Josie Ellis

My calling in Spain is to serve North African immigrants through World Gospel Mission to build relationships and share God’s love and show His heart for the immigrant. God has a huge heart for the immigrant, and He loves them. As some of you know, I have been to Spain for the last two summers on short-term ministry trips. The first time I went, I completely fell in love with the ministry and the people there, so I knew I had to go back. I went back the following summer and continued to love the ministry and knew that my work there was not over yet. A verse that sums up my feelings about going back to Spain is Romans 8:28 (NIV) “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God called me to serve long term in Spain the last time when I was there. I knew that I wanted to go back, and I couldn’t imagine not being in Spain for a long period of time, so I knew I had to go back and that I wanted to be back as soon as possible. Jennifer Lee said, “Be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire.” The work in Spain sets my soul on fire; I am passionate about the work that is happening there. 

I work with an organization that works with North African immigrants to provide language and necessary skills. Through our cultural centers that offer language classes, after-school programs, and other helpful and cultural classes to help the immigrant community, we build relationships with our students. There are 46.72 million people in Spain, 4,549,858 of the people in Spain are immigrants, and 16.4% of the immigrants in Spain are from North Africa. This means that 746,176 North Africans are living in Spain. The need is great, and they desperately need the love of God. I feel called to help serve them and build relationships with them to share God’s love.