From talk by John Gunn, Overseer of Spain to some Dutch Friends about ‘the Truth’ in Spain.
on March 5, 2003

Otto Kimmich and Sandy Scott were the first workers who came to Spain to labour in 1933. Three years later the civil war broke out and many Spaniards had to flee. A young lady in her twenties fled to France and got to know the Way. After the war she came back to Spain and could not return to France because the Spanish borders were closed. She did not realise that one of the Friends lived in the south of Spain, as well.

Basilio Alvarez lived in Argentina, and in 1920 he got to know a brother worker, Jack Jason (or Jackson?). He learned English from Jack J. and Jack learned Spanish from Basilio. Later Basilio professed and went in the Work.

In 1951, Franco ruled over Spain, and there was an opportunity to go to Spain if you were from Spanish origin. Basilio went to Spain to preach. Catholics were in favour of Franco, and if you were not Catholic, you could not find a job. When people had plans to get married, they had to get permission from the priest. If you were not a Catholic, you lost your job right away. People were poor in Spain, and starting a marriage without having a job was very difficult. Basilio was often abused by the police when they found out that he was not Catholic. The Friends and Workers in Spain met in parks to have meetings during Franco’s regime.

Sabino was a man who came from Barcelona. He studied philosophy and religion. That’s how he knew a priest who lived near Basilio. Sabino also knew someone who repaired/fixed shoes. One day he brought back Basilio’s repaired shoes and asked from whom those shoes were, because he could tell from the shape of the shoes that they belonged to someone who kneeled often. Basilio answered that they were his shoes. That made an impression on Sabino. Later Sabino accepted the truth and started to serve the Lord. 

One of the Friends found a part of the bible at the age of 16. Bibles were very scarce in that time. He was very disappointed in the church. Two workers had a room at his aunt’s place. The workers had started to have a bible study with the boys. One day the workers visited a lady who was listening to a sermon of a priest at that moment. She asked the workers: "What do you think of it?’’ And one of the workers looked behind the radio and under the radio and said then that he didn’t see the feet of the priest who was preaching there. "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation" (Isaiah 52).

In the south of Spain, many people are Catholic. People are bound by tradition. A lady decided not to go to the Catholic church anymore because she was disappointed. Later, she went to the Jehovah Witnesses and was also disappointed there. She prayed to the Lord and cried a lot. One day an advertisement put in the newspaper by the sister workers caught her eye, and she phoned them. It was at 12 at night where she was, but that isn’t late in Spain. She spoke for one hour with one of the sister workers.

A certain Manuela wanted to get baptised, but she had to make up with her sister-in-law, who was also professing and coming to the meetings. She did it her own way and confessed her sin (that she was angry with her sister in law) and that she wanted to make it up with her. 

SPAIN & PORTUGAL

Barcelona has always been the center of the work in Spain and it was the location of the first convention. Convention is a fairly recent event there, as it is in Greece. The years of persecution by the official state church in both countries made any kind of larger gathering impossible. They didn't have conventions in Spain until after Basilio died (1985).

The work in Spain and Portugal is combined together as one group, and usually the fields that contain part of Portugal also contain part of Spain. The languages are so similar that it only takes about 6-9 months to master one of them, if you already know the other well, so it's not difficult to switch between the two.

Portugal has a separate history from Spain. While workers from Spain went into Portugal occasionally through the years, no converts were made. Then in the 1980’s and perhaps even into the early 90s, a number of workers from Brazil went back and forth to Portugal. Portugal is the mother country of Brazil and Brazil is the only other country in the world to speak Portuguese.

Sometime in the mid 1980’s, Carl Schupbach and Elpídio Arruda went to Portugal from Brazil. They were there perhaps a year, and then Carl returned to Brazil, and Neri Mendonça went to be with Elpídio. They had no response whatsoever and decided to return to Brazil. The night before they were to leave, Neri died in his sleep (January 22, 1986) at age 47, totally unexpected. So a worker was already dead and buried in Portugal before any converts were made. A few years later, João Juhász with a Brazilian companion (possibly Nilton Rodrigues) were there and again had no response.

At some point after that in the 1990’s some Portuguese people met workers in some European countries and believed their message. Contacts were made with their relatives and workers from Spain began going in and finally there was some response to their message. Two pairs of workers are usually assigned to Portugal and their fields include some border areas of Spain too.

The Lisboa convention is just a few years old. Portugal began to be shown on the list with Spain in 1995, when Paulo Soares from Brazil went to be with Omar de Abreu there. Paulo just stayed a year and then Ivo Camargo went for a couple of years. Since then, Brazil has not been sending workers and the workers have come from Spain.

SPAIN :

When did the workers first arrive? 1933

Who were the first brother workers?  Otto Kimmich and Sandy Scott . They fled when Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936.
1936 List shows four brothers there: Reg Beer, Otto Kimmich, Minton Edwards, and James Boles.
1951 Basilio Alvarez ( born in Spain, professed among the first in Argentina, and went back to Spain after WW2)
1954 List shows Basilio Alvarez, Manuel Gallardo (Argentina), Omar de Abreu (Uruguay), and Cándida Rodríguez (Argentina). All four spent most of the rest of their life in Spain, although Basilio the only one who actually died there.

Who were the first sister workers? (not known for certain). Possibly 1954 Carmen Meana (1906-1996, age 90 yrs); Cándida Rodríguez ( Argentina); Nélida Romera ( Argentina)

Who was the first to profess?  (info needed)

Who was the first native to go in the work? There are a number of native-born Spanish workers. Two have died in the work thus far: Carmen Meana and Vicente Salido.

When & Where was the first meeting? (info needed)

When & Where was the first baptism? (info needed)

When & Where was the first convention?  Barcelona (They didn't have conventions until after Basilio died in 1985)

Where is the convention currently held?  Barcelona and Madrid

Who have the Overseers been?
Sandy Scott ( Scotland)
Basilio Alvarez (died 1985)
Omar de Abreu ( Uruguay) turned oversight to John Gunn in 1993. He stayed in Spain & Portugal until 2002, when he returned to Uruguay.  He passed away there in 2004.
Current Overseer:  John Gunn ( Scotland but had spent many years in Chile prior to going to Spain) from 1993 to present.

TTT Editor's Note: In the absence of a written account, the above information has been compiled by the TTT Editor from various sources. Corrections or additions are most welcome; as well as other historical accounts for other countries.

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