Χριστός Ανέστης! Αληθώς Ανέστη!
The Lord is risen, He is risen indeed!
We hope you had a great celebration remembering why Jesus came and what that does for everyone who believes in Him! We had a great celebration with our Gypsy friends who are following Jesus. This was the first Easter that they did not get drunk, but really celebrated with the joy and love of Jesus!
God started a small “fire” in the Gypsy camp with a handful of people when an evangelist from Nepal came and shared his testimony about how God brought his mother back from the dead.. Since the end of September, I have been going to their community to teach them the Word of God, pray with them and fellowship with them. The size of the group has been anywhere from three to fifteen. We meet every Friday evening and have a team that serves both with the adults and with the children of the adults that attend. We believe God is starting a church there. The growth has been slow, but we thank God for the growth at all! There are many cultural strongholds and superstitions that have to be broken by the Truth and Spirit of God. For the past month, Jehovah’s Witnesses have been pressuring our friends when we are not there, taking them to their meetings and telling them that we are lying to them. It has caused confusion, but we are trusting that God’s Truth and the power of prayer will bring victory. We know this is a spiritual battle and we will fight it spiritually!
Please pray with us that we will be faithful to what God has called us to do, have wisdom to do it and that God will be glorified there as His kingdom is spread there. Pray also for musicians!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wow, sorry it has been so long since our last post! However, only a few things have changed since I last wrote. Amber and Sierra are doing well at Dakar Academy and we enjoyed having them home over Christmas break. Today is the start of their Spring Break and they are staying in Africa with some school friends. Both girls will be traveling to Mali and living in rural Africa for the next two weeks, just a step up from camping we are told. Sierra will be on the move the most as she will be visiting three different families in three different parts of Mali. Please pray for her protection as she travels. Graduation is coming up in June for Amber and she has been accepted to two good colleges: Cornerstone in Grand Rapids, MI and Baker College in Muskegan, MI. Pray for her as she needs to make a decision soon as to which one she wants to go to.
Nadia has been doing well in her first year of Jr. High at the Greek athletic school and she just had a competition In which she competed in the Long Jump. She came in 7th amoung 20 athletes. She was pleased with her score and we are very proud of her. She is looking forward to her Spring break Which will start the week before Easter.
Alan has been very busy working to Establish a church amoung the Gypsy population in Thessaloniki. One group that he meets with regularly has several families who have trusted in Christ and they want to start a church in their camp. However, they can not read or write at this time and so are easily confused when others come into the camp teaching a different doctrine. Recently, the Jehovah's Witness have infiltrated and we are having to explain to them the diffences between JW's and Christianity. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to show them what is the truth and to guard their hearts and minds from Satan's deceptions. Pray for Alan that God will give him wisdom in this church building and training in the Gypsy men, first in discipleship and then next in leadership.
Alan is also working with local pastors here in Thess. and in Athens with Natural Church Development (NCD). The book by Christian Swartz is translated into Greek and is now printed. This Spring Alan and his co-worker will start meeting with pastors to present NCD and to ask them to participate in taking a survey in Which they will use to reveal what areas in the church need to be strengthened and where their areas of strength are. This is the first step of the process. Please pray that the pastors will be receptive and that God will use this to begin a revival in the church body of Greece.
I (Whitney) am now working with a group called A21 (Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century), at a shelter for girls who have come out of trafficking. It has been a blessing to me to see the fruit of so many years of prayer and fasting to be in a position where I can help these girls see that they can have a different life. Please pray for volunteers and for workers to help us in preparing these girls to reintergrate into life. If you would like to know more about A21 check out their web site at the link provided on the right side of this blog.
Thanks for your prayers. God is listening!
Nadia has been doing well in her first year of Jr. High at the Greek athletic school and she just had a competition In which she competed in the Long Jump. She came in 7th amoung 20 athletes. She was pleased with her score and we are very proud of her. She is looking forward to her Spring break Which will start the week before Easter.
Alan has been very busy working to Establish a church amoung the Gypsy population in Thessaloniki. One group that he meets with regularly has several families who have trusted in Christ and they want to start a church in their camp. However, they can not read or write at this time and so are easily confused when others come into the camp teaching a different doctrine. Recently, the Jehovah's Witness have infiltrated and we are having to explain to them the diffences between JW's and Christianity. Please pray for the Holy Spirit to show them what is the truth and to guard their hearts and minds from Satan's deceptions. Pray for Alan that God will give him wisdom in this church building and training in the Gypsy men, first in discipleship and then next in leadership.
