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A Century of Church Planting in Iberia
Photo credits: Portugal Olé by Miguel Tavares Cardoso
In 1920, aged just 21 and with £5 in his pocket, Eric Harold Barker stepped from the boat onto Portuguese soil as one of the first pioneer missionaries in that nation.
With no foreign language skills, he moved into a Portuguese home and read only a Portuguese Bible. Within six months he was preaching in Portuguese. One of his first challenges was to take the funeral of an ailing evangelical in a remote area in the north of the country. On arrival, he prayed and anointed him with oil and he was wonderfully healed. This was the beginning of the first evangelical church in northern Portugal. Week after week on a covered wagon pulled by a mule, Eric would travel from fair to fair preaching the gospel, selling Bibles and distributing tracts. Persecution was intense, with many new believers losing their jobs, being stoned, beaten up and sometimes imprisoned. But Eric’s love for the gospel saw him plant five churches in and around Porto as well as others in the northern counties.
In 1942 the Consul instructed all English inhabitants to leave Portugal because of the war, and whilst Eric stayed, his wife and seven children were evacuated on a ship. This was torpedoed on its way to England and his family perished. The following Sunday morning Eric received the tragic news but amazingly went to church and announced that his family had all arrived safely ‘home’.
In 1946 he married Beryl and had five more children. One of his daughters married an Englishman named Mike, and in 1983 they set off from England with two very small children to plant a church in the city of Penefiel (North Portugal). Today this is a thriving church in the heart of the conurbation. It is one of the most beautiful churches I have been to – full of the Holy Spirit and joy and passionate about reaching the nation with the gospel.
Mike and Jessica raised three pioneering children. Andrew and his wife Lucy, are currently planting a church in the city of Porto. September 2011 sees the official public launch of the church in the city, coinciding with another two families moving from the UK to Porto.
In January, Heather and I spoke at a church weekend for the Lagos church, led by Dave Chester, located in the South of Portugal. This weekend also drew in leaders from our growing church in Gibraltar. There is a clear prophetic sense of opportunities in these nations opening up, and more recently I hosted the first Together for the Iberian Peninsula leaders’ conference. Leaders of churches and emerging teams on the Iberian Peninsula joined together with other churches and movements.
Kevin and Vanessa Bartlett from Madrid attended the conference. Kevin planted a church in Salisbury in 2003 and recently felt God lead him to uproot his family to live in this influential capital city. The whole family are learning Spanish and a handful of people are already showing interest in building a Spanish speaking Newfrontiers church in Madrid.
Eric Barker died in Portugal in 1989, aged 90, leaving behind a rich heritage for those coming after him. Jesus said ‘the harvest is plentiful, the labourers few’, I believe it is God’s time for the Iberian Peninsula. He also reminded his disciples that others had done the hard work, provoking us to remember that we today stand on the shoulders of great heroes of faith whose lives and bravery bid us to take the same risks for our Saviour.
About the author
Guy leads Citygate Church Bournemouth, where he has been since 1999. He oversees a group of churches in the South West of England, as well as across India, Spain and Portugal. Guy is married to Heather and they have four children.
Comments
By Graham Pyman on 12/07/2011 at 12:36
What a fantastic story! Very inspiring!
By Luis Conde on 17/07/2011 at 20:59
As Portuguese I never heard about Eric Barker maybe because I attended churches in the Lisbon area. I am praying for the New Frontiers churches located in my country. Forca irmaos!! C’mon brothers!!
By Brian Dix on 26/10/2011 at 15:05
Dear Guy,
What an interesting story—one that I, too, have never heard, though I was a church planter in Portugal for nearly 20 years. From whom did you hear this fantastic story…one of the family members? a church member?