ABOUT

Joseph and Danielle Contreras

Be Strong Evangelism Ministries began as an inner-city evangelistic outreach in Gijón, SPAIN.  It was started in 2011 by Baptist church planting missionaries, Joseph and Danielle Contreras, and Jeffrey Andrews, in affiliation with Iglesia Bautista Libertad (Liberty Baptist Church) of Gijón.  Based on Ephesians 3:16 and 6:10, the ministry goals of Be Strong are to communicate to the community that through faith in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, people are saved and can have a strong and victorious spiritual life.

The primary activities used to make contact with people of the city and build relationships with them are:

• English classes.  As the economic crisis continues to leave mnay spanish people without jobs (Spain currently has the highest unemployment rate in Europe at 26%), many people realize the benefits of being bilingual as they struggle to regain employment stability in their lives.  Be Strong Ministries is concerned for people in the community and meets this need.
• Fitness training.  Young people, raised as agnostics, begin consumming alcohol at a very young age.  A recent report shows that per capita, Spain has the highest consumption of cocaine and marijuana in the world.  Young people on the streets need a place and activity that will be beneficial to them physically and teach discipline.  Be Strong Ministries helps families with troubled teenagers by providing such a place and activity, while at the same time, having a biblical influence in their lives.
• Bible studies.  There is a growing interest in meditation and inner, spiritual strength through Eastern religions, but people do not believe that Christianity meets this need.  Bible studies offered by Be Strong Ministries shows that the Bible has the answers to people´s spiritual need.

Biblical Christian faith is not a dead religion of enforced man-made ceremonies and traditions, but rather a voluntary walk with Christ which evidences itself in every aspect of life.  In countries like Spain in western Europe, where "Church," "religion," and "priests," are rejected furiously by the people, it is important to show that though they are right in rejecting enforced man-made religion, that must not be confused with what true Biblical Christian faith is.

Joseph and Danielle are members of Starkey Road Baptist Church, Seminole, FL and are in the process of transitioning to California to start a Hispanic ministry in the Orange County area.