The news: When an unprecedented wave of 80,000 migrants passed through Ceuta, a Spanish enclave bordering Morocco, in just two days, local pastors Juan García and Javier Santolaria didn't close their doors — they kept serving, according to a Christianity Today report. The pastors, who live across the street from each other, had already built years of community ministry infrastructure including drug rehabilitation work, which meant they were ready when the crisis arrived.
Why it matters for church leaders: Many Indian churches serve communities facing their own waves of crisis — migration, displacement, economic hardship. This story is a powerful reminder that sustainable mercy ministry is built slowly, in ordinary time, long before the emergency arrives. The pastors who show up in a crisis are almost always the ones who were already there.
The takeaway: Audit your church's community presence today — are you embedded deeply enough in your neighbourhood that people would instinctively turn to you in a crisis?
Source: Christianity Today
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