Nov GWOM: Επιστροφή - Return

We returned to Greece Nov 4^th after a 6 month home assignment in the US. What a whirlwind of activity! We are still adjusting to our new home again! We’ve hit the ground running-ok, not Peggy. Unfortunately she returned a little slower and with crutches due to an accident trying to get a motorcycle license! The crutches are now gone and her knee is almost back to normal. Mike, on the other hand, returned better than when we left due to another hip replacement surgery in August to match his other titanium hip replaced in Dec 2011.

We are very excited about the progress of The Hope Center (THC). While we were in the States, Josiah and Jamie-Lee Green have been living at THC and making friends with our gypsy neighbors. They hosted a kids club in September and due to its popularity, they began  an “Alphabet Club” three mornings a week in THC driveway. Their goal was to reach out in love and in practical ways by teaching the Greek alphabet as well as other fundamentals for education, such as forming a line, how to correctly hold a pencil, how to raise a hand to answer etc. The club has been a huge success and this week we will conclude this particular session with the Greens as we share the story of Christ’s birth.

The rest of our time has been spent trying to finish construction needs at THC as well as developing policy and procedure manuals so we can begin the job of hiring house parents and hosting pregnant girls. 

Please pray with us:

-Praise: for our safe return and good transition back to life in Greece, for the continued recovery of the stress fracture in Peggy's knee.

-For the Alphabet club in our gypsy neighborhood: for a clear presentation of the gospel this week in the Christmas story and that God would draw many of these children to Himself.

-For God to bring us the house parents He wants for THC so we can open the doors to pregnant girls soon.

-For the completion of construction, furnishing and funding of THC.

Jul/Aug GWOM:Ευχαριστώ-Thank You

We thank our God every time we remember you. In all our prayers for all of you, we always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. (Philippians 1:3-5)

We are dedicating our communication this month to you, our partners in ministry. We are so excited to be able to report to you how God is at work in Greece because of your sacrificial giving.

We are finally in Wheaton and will be here, God willing, until Nov 3rd.

We would love to be able to meet with each of you and to tell you stories first-hand of how we've seen God moving there over the last five years. The country is certainly in chaos, but we know that this is no surprise to God and we are praying that He will use this new vulnerability of the country to draw many to Himself.

We so appreciate you and consider you our "silent partners" as we live our lives in Greece. We are continually encouraged and empowered by your faithfulness in prayer and in giving to the ministry.

Please pray with us:

-Praise: Mike has his right hip replaced on Aug 17th and is recovering well. We are so grateful for the doctors and the hospital that enabled us to have this surgery.

-For the Greens who are living in The Hope Center currently until we return. For good relationships in the neighborhood and for wisdom in all their dealings with girls who would live there.

-Praise for the successful summer ministries: 7 summer camps and 126,000 New Testaments distributed in Northern Greece.

-For Greece: to endure and to find economic and political solutions. Please pray that many would find Christ as their Hope in the midst of the current chaos.

-For God to equip & enable us to raise awareness and partners for our personal support and The Hope Center (THC) support.

June GWOM: Παιδιά - Children

We have been busy with kids in June, our eight grandchildren and hundreds of others as we worked with two churches in their Vacation Bible School (VBS) programs.

Mike and I led Bible adventures for preschoolers at Grace Community Church in Loveland, CO and then for the elementary aged kids at Grace Chapel in Englewood, CO.

It was a great way to serve with our kids in ministry and to connect with others in these churches. We were tired, but had a lot of fun. It is always a joy to see kids respond to the Word of God and to experience the world again through the trusting eyes of children.

While we were here in CO, camps were taking place at Porto Astro Greece. HM hosted a refugee men's camp, refugee family camp and a junior sports camp in June. The camps are such a good place to get away from the hectic life in Athens and to spend some quality time just loving on others. We heard many good reports about lives touched by the love of Jesus at camp.


Please pray with us:

-For Greece:  Economic solutions, perseverance to withstand the austerity measures, hope for better days. Please pray that many would find Christ as their Hope in the midst of the current chaos.
-For HM summer ministries -sports camps, and bible distribution: wisdom, finances, staffing, strength, health & safety.
-For God to equip & enable us to raise awareness and partners for our personal support and The Hope Center (THC) support.
-For the Greens, who will be coming to Greece from July-Dec to be interim houseparents at THC. For wisdom for all those who will make decisions regarding THC while we are on furlough.
-For favor with the city officials where THC is located. We are having some complications in getting our electricity connected and the Greens arrive there July 2!

May GWOM: ΕΠΑΝΕΙΣΟΔΟΣ - RE-ENTRY

April has flown by and so have we! We made a hasty exit out out Greece at the end of April and have begun our first furlough of our missionary career.

People have asked us if we are resting and relaxing, not sure if that's what you call it! We have been on the move, literally, traveling with our suitcases packed commuting between our kids houses. We've been preparing promotional materials for the mission, getting reacquainted with our kids and grandkids and making new contacts for the ministry in CO. We were the featured missionaries at Grace Community Church in Loveland for the month of May, so we've had the privilege of sharing before the church, in the youth group and this weekend with the childrens' ministry. Grace has warmly embraced us and we are hopeful for more opportunities to connect our ministries in Greece. We also had the chance to talk about our work with our granddaughter Hannah's school. What a special time to be able to be the visiting grandparents and missionaries! We were especially touched by the students' heartfelt prayers for us. We plan to be in Colorado until July and then in Illinois from Aug-Oct. If you would like us to speak at your church, Sunday school class, home group, missions committee, etc. please let us know. Also, if you know of someone else (individual or group) who may be interested in having us share how God is at work in Greece, please pass this on to them for us. It has been difficult to be away from Greece in these days. Our hearts are breaking for the Greek people as they are facing incredibly tumultuous times. We are praying for our teammates as they are living day to day in precarious situations such as refugee beatings, economic disaster, political failure and potential default from the Eurozone. Please continue to pray with us for Greece. Please pray with us: -For Greece: upcoming elections, economic solutions, hope for better days. Please pray that many would find Christ as their Hope in the midst of the current chaos. -For HM summer ministries -refugee camps, sports camps, and bible distribution: wisdom, finances, staffing, strength, health & safety. -For God to equip & enable us to raise awareness and partners for our personal support and The Hope Center (THC) support. -For the Greens, who will be going to Greece from July-Dec to be interim houseparents at THC. For wisdom for all those who will make decisions regarding THC while we are on furlough. -Praise: the kitchen has been installed in our absence, now we need to find a hot water solution so the house can be lived in soon!

