Serving in Tafalla , Spain
Dan has planted and led a church in Tafalla, Spain since 2005, a region long resistant to Protestant witness, and continues the work today with his wife Sharon after the loss of his first wife, Lisa, in 2011.
Our Ministry
Tafalla lies twenty miles south of Pamplona in Navarra, a province known for a strong, traditional culture historically closed to outside ideas, and the birthplace of the staunchly anti-Protestant Opus Dei movement. Tafalla itself, population around 12,000, serves as a natural hub for more than forty surrounding towns, drawing a weekly open-air market and functioning as the area's cultural center. The last recorded full-time Protestant missionary there was a 19th-century Briton who had to flee a mob intent on stoning him; since then only scattered outreach has touched the town.
After three years searching for a storefront to rent, and repeated rejections from owners wary of who they were, the Lord provided a building in 2005. It now hosts church services alongside family-centered ministries: seminars, children's clubs, after-school help, English classes, and a small resource library. The building is also used by ACASA, a Christian association offering social help to families, a ministry of the church and a visible example of faith in action.
The Leatherwoods arrived in Pamplona in November 1999 after five years of raising support with another mission, working first in children's, youth, and music ministry before beginning church planting in Tafalla four years later. Their prayer continues to be for laborers and wisdom to meet the many needs of the area, and for the spiritual state of Spain as a whole.
About Us
In October 2009, Dan's wife Lisa was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. Through the shock of that diagnosis, God proved faithful in every detail. Neighbors brought food faster than the family could use it, provision came for every need, and on January 18, 2011, God called Lisa home. The memorial service, held in the town's Catholic church for lack of another space large enough, overflowed into the street of their small town of 2,000, and the gospel was clearly presented more than once. Seeds sown through Lisa's life continue to bear fruit.
In the years that followed, Dan believed his focus needed to rest on his children and whatever ministry he could still carry. He did not expect to marry again. Then Sharon, who had come to volunteer at camp with her home church from Houston, entered his life. A friendship grew, and in 2014 they married, with Sharon moving to Spain to join the Leatherwood family in life and ministry. Her love for the Lord and heart for others continue to shape the work in Tafalla today.