El Lokal is the name of a church in Barcelona that we were fortunate enough to be a part of.  El Lokal is a unique expression of God’s heart for Spain, specifically its youth.  It was founded by Pastors Curtis and Patti Clewett.  The Clewetts have been in Spain since 1992 running the King’s Kids Ministry.

King’s Kids takes teens on outreaches during Semana Santa (Holy Week) and summer vacations.  The general idea is to perform in plazas and do service projects to help people and spread the gospel.  However, anyone who has been on an outreach will quickly realize that the best part of the outreach is the spiritual growth that occurs in each participant.

One pastor observed that during an outreach one could grow in faith in Jesus more than if they had simply spent two years going to church.  That is saying something considering the outreaches are only two to three weeks long maximum.

Curtis and Patti observed that while the kids did truly grow on these outreaches, it was difficult to keep the momentum up when the kids returned to their home churches.  They longed for a church that would give these kids a place to continue growing in faith and in their God given gifts year round.

Since such a church did not exist in Spain, at God’s urging they created one.

And what a place it is!  We were blessed to be there during the planting phase attending a youth leadership school that they run called “La-Lanzadera” (loosely translated as “The Launchpad”) where we learned how to be effective youth leaders in general and specifically in the context of reaching Spanish youth and leading King’s Kids tours.

There is much more to say about this amazing experience.  God moves in ways that are bigger than we are.  Dream and commit those dreams to God.  He has forgiven and redeemed you in his son Jesus Christ.  He has a million places like El Lokal that he wants to plant for His harvest but the workers are few.  Pray to the Lord of the harvest that He would send workers into the fields.

Grace and peace be with you in the Lord Jesus Christ.