Spain: Evangelical projects reach 780,000 people in need

The Spanish evangelical churches see social action as a priority, according to a study made by the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE in Spanish) and the social organization Diaconia, about the activities carried out by the Protestant NGOs and churches in 2013.

This study, as Conchi Rodriguez, Project Director of Diaconia, has said in an interview with the Spanish online newspaper Protestante Digital, aimed “to make the social action of the evangelical churches visible”.

In 2013, 1,236 churches and 128 NGOs carried out social activities to serve 1,460,155 people in total: 781,043 in Spain; and 679,112 in the rest of the world.

EFFECTS OF THE CRISIS

Many of those people (225.500) have received assistance in their basic needs: food, clothing, glasses, hearing aid, etc; but “there is more we can do, specially if we compare ourselves with other organizations in Spain”, and it is very sad that “even among us, we are not aware of what other evangelicals are doing in our own communities”, explained Rodriguez.

But not only the basic needs are covered: due to the economic crisis, the necessities have grown a lot in Spain. Because of that, “we have meal centers, day cares, and women shelters”, and “we give assistance in job searching, professional training, or school tutoring, among other services”, detailed the Project Director of Diaconia.

The social action of the Spanish evangelical churches and NGOs also involves helping those who have suffered abuse, fighting against human trafficking, or drug rehabilitation.

SELF-FINANCING AND PROFESSIONALISM

The study also shows what percentage of the inversion in social issues comes from the churches and the members of the NGO, through fees and donations. It is estimated that more than 37 million of euros are invested in social action, and only 18% of that amount comes from public (15%) or private (3%) grants.

Another challenge that the Spanish evangelical organizations need to face, is the quality of the services they provide: “our volunteers work is excellent, but we need to improve the professionalism in everything we do. Knowing and cooperating with other organizations, the local social services, and experts, will improve our services, and it will give us a great opportunity to show others what we do”, said Martinez.

Diaconia expects to continue publishing this study every year, and to improve it with specific data of every autonomous region and city, so that they can create a data base of all their projects, to compare them with the ones that will be made in the future.