by Matthew Crouch
TBN has sent out millions of love gifts to our friends and partners over the years. But I was astounded recently to hear that one of those gifts actually played a role in the founding of our TBN España network in Madrid. TBN España’s manager, Pablo Vasquez, told Laurie and me the story during a recent stop we made there.
Over 25 years ago Pablo, a pastor and ministry leader in Spain, was given the TBN lapel pin pictured at right. That simple pin prompted an idea in Pablo’s mind: What if Christian television came to Spain? Imagine the impact such an outreach would have on his country and his people, as the message of Jesus flooded into homes, neighborhoods, and communities across Spain!
Of course, I believe that pin was God’s way of putting His own plan in motion: a life-changing television network reaching not only Spain, but all of Europe, the Middle East, and beyond.
As it happened, a few years later my father, TBN founder Paul Crouch, visited Madrid with Jonas Gonzales Sr., the head of TBN’s Spanish-language network Enlace. They were there to meet with Spanish ministry leaders about launching a Christian television station in Spain. And guess who was an integral part of those meeting? That’s right — Pablo Vasquez! As a result of those key meetings, Pablo and my dad joined together to take ownership of a small television station in Madrid, thus launching TBN in Spain.
A short time later they purchased a piece of land located in the center of Madrid’s important telecommunications district, and in 1999 the headquarters for TBN in Spain was dedicated. Its strategic location, along with Spain’s membership in the European Union, would serve to make this facility an important center for the distribution of TBN programming around the world.
Madrid quickly became the international hub where TBN broadcast signals were received via satellite or fiber from the U.S., and then turned around and uplinked to different satellites reaching Europe and the Middle East. Eventually Madrid became not only a distribution center for TBN’s English and Spanish language networks, but also for our networks in Italian, Russian, Arabic, and Farsi.
Domestically, through the first decade of the 2000s TBN in Spain primarily aired content produced by Enlace, located in Central America. That was a concern to my dad and me when we visited the station in 2012, as we realized that TBN in Madrid had very little locally produced content or identity. In fact, the facility didn’t even have its own set. The good news is that Pablo Vasquez had the vision — a large one — to see TBN’s Madrid facility produce and air its own content, and impact the people of Spain with Christian television. With that kind of commitment and motivation, my dad and I were absolutely determined to help Pablo facilitate the vision for reaching Spain.
That help came in two important ways: First, through the design and construction of a state-of-the-art set for the network, and secondly, through broader distribution of TBN’s programming in Spain. As with most Western European nations, Spain had transitioned to digital television, which offered us a unique opportunity. Spain’s government had combined all major channels in to one “multiplexed” over-the-air signal for specific locations. The signal was free to consumers and quickly became the preferred way of watching TV in Spain. TBN was able to purchase ten stations on this new system, broadening our reach throughout greater Madrid and into several outlying cities.
In April 2013 Laurie, my dad, and I visited Madrid once again, where we hosted a special Praise the Lord program and dedicated TBN España’s awesome new set. That visit was the final one my dad would make to this broadcast outreach that he was such an important part of making happen. He liked to say that TBN España was, in part, the fulfillment of the apostle Paul’s vision to take the message of Jesus to Spain some two thousand years earlier. Pointing to Romans 15: 24, 28, he noted that while Paul had plans to preach the Gospel in Spain, there is no indication that he was able to travel there before his imprisonment and death in Jerusalem. “But today TBN is fulfilling the great apostle Paul’s vision, as the life-changing message of Jesus is being broadcast across Madrid and Spain,” he said.
I’ll never forget the moving words my father gave to Pablo Vasquez, his wife Leyla, and their team when we dedicated TBN’s Madrid studio back in 1999. Emphasizing the importance of their outreach and the potential TBN in Spain had to impact other nations with the Gospel, my dad counseled them: “Please love the studio … take care of the studio … pray for the studio … and use the studio to preach for Jesus Christ!”
Nearly seventeen years later, Pablo and his team continue to hold fast to those words, as TBN España takes the message of Jesus to more cities across Spain. Here are a few comments from individuals impacted by TBN España:
— “The first time I watched TBN I felt … a special touch of God. Since then I have continued watching TBN. It is a blessing to my life.”
— “I have been a widow for 14 years, and TBN has helped me a lot. It is a great blessing to my life.”
— “My faith has grown since I began following the Word of God through TBN.”
— “TBN has helped me in the study of the Bible and the knowledge of God. It is a great blessing to my life as I see the miracles that God does.”
As we stand back and reflect, we are in awe at how far God has taken TBN in Spain — since Pablo first held that TBN lapel pin in his hand — and how much more He wants to accomplish in this country and region. Thanks so much for joining Laurie, me, and our many friends and TBN partners as we pray for God’s blessing on the important work of Pablo Vasquez and TBN España.