March GWOM: ΦΕΥΓΟΝΤΑΣ - LEAVING

Spring has sprung, warmer temperatures have arrived, flowers and trees are beginning to bud, and people are leaving Greece.

We know you've seen the stories on the news but here's just a short list of how the crisis in Greece is affecting those we know:

-Our neighbor has had his salary cut twice and now he is responsible for real estate taxes. He says he might have to move from his house (which was a gift from his in-laws) because he can't afford the taxes.
-Several of our younger friends have left to find jobs in other countries because they can't find work here at all.
-Many legal immigrants have cleared out already, returning to their own countries where they can at least live off the land.
-My landlord's friend who is married to an American is moving to the US because he says he would rather be poor in America than in Greece.
-Our neighborhood supermarket was robbed for the fourth time last week by men with machine guns.
-Our weekly meals served to the poor and homeless are overflowing with people needing help.

There is a deep sense of despair and hopelessness here. What a time for the message of the ONLY TRUE HOPE-Jesus. What a gift we have to share. Please pray for Greece, as you hear it reported day after day on the news. Pray for a revival. Pray for God to draw many to Himself during these times of crisis.

Other leavings:

-Our son and his family, Mike and Nisha, Jackson 7, Griffin 3 and Ruby 2, are moving to Colorado. Mike has a great new job opportunity and they will be leaving Wheaton as soon as we get there to help them drive the U-haul to Colorado!

-We leave for furlough April 21st. We plan to be in Colorado from Apr-Jul and then in Illinois from Aug-Oct.

If you would like us to speak at your church, Sunday school class, home group, missions committee, etc. please let us know so we can schedule that. Also, if you know of someone else (individual or group) who may be interested to have us come share how God is at work in Greece, please pass this on to them for us.

Please pray with us:

- Praise, we have found houseparents to stay at The Hope Center from April-Oct while we are gone! - Praise, we are coming along with THC and hopefully will have it ready to live in when we leave April 21st. We moved in some furniture last Saturday and are having fun getting the place set up.
- We have ordered the kitchen cabinets, interior doors & plumbing fixtures and are trusting God for the money necessary to pay for them SOON! We still need a hot water solution before we go.
- For everything we need to get done before we go and for preparations for our furlough.

A Desperate Situation in Patra

Last Saturday, members of our team, a suburban Greek youth group, a local Greek church, a French team and a visiting American youth group join forces to deliver encouragement, support and emergency aid to hundreds of refugees living in horrific conditions in Patra, Greece.

The team of 50 descended off the bus, and set up a stage with a microphone and speakers and proceeded to entertain the men with songs in Greek, French and English.

Following the time of music together, the groups split up into different language groups where the men expressed that their greatest desire was for happiness. Our teams were honored to share with them the One and Only Way to find true and everlasting happiness; in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

After more more time for one on one conversations, we all gathered by the bus to hand out sleeping bags, shoes, socks, hats, gloves, underwear, food bags, Arabic New Testaments and Farsi tracts.

Please pray for these men. Pray for them to come to know True Happiness, in a surrendered life to Jesus. Pray for swift solutions to their devastating way of life and sufferings. Pray for wisdom for us to know how to help them more.

To read more about this situation, click here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17094303

Dec/Jan GWOM: ΕΠΟΥΛΩΣΗ - HEALING

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! This seems such a strange way to start this message, but the last two months have just passed in a blur for us and we want to take this chance to extend all the love of the season of Christ's birth and our best wishes for the new year to you all.

Thank you for standing with us through difficult days. We have been buoyed by your prayers and by the strength of the Lord. He has met our every need and extended His lavish love on us.

The following is just a brief synapsis of recent events for us:

Nov 30-Unexpectedly, flew to Chicago to be with family and to say goodbye to Peggy's Dad who died Dec 2nd. Truly the best of times and the worst of times.

Dec 14-Unexpectedly, Mike had his left hip replaced. An incredible provision was made for us to have this surgery done while we were home for Dad's funeral.

Dec 24-Expectedly, celebrated Mike's Mom's 80th birthday together with his family and spent our first Christmas in 5 years back in Wheaton with all our kids and grandkids, 15 of us now!

Dec 25-Unexpectedly, took an ambulance ride to the hospital because Mike dislocated his new hip.

Jan 16-Returned to Greece!

We were so glad to have been home to spend time with Peggy's Mom and family and to be with our kids and grandkids for Christmas.

We were overwhelmed by God's goodness to us in providing surgery on Mike's hip. This has relieved him from tremendous pain that he has been struggling with for the last two years.

And now we are so glad to be getting back to "normal" life here in Greece. God is healing our hearts and Mike's body as He leads us day by day. He comforts us in our sorrow and strengthens us in our weakness.

Thank you for your prayers and your expressions of sympathy. They were greatly appreciated.

Please pray with us:
- to get back up to speed quickly here
- for Mike's complete recovery from his surgery
- as we work to complete construction on the Hope Center
- as we prepare for our first furlough, April-October 2012