil for a while. It was there that she found Christ, and her life began to change dramatically. Both Rosana and Manolo could hardly believe the difference “religion” had made in her.
From Brazil, Marcela begged her mother through letters and over the phone to find a Baptist church. Rosana had hardly heard of such a church and replied that there was certainly no such thing in Salamanca. She knew the city inside out and was certain nothing like it existed … until one rainy day when she was walking to the doctor’s office in Santa Marta. A brochure was lying in a puddle beneath her feet. The word “Baptist” caught her eye.
Incredulously, she picked the paper up by the corner and tried to read the mud-stained back. There it was in black and white—Iglesia Bautista de Tormes (Tormes Baptist Church). And the church was located only 200 meters from her apartment! How could she have missed it? It was Tuesday, but the brochure said they had Wednesday night meetings. Later, after she let the brochure dry, she read it cover to cover and decided to attend.
That week we’d had a church team from Ohio help us distribute thousands of brochures we’d ordered from another missionary who runs a printing press. They were disappointed that, for all their efforts, no one had shown up on Sunday. Then Rosana walked in mid-service that Wednesday evening.
That filthy tract has resulted in quite an explosion of spiritual fruit. Not only did Rosana come to Christ, but her nudist husband also bowed his head in tears to become born-again. God transformed his life, and he became a song leader and musician in our church. Manolo’s daughter and father received Christ, too. Rosana’s cousin in Mallorca trusted Christ; then her mother and several other sisters followed suit. Only three siblings are still unsaved. Brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, neighbors, and other friends have found the Lord, besides the many, many others who’ve received testimony from this couple.
Rosana and Manolo continue to witness and live for Christ as they learn, grow, and serve in the Albrights’ church.