Every year, the El Palustre club, an entity in the Spanish city of Malaga which promotes traditions and trades, organises the national trowelling competition, and in the last four editions an evangelical has been part of the winning team.

Vasile Safta, a member of the Protestant Church of Salou, is Aleix Plana's assistant and the two form the team that has won the prize, popularly known as the 'Champions League' of bricklaying, for the fourth consecutive year.

This year was the 56th edition and Plana and Safta won with the construction of a figure made of two rings of tiles, parallel and joined by an arch.

“If it wasn't done perfectly, the figure would end up falling”, said the president of the jury and architect and designer of the piece. He also pointed out that it was a complex work “at the limit of balance”.

Speaking to Spanish news website Protestante Digital, Safta said he was satisfied with the result: “anyone, after winning something like a competition, feels very good and happy”.

“But I want to emphasise that as a Christian it is different. First of all, I am happy because the Lord answered prayers again. And also because I see how the Word of God works once again, which says that a three-fold cord is stronger. When the Lord is on our side, it doesn't matter how many are against us. We are more than conquerors in Jesus”, he added.

Much more than just a contest

According to Safta, the contest and the victory go beyond professional practice: “I believe that through situations like this I can reflect my love for God, because the Word teaches us to do everything we do as if it were for Him”.

“For me, winning the contest was like a son getting good grades and then showing them to his father. Everything I live, both at home and at work, I do as if it were for Him”, stated the bricklayer.

He went on saying that “the Lord gives us a lot of skills. Both at work and in competitions, I ask God to strengthen and enable me. He has promised us that He gives us the ability to work in the place where He puts us”.

“I live this experience very intensely. As an ordinary person, many times things happen to me that are not very pleasant. But I thank God that we always get through it. For example, nerves affect my stomach. We Christians do everything we can, but when it is all over, we know that the Lord can do much more than we think”, underlined Vasile.

A special motivation

The synergy between personal faith and professional practice is a key part of day-to-day work for Vasile: “We have to honour God through our work”. he said. “But the situation in the competition is also a result of the honour we give to our bosses and how hard we work for our job”.

“I ask God to help me to do my best and that there will never be any problems because of me. As human beings, we attack the one who is next to us and weaker. And I do not want them to find an opportunity to take the blame on me. The Lord is the one who gives me that ability”, stressed Safta.

Plana and Safta won a prize of 6,000 euros and the opportunity to share their personal experience with 30 other teams of trowellers from all over Spain who took part in the competition.