Alan is also working with local pastors here in Thess. and in Athens with Natural Church Development (NCD). The book by Christian Swartz is translated into Greek and is now printed. This Spring Alan and his co-worker will start meeting with pastors to present NCD and to ask them to participate in taking a survey in Which they will use to reveal what areas in the church need to be strengthened and where their areas of strength are. This is the first step of the process. Please pray that the pastors will be receptive and that God will use this to begin a revival in the church body of Greece.
I (Whitney) am now working with a group called A21 (Abolishing Injustice in the 21st Century), at a shelter for girls who have come out of trafficking. It has been a blessing to me to see the fruit of so many years of prayer and fasting to be in a position where I can help these girls see that they can have a different life. Please pray for volunteers and for workers to help us in preparing these girls to reintergrate into life. If you would like to know more about A21 check out their web site at the link provided on the right side of this blog.
Thanks for your prayers. God is listening!
Sunday, October 25, 2009
What's Up in Greece
Sorry that it has been so long since I have written anything on the blog. Since our last post two of our girls had birthdays. Sierra is now 15 and Nadia is 13. We officially have all teenagers in the "house". Actually we only have one in the house and "Uncle John" and "Aunt Jenny" (the dorm parents) have the other two:)
My parents (Whitney's) came for a visit during Nadia's birthday and we had a great time with them. They were able to help out with projects around the house as well be involved with some of the ministries that we are helping.
One of those ministries is with the Gypsies. Alan has been talking with some of the adults at the airport camp and they have been interested in meeting once a week to talk about the Bible. Alan and our friend have been praying for some time to start a church there and now they are seeing the beginning of a small group forming. Please pray for these Gypsies that God will make Himself known to them.
Alan also had the opportunity to attend an Albanian Gypsy wedding. The wedding spanned over a 4 day period and Alan helped out with taking video of the events. When he gets it all put together, we'll post it hear on our blog.
I have been volunteering with an organization called A21 reaching out to women who are trafficked. I have been helping in the safe house. See the "Door of Life" section of the Blog to read more.
Below are a few pictures of our girls. Amber and Sierra have been doing well and the passed their first grading period with flying colors. However, homesickness is setting in as they had a Harvest Fest at the school this past week-end and many of the parents of their fellow students came to participate in the activities. Guess whose parents were missing? This caused some homesickness. The Dorm parents call November the graveyard month because this is when everything starts to pile up school wise and emotion wise. It's the most difficult month to get through before Christmas break. Please pray for the girls that God will give them added strength to complete the first sem. strong.
Nadia is hanging in there without her sister's but is constantly planning for when they will return. December will be a month of a lot of tears and laughter. We will definitely cherish those days!!
Thank you for praying for us. We couldn't be hear without them!
My parents (Whitney's) came for a visit during Nadia's birthday and we had a great time with them. They were able to help out with projects around the house as well be involved with some of the ministries that we are helping.
One of those ministries is with the Gypsies. Alan has been talking with some of the adults at the airport camp and they have been interested in meeting once a week to talk about the Bible. Alan and our friend have been praying for some time to start a church there and now they are seeing the beginning of a small group forming. Please pray for these Gypsies that God will make Himself known to them.
Alan also had the opportunity to attend an Albanian Gypsy wedding. The wedding spanned over a 4 day period and Alan helped out with taking video of the events. When he gets it all put together, we'll post it hear on our blog.
I have been volunteering with an organization called A21 reaching out to women who are trafficked. I have been helping in the safe house. See the "Door of Life" section of the Blog to read more.
Below are a few pictures of our girls. Amber and Sierra have been doing well and the passed their first grading period with flying colors. However, homesickness is setting in as they had a Harvest Fest at the school this past week-end and many of the parents of their fellow students came to participate in the activities. Guess whose parents were missing? This caused some homesickness. The Dorm parents call November the graveyard month because this is when everything starts to pile up school wise and emotion wise. It's the most difficult month to get through before Christmas break. Please pray for the girls that God will give them added strength to complete the first sem. strong.
Nadia is hanging in there without her sister's but is constantly planning for when they will return. December will be a month of a lot of tears and laughter. We will definitely cherish those days!!
