1967 Still in Spain

While still reflecting on my sixteen-month-long experience in Spain, two stories stand out: a sight-seeing trip, and a love story.

    The above photo was taken by Rev. John Zielasko, a former missionary to Brazil and then recently appointed general director of the Grace Brethren Foreign Missionary Society. In his European travels for the Mission, he chose to visit the two Winona Lake girls in Madrid. Perhaps he wanted to see how I faring as the daughter of one of his missionaries. 

    Mr. Zielasko took us on a touristic expedition to the Valley of the Fallen now considered "Spain's Most Controversial Monument." Originally designed and built to honor all who died in the civil war, it has lately been labeled a mausoleum built for a dictator. Franco was buried there in November 1975 until his remains were exhumed October 24, 2019 by order of the Supreme Court. (See "The Valle de los Caídos: Place of Memory, Faith, And Polemic") 

    However, in early 1967, Franco was still alive and in power and the atrocities of his forty-year-long dictatorship had not yet been uncovered and exposed, the impressive architectural structure was a must-see. Now, as I revisit the site by means of many online resources and learn about the history, design, all the descriptive details and the current meaningful opportunities offered, I am ever more impressed.

    Located 37 miles from Madrid, I cannot remember how we traveled there, by car perhaps. In those days girls wore dresses or skirts, nylon stockings and shoes not necessarily meant for climbing rocky paths. I recall that we struggled on the rugged 354 foot ascent to the base of the 492 foot huge cross that dominated the landscape and could be seen from some 25 miles away. To add to our discomfort, it was a cold gray winter day.

    When we reached the top, the base of the tallest Christian cross in the world, we discovered that we could have taken an elevator. We smiled at the irony of the situation and promptly chose the easy way down. We descended into the enormous and very impressive basilica hewn out of the rock, surrounded by the burial ground for tens of thousands of those fallen in the Guerra Civil (1936-1939). 

    As we walked the 860 foot-long nave, monks walked by looking away and shielding their faces from us women. They belong to the Benedictine religious order chosen to live and serve the abbey because of their contemplative life-style. Their charge is to seek God, pray and work. Some twenty three monks of the Abadía Santa Cruz live there and follow the example of their founder, Ora et labora. The initial twenty monks arrived July 17, 1958, to "assiduously appease God, offer suffrages for the souls of those killed in the war and pray for the Spanish Nation."

   The supposed purpose of the monument design was to represent the redemptive work of Christ and promote reconciliation. Toward that end a "Center for Social Studies" was established in 1958. This institution studied the social problems that led to civil strife and the doctrines of the Church that would lead to peace and social justice in Spain. Said Centro de Estudios Sociales operated until 1982. A great number of scholarly projects originated there, many inspired by the annual roundtable discussions among prestigious sociologists and other experts in human sciences.

   Escolanía Santa Cruz is another prestigious school that opened in the same year and thrives to this day, a boys choir school.

    During that brief visit back in 1967, I had no concept of the extent of the massive complex that is the Valle de los Caídos. It has received much publicity in recent years.

    The second memory that stands out from that time in Spain is a love story. I had forgotten names and details until I came across the following article I wrote for the Argentine denominational magazine. Here it is in English.

They Found True Love

Let me tell you about Georgina and Antonio's second romance after twenty-one years of marriage.

    Last July 4th they fled Cuba, where they had lived for the last eight years. In August they moved to the building where a group of Cuban women met twice a week for a Bible study class. They attended the gathering twice and especially enjoyed the singing. Then the third time they knelt down and invited Jesus Christ into their lives. A few days later, our team from Operation Mobilization, including the missionary who had dealt with them personally, went to England for the annual month-long training and prayer conference. When we returned in October, many of the Cuban women had left for the United States so the meetings were suspended, and to our great embarrassment, we lost contact with them almost entirely.

    In January, Georgina became very ill and was admitted to the hospital. She had been working very hard in an extremely unhealthy atmosphere, sometimes up to twelve hours a day. Antonio had been unable to find work because of his age and arthritis, so she worked to earn about 2,800 pesetas and pay 2,100 for the small, cold, damp room in which they were living. Desperate and exhausted, she became emotionally and physically ill.

    Ron Anderson, the missionary who led them to Christ, visited her and was shocked to find her in great distress. When he read the Word and prayed, she seemed to revive. Antonio asked that someone come to visit her often. So I went the next day, feeling my own helplessness but praying and believing that God could do it all, and He did! [I discovered that before my visit]The Lord had led her to Matthew 6 where she read that we should not worry about our physical needs. He knows them all and is interested in us. Then, when I saw their small, cold, damp room again and knew they had almost nothing to eat, He led me to invite them to share in our abundance, at least until she recovered. She was completely overwhelmed by this completely unexpected offer, but after some encouragement and insistence, they came to live with us for "a few days". She recovered in a very short time; the doctor could not believe the change.

    By then they had used up almost all the money they had. However, when another room rent payment came due, God provided just in time! Our director invited them to live with us for the rest of their stay in Spain, which was a month and a half.

    On February 25 they were to leave Spain and sail for Chile to live with relatives, "But, I don't want to be a burden to my relatives there," said Georgina. "God will provide," I said, and reminded her of Matthew 6. The next day she said to Antonio, "Why don't you write to the mayor of the village where you were born (in northern Spain) and find out if you have any unknown relatives there?" Five days later he received a very interesting reply from his own cousin, the village letter carrier. He was one of the most important men in the village of about 40 homes. He had read the letter and looked up all possible information about all his ancestors, the priest and the church books and the oldest neighbors. The letter sounded more like an adventure story and ended like this: "Your two uncles have died leaving property, money and a small inheritance that legally belongs to you." 

    A few days later the town was abuzz with excitement, the heir had arrived! Everyone made a big fuss over the "son of the commander" and everyone gave him something, so in a very strange way God provided for all of their needs here in Spain and for the trip.

    As they lived with us they came to realize more and more their heritage and their responsibility as Christians. "Would it be possible for one of you to spend a little time with us each day to teach us the Bible?" Georgina said to me one evening after our group had studied the Gospel of John. An hour a day was only enough to whet their appetite.

    Georgina and Antonio worked with us in the house, went out door to door distributing literature with us, prayed with us, helped tremendously with Cuban refugees who came to our home. We grew to love them deeply. Then they had to leave.

    Their last Sunday with us was the culminating moment of their eight months in Spain--their baptism and church wedding. Now that God had given them a new love and understanding for each other, and since they had never had a church wedding, they wanted to confirm their vows before the Lord and His people. No white dress, no bridesmaids, no ushers, no carpet and no candelabra . . . but they had His wonderful and perfect love and joy.

    Now, after a honeymoon aboard the Rosini filled with opportunities to share their testimony, and a short visit to their relatives, they are in the Bible Institute in Almafuerte, Cordoba, Argentina, preparing for an effective service for the Lord. (El Heraldo Evangélico Argentino, mayo-junio 1967)