Pray for family of Baptist pastor killed in plane crash in Spain
American Baptist International ministries mourns the death of Rev. Rubén Santana Mateo, who was killed along with 152 others in a plane crash on Aug. 20, 2008 in Madrid, Spain. Rev. Mateo served as a missionary, along with his wife, Mari Carmen Hernández León, in Madrid's Northern Sierra. His ministry was supported by the Ministry of Evangelization and Missions of the Spanish Baptist Evangelical Union. The Union is a partner of International Ministries.

In a letter to the general secretary of the Union, Dr. Jose Norát-Rodriguez told Spanish Baptists, "We want you to know that you are in our prayers, and we are asking God to grant you strength in your sorrow [and] peace in the midst of anguish." Norát-Rodriguez added that he hoped "The ministry that [Ruben] accomplished in the Baptist work be a constant inspiration to continue witnessing to the salvation in Christ Jesus."
In addition to his wife Mari, Ruben leaves to mourn his death three children: Donovan, Jonás and Erika.

For more on this tragedy, here are two Spanish-language resources:

http://www.elpais.com/todo-sobre/tema/Accidente/aereo/Barajas/201/

http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2008/graficos/ago/s3/t4_spanair.html