The Whitaker Wire: The Good Samaritan Rehab Center

Here's a bit of exciting news regarding ECMI's rehabilitation work in Spain's Cordoba province, as it was conveyed to us by Rachel's dad, Ron Anderson:

The Good Samaritan Association was awarded the "Encina del valle de los Pedroches" award this past week. This award, according to Francis Arjona (the founder of the Good Samaritan Drug & Alcohol Rehabilitation Center), is the most prestigious award that is given in the Pedroches Valley. The Valley, located in the northern section of the Cordoba province of Spain, is populated with 17 municipalities. The award was received by Francis, who represented the Association and the faithful team of workers and missionaries connected with it. The ceremony started in the town hall and ended up in a public ceremony in the famous bull ring. The Good Sam. Association was only one of several recipients who received an award that evening. The event was well attended by mayors, dignitaries, local citizens, etc. The media was represented by a TV station, 5 radio stations and newspaper reporters. Francis said, "I never dreamed that one day we would get this award and that it would give us the opportunity to tell everyone in the entire area why we had come to the Pedroches Valley to serve as we do." In his acceptance speech, Francis said. “We are here as modern day Samaritans… We are not better than anyone else by doing this…We only intend to peach and live a life which reflects God’s love... We have a relationship with God and not a mere religion.” One of the initial outcomes of the event has been that a very prestigious local poet and writer, which also received an award, accepted Francis’s invitation to "talk further about these things". The ECM vision for Cordoba continues to be very much alive. As Francis puts it. "Our vision is to see a church planted in each of the towns of over 5000 population." It sure is nice to get such a prestigious award that lifts the level of awareness of who we are so that we are not rejected as people before we have a chance to share the message of Hope. To God be the Glory.
To learn more about the Center, check out http://www.buensam.org.uk/ or http://www.buensam.org/ (in Spanish).