Nov GWOM - ΜΩΡΟ - BABY

Until us a child is born!!!



We are so happy to announce that a healthy baby boy was born to C, the first pregnant girl to live at THC on Nov 4th. Our hearts are so full of thankfulness to God for this new life and for the joy on his parents faces as they met their son and shared this joy with us.  



It was a long labor as we waited all through the night at the hospital with the expectant father but by early afternoon the next day, we were able to meet this darling little boy for the first time. 



All are healthy and now they are settling into life together as a new family in their own apartment. We continue to visit them weekly and are encouraged to see their love and care for the baby and for each other.



Please continue to pray for this new family:

•   for God to draw them to Himself and that they would respond 

•   for jobs for them

•   for finances to pay the hospital bill ($2,500. USD)

If any of you is interested in helping contribute specifically towards the hospital bill, you can go to www.hellenicministries.com and click on the GIVE button. Please mark the payment for THC baby fund.

Oct GWOM - ΔΙΑΣΥΝΔΕΣΕΙΣ - CONNECTIONS

Hooked up for another ultrasound 

Peggy, C, Sarah & Marina

Our team with C & Katerina, our midwife

This month has been amazing as we have watched God provide for us and for the pregnant girl living with us at The Hope Center in so many ways! Our hearts are so thankful. We are often overwhelmed, but are seeing Him so faithful in supplying all we need at just the right time.

This update would be way too wordy to describe each “connection” He’s made for us, so we will just highlight a few:

-A Greek social worker that meets with C weekly and is an amazing source of information and godly counsel for her and for us.

-Another Greek girl who visits C once a week and does English classes with her as well as sharing many girly things, like haircuts, manicures, pedicures, make up tips etc.

-A visiting missionary couple that live and work in her homeland who were able to talk to C about life back home and about baby care as the wife is a nurse.

-Two Greek midwives who are partnering with us. One has provided pre-natal instruction for C at THC and the other has met with C and with us to answer any questions we have about the delivery, the hospital and the ways things are done here in Greece.

-A Greek doctor who has been monitoring C all throughout her pregnancy.

-Heating at THC, finally we have an operating heating system just in time for the cold.

On and on, but a few more connections this month:

            -A couple who worked with Gypsies in Northern Greece
      -A Greek/English couple with an interest in THC
      -Medical testing facility
      -Local police department officials
      -Legal counsel
      -And so many friends who have donated all the practical  things that C needs for her baby such as a pack n play, baby clothes, diapers, car seat, baby carrier, bassinet etc.

We are so thankful that we are not alone in this. God is showing Himself so strong and able, as well as having our team mate Sarah living with us and shouldering the responsibilities. We are also thankful to our extended HM team, and to you-our international prayer and support team.

Please pray with us:

-For a good labor and delivery process, and a healthy baby for C. Her baby is due around Nov 10^th.

-For one of us to be able to be with her throughout the process, we have been told this is not possible, but would so like for her not to be alone.

-For the family that is being formed, with C, her boyfriend and their son. Their needs for  housing, work, and legal status which are tremendous.

-For C to see and to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

-For mental, physical and emotional strength for us to finish well through this process of our first girl.

Sept GWOM- ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ - CHALLENGES

Puzzles are a favorite here

Exercises with our other pregnant friend

New houses that were put up last week next door to us

Sunrise from the balcony at THC

Sarah, Peggy & Mike at work in THC office

Our friend's house next door

At the clinic with our friends getting immunizations for school

Life starts and is formed through time spent waiting, developing, and watching. That is where we are; watching and waiting for life to come to life. We have about 6 weeks to go as our first girl at The Hope Center (THC) gets ready to give birth.

This month has been one of many challenges as we are adjusting to living as house parents in THC maternity home, which is located in the midst of a very interesting Gypsy neighborhood. Our neighbors always keep us on guard, as we can never predict what they might do next or what to expect upon leaving and returning to THC.

We get free music played in the house everyday. We have it even if we do not want it, and they like it loud. Sometimes they even have more than two or three different songs going on at once. The first night was the best, as the loud music played until about 3 or 4 in the morning and then started up again at 6 am. We realized that lack of sleep does not make for competent, contented inhabitants of THC!

