The Lausanne Movement in Spain surveyed 170 people who converted to Christianity in the last 15 years. Three out of four said they heard about the Gospel ‘through someone close to them’.
How does a Spaniard come to Christ? This direct and simple question has led a group of evangelical leaders to publish a concise report based on the testimonies and responses of people who became Christians in evangelical contexts.
The findings point to a decisive factor: the fundamental role of personal relationships and investing a significant amount of time in these relationships.
“Seventy-five per cent of those surveyed said they had heard the gospel through someone close to them”, explains José Pablo Sánchez, an evangelist and member of the working group that coordinated the study, in an interview with Protestante Digital. “This confirms something we suspected, but now we have data to back it up: relationships have always been and will continue to be the key to evangelism”.
The study stems from a local initiative promoted by Pastor Israel Montes and his wife, Abigail, who conducted such a survey in their church in Ponferrada, a town in northwest Spain.
The Lausanne working group, made up of leaders such as Marcos Zapata (Spanish Evangelical Alliance), Esteban Muñoz de Morales (FEREDE), and experts in mission and sociology such as José Herrero and Ana Ruiz (Pacto de Convivencia), adapted and expanded this survey, compiling responses from 170 Spaniards from non-evangelical families who converted in the last 15 years.
The aim, according to Sánchez, is to respond to a concern shared by many evangelical leaders: “Around 70% of believers in our churches were born outside Spain. That is a reason to be grateful, but it also invites us to reflect on our effectiveness in reaching our compatriots”.
An important finding of the report is the low social visibility of evangelical Protestantism. Only 10% of those surveyed consider that evangelicals have a positive image in society. “We carry a ghetto complex that has marked our identity”, says Sánchez, who has hosted an evangelical news programme on the national Spanish broadcaster for over three decades.
[photo_footer] Time span from hearing the gospel to conversion. From the same day (left) to over one year (right). / Graph: Lausanne Movement Spain report of 2025. [/photo_footer] “Sometimes we evangelise with language or forms that do not connect with our environment. That creates barriers”.
Among the study’s proposals for gaining social presence are collaboration with non-religious NGOs on joint projects, involvement in civic and cultural initiatives, and the design of activities contextualised in the neighbourhoods where the churches are located.
Personal crises — emotional, family or existential — continue to be a gateway for many to the Christian faith.
“Evangelical communities in Spain are doing excellent work with people in vulnerable situations”, says Sánchez. “With immigrants, women who are victims of trafficking, or homeless people... Churches are, by nature, places of welcome”.
The study also highlights the need to invest time and resources in cultivating meaningful personal relationships and ongoing discipleship processes. It is not enough to present the gospel message on a one-off basis: the testimonies collected show that spiritual transformation is often linked to long-term accompaniment, sincere friendship and pastoral follow-up.
[photo_footer] Main preceived reasons why people do not seek God, according to respondents. Most cited (bottom) are: ignorance, seeing church as irrelevant, hipocresy in the churches, seeing faith as something from the past. / Graph: Lausanne Movement Spain report of 2025. [/photo_footer] In this sense, the report calls on churches to recover a culture of intentional discipleship, where the proclamation of the gospel is linked to a way of life in which biblical teaching is applied to daily life.
The report also invites churches to review the use of their resources. “It is not just a matter of questioning methods, but of analysing whether what we do reflects that evangelisation is a priority”, says Sánchez.
The document suggests reviewing budgets, evaluating the impact of activities and fostering a more intentional missionary culture.
The report concludes by highlighting the need to communicate the gospel in the “language of the heart”. For José Pablo Sánchez, that language is love, expressed in the clear proclamation of Jesus’ message: “The best way to love someone is to share with them that Christ is risen, that he offers forgiveness and eternal life”.
“We want this work to be as widely disseminated as possible and to be useful for churches, leaders and believers who long to see more people come to Christ in our country”, concludes Sánchez.
The full report, along with the raw survey data, is available for free download, in Spanish language only. It can be found at the following link: ‘How does a Spaniard come to Christ?’ (PDF)
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