Thank you for praying for us. We couldn't be hear without them!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Dakar,Senegal
We have returned from Dakar, Senegal where we took Amber and Sierra to their new school, Dakar Academy. Our partings were not as emotional as I had expected. We were able to be around for a few days after they started their classes and were able to meet their teachers, dorm parents and some of their classmates. We were so impressed with the school's standards and their welcoming spirit. The girls made friends quickly and they were truely enjoying themselves. As we gathered together one last time we exchanged blessings, hugs, laughter, and got a little teary-eyed, but peace flooded over us and we knew that at this momemt in their lives this is where God wanted them. As Nadia, Alan, and I boarded the plane back to Europe we felt their absence, but it didn't truely hit us until we entered a very quiet home back in Greece.
Please pray for our family as we make these new adjustments. Pray for Amber and Sierra as school starts to require more of their attention and study hours. Pray for Nadia as she starts 7th grade this year at a sports school. Pray for Whitney as she prays about how to use her newly aquired free time. Pray for Alan as he and his Greek co-worker launch the "Discipling a Whole Nation" survey's to the Greek pastors of Athen's and Thessaloniki this Fall.
Please pray for our family as we make these new adjustments. Pray for Amber and Sierra as school starts to require more of their attention and study hours. Pray for Nadia as she starts 7th grade this year at a sports school. Pray for Whitney as she prays about how to use her newly aquired free time. Pray for Alan as he and his Greek co-worker launch the "Discipling a Whole Nation" survey's to the Greek pastors of Athen's and Thessaloniki this Fall.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
What a great past couple weeks. We had a great time at the beach as a family before the team of International World Changers came for a week to help us reach out to our church's community. Twenty-six young people and adults from four different States and Germany joined our youth group and church members each day.
In the mornings we had three teams: one was cleaning up garbage and weeds at a park (which was connected to an Orthodox church!), one was painting a tall fence around a local Elementary school yard and one was teaching English to the children inside the Elementary school (used like a summer day-camp). Praise God for the many opportunities to share and show the love of Jesus!
In the evenings we went out each night to a large playground and basket-ball court near our church to host a free festival, which included activities for the little children, teens and adults. They included face-painting, balloon animals, stilts, hula-hoops, cookie-art, hair-wrapping, basketball, street-dancing, crowd-games (parachute games, tug-o-war, water-balloon volley, etc) and lots of free, cold water! It was amazing to us to see how hungry and thankful the people were for our love and kindness. Everynight they would come back, even early, waiting for us to arrive so they could help us unload the equipment from our van! Everynight the numbers increased, as did our relationship with them. The last night we had over 300 attend and stay for the three hours, begging us to come back again. Many received a New Testament, but we hope everyone saw and felt the love of Jesus through us.
We are proud of our three girls for their leadership and hard work during this whole week! We have posted several pictures on our facebook (if you haven't already seen them!). Please pray as we follow up these relationships and plan for continued outreach as a church this fall. Pray for God to speak through His word to their hearts.
This week, we are reconnecting with the Gypsies (Alan) and women in the bars (Whitney), but also focusing on getting the girls ready for their year at Dakar Academy. It is hard to believe we will be leaving for Hungary/Africa in less than 3 weeks! Thank you for praying for us as a family in that regard as well.
In the mornings we had three teams: one was cleaning up garbage and weeds at a park (which was connected to an Orthodox church!), one was painting a tall fence around a local Elementary school yard and one was teaching English to the children inside the Elementary school (used like a summer day-camp). Praise God for the many opportunities to share and show the love of Jesus!
In the evenings we went out each night to a large playground and basket-ball court near our church to host a free festival, which included activities for the little children, teens and adults. They included face-painting, balloon animals, stilts, hula-hoops, cookie-art, hair-wrapping, basketball, street-dancing, crowd-games (parachute games, tug-o-war, water-balloon volley, etc) and lots of free, cold water! It was amazing to us to see how hungry and thankful the people were for our love and kindness. Everynight they would come back, even early, waiting for us to arrive so they could help us unload the equipment from our van! Everynight the numbers increased, as did our relationship with them. The last night we had over 300 attend and stay for the three hours, begging us to come back again. Many received a New Testament, but we hope everyone saw and felt the love of Jesus through us.
We are proud of our three girls for their leadership and hard work during this whole week! We have posted several pictures on our facebook (if you haven't already seen them!). Please pray as we follow up these relationships and plan for continued outreach as a church this fall. Pray for God to speak through His word to their hearts.
This week, we are reconnecting with the Gypsies (Alan) and women in the bars (Whitney), but also focusing on getting the girls ready for their year at Dakar Academy. It is hard to believe we will be leaving for Hungary/Africa in less than 3 weeks! Thank you for praying for us as a family in that regard as well.
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