Josh and Shannon Herndon, missionaries in Spain, recently partnered with a Work & Witness team from the U.S. to lead baseball ministry for the children of Illescas, where the Herndons live and minister. Because baseball is not widely available in Spain, it has proved a popular way to build relationships and serve the community. (Read more and watch a video.)

On March 12, a Work & Witness team from the Gateway Church of the Nazarene in Murrieta, California, came to Illescas, outside Madrid, to put on a sports camp for the children of our community. We were unexpectedly blessed to be invited into one of the local primary schools to teach baseball in some of the physical education classes. This was a big deal because Spanish schools are very closed off to visitors. Parents don’t even have easy access to the classroom or teachers. The fact that we were invited to interact and play baseball with children every day inside the school was amazing. We had approximately 120 children a day playing baseball at the school.

God once again opened unexpected doors to us for our evening baseball camp. Originally, we had hoped to play baseball at the local soccer field, as we had done in the past. When I went to find out if it was available, I was told that it was reserved every day of the week until 10 p.m. There was no room for baseball. So, we needed to find another option.

In our town, like almost every Spanish town, we have a bullfighting ring: The Plaza de Toros. In our town, there is a very large, open area outside of the bullfighting ring. This large area is meant for parking, most likely, but it is grassy and spacious. We approached the local City Hall to ask if we could use the green space outside of the bullfighting ring to hold a baseball camp. I submitted the paperwork explaining what we wanted to do, and where, and we waited for a call back.

For the rest of the story, see Engage magazine.