There are too many stories to tell; the smells, the fights, the aggression, the constant begging, the invasion of our personal space (an unknown in this community) and bodies, sex, drugs and so much more but needless to say we are not in Wheaton anymore, or even in Greece it seems.

Additionally we are trying to offer help to a pregnant girl who has needs beyond our comprehension. Our desire to protect her confidentiality prevents us from mentioning too much about her particular situation, but you can imagine her need for love and security for her, her baby, the father of the baby and their future. Their concerns about work, proper paperwork, housing, paying for the hospital are just the start of the list.
      
Another interesting twist to this story is that our girl speaks only Greek and none of us are fluent in it. This has created lots of stress and weariness in trying to communicate about sensitive subjects in another language but we also have had lots of laughs too.
      
Above all the challenges listed above, and the many many more that I don’t have the space to mention, we have found that NOTHING is a challenge for God. He has met us at our every point of need and we have found Him FAITHFUL ABOVE ALL ELSE. There is no challenge that we cannot handle together with Him. He is SOVEREIGN and TRUSTWORTHY! We feel privileged (and often overwhelmed) that He has chosen to use us, with all of our incompetency, to show HIS GLORY to those all around us. We often fail, but He never does! He promises to never leave us or forsake us and we know this is true. In the midst of all the chaos, we are certain that HE IS NEAR and that He is the controlling everything, we merely need to stay close to Him in utter dependency upon Him. 

Please pray for us…

• We are so thankful to have our team mate, Sarah Wheway, living with us at THC as a house assistant and a big sister to our girl. 

• To be Christlike to all we encounter each day, in THC and in the neighborhood.

• For wisdom to know how to help others and not create dependencies.

• For the physical, mental, and emotional health for all of us living at THC.

• For God to open our girl's heart to know Him as Lord and Savior.

July GWOM: Αγία Γραφή - Scripture

We are getting ready to make the 8 hour drive tomorrow to Northern Greece to be part of Operation Joshua 6. During this outreach we will go door to door along with 300 + other participants and leave a bag with a New Testament in modern Greek, an audio copy of the Bible, as well as other literature on the entry to 160,000 houses in Northern Greece! 
 

You can learn more about it at http://youtu.be/XoFsnfjFvsM or at Operation Joshua on Facebook.


Obviously this is a huge undertaking and we write you this month to ask you to cover this whole project in prayer with us.

Please pray with us…


-Thanking God that all the bible bags are packed and have   been safely transported to the campsite.


-For safety for all those traveling to Greece and on the road throughout the entire week.


-For good relationships and cooperation with the churches in the region where we are heading.


-For the logistics of this project and strength and endurance for those organizing it all. 


-For good health of all participants.


-That we would all minister in a way that shows Jesus to all we meet everywhere. 


-For God to go before us and prepare the way for us and for His Word in the hearts of the people and the local officials.


-For God to do mighty things through HIS WORD as it reaches every house!

 We look forward to reporting about God's goodness next month.

June GWOM: Kαλοκαίρι – Summer!

This month has flown by and there are just too many stories to tell about everything that is going on here in Greece and with The Hope Center and Hellenic Ministries.

So we’ve included a couple videos for you to watch; one that will show you what we’ve been up to and the other is the promotional video we produced to introduce our Hope Center ministries at a missions conference.

A quick recap:  Camp preparation, Counseling course at the Greek Bible College, First aid training, ESL classes with a pregnant friend, Family Refugee Camp, mission conference, developing promotional materials and much more.

Hope you enjoy the videos!

Please pray for us…

-Continuing relationship with a pregnant girl

-Word to spread in Greece about The Hope Center

-The final translation of our policy manual so we can introduce ourselves at     hospitals.

-Operation Joshua bible distribution program in July, planning on distributing 160,000 bibles, please pray for us to get the bibles packed, for the needed participants and for finances to pay for the New Testaments. For God’s word to make a huge impact on the lives of those who will receive it.

May GWOM - Σκαμπανεβάσματα - Ups and Downs

This month has been one of many ups and downs for us.

We rejoiced as we celebrated Christ's resurrection early in the month. Then on Mother's Day we got a call from a pregnant girl who wanted to move into The Hope Center (THC). So we packed things up and moved in, only to be sadly disappointed when she decided to go back to her boyfriend very shortly afterwards. We learned some lessons, cried some tears and are moving on. We still keep in touch with her and are so glad that she is choosing to keep the pregnancy and we will do our best to walk through this journey beside her even if we are not living together. 

Following this our dear friends, Donna and Doug Russell arrived from the States and we moved them into THC with us and began working tirelessly to get THC ready for further habitation. We moved in furniture, washed and cleaned it, installed ceiling fans and light fixtures, chose pictures for the walls and bedding for the rooms, rearranged furniture, tiled behind the kitchen sink and cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. Once most of the work was done, we also had a chance to show them a bit of Greece too which was really fun.

We learned about living in the totally unique culture in which THC is located; surrounded by Roma people who desperately need love. There is lots of the noise and undisciplined children as well as the challenge to reach out in love to those who are so different from us. In short, we have never needed Jesus more, which is exactly where we believe God wants us to be! 

We also invited many guests up to THC this month in order to acquaint them with our new facility and the needs of the surrounding neighborhood. 

Additionally, we said goodbye to four of our volunteers from The Greek Bible College who have been ministering beside us this year on campus, at the office and at THC. The girls were a tremendous help and encouragement to us all year and we had a fun night of dinner and bowling together to say thank you and goodbye. 

As you can tell, there were many highs and lows this month, but we move forward in faith knowing that God is leading us one step at a time and that He will never leave us or forsake us!

Please pray with us

-for wisdom in continuing to develop this pro-life ministry

-for a continuing relationship with our pregnant friend

-for the Roma community surrounding THC and for our relationship within it

-fellow co-workers to join our team

Mar/Apr GWOM: Κορίτσια - Girls

Thanks for those of you who have been praying with us. The last two months have been busy and we have been storming the heavens on behalf of LIFE here in Greece. Specifically we have been praying for God to send us girls to live in The Hope Center.

Just yesterday, one girl called us. She had left her home with just her suitcase! Needless to say this was a little surprising for us, but we brought her to our house last night and if all goes well after our HM family conference this weekend, we will all be moving into the Hope Center together next week! Planning, planning and then God surprises us!

Additionally, during the last two months we have been following up on leads with about six different girls. Each time we have pursued each of these opportunities and have been ready to move into The Hope Center asap as the need arose.

Needless to say, it has been a bit of a roller coaster ride for us as we wait on the Lord and His timing for everything. Four of the cases did not pan out. In fact, sadly, we know at least one of the girls chose abortion. Currently we have two girls in their early stages of pregnancy who are considering living with us in THC. We have accompanied one of these girls to the doctor and to the microbiologist for blood tests. One of the highlights of this trip was to see her baby moving in the ultrasound and to see the delighted look on her face as she was able to see her baby too (this is the girl who came to our house last night).

We have met with three obstetricians/gynecologists in Athens and have been able to leave stands with our information in them for display in their offices.(See above photo)

We also have been working with a post abortion counseling class. This has proven to be a very intimate time of sharing wounds and opening up to surrendering secrets and receiving the Lord's healing in lives.

We have two manuals and one post abortion book in translation now and we are looking forward to getting these materials back so they can be used with Greeks.

We believe we are just on the cusp of this ministry opening wide open!

Please pray with us:
-For the two girls who are considering staying at THC.
-For our language skills as both these girls speak Greek, not English.
-For Mike and I as our team leader will be gone for three weeks.
-For continued wisdom, unity and financial support for this ministry.
-Praise the Lord for His faithfulness to us!

HELLENIC MINISTRIES IS ALSO PREPARING FOR OPERATION JOSHUA 6.
Check out this video.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoFsnfjFvsM&feature=youtube_gdata_player
COME SEE US IN GREECE THIS SUMMER!

Feb GWOM: Προετοιμασία-Preparing

The GWOM (Greek Word of the Month) for February is Προετοιμασία-Preparing.

Who would have ever guessed that there was so much work involved in starting this new ministry? Certainly not me!! 

We have almost completed our 55 page Policy & Procedure Manual and our 16 page Resident Manual. It's amazing how much time and energy goes into these things. We have almost been tempted to lose heart, but God keeps giving us little encouragements along the way. 

Here are some of the ways God has encouraged us this month:

• Four girls from the Greek Bible College have been helping us make   video collages of THC, developing a correspondence format for us, translating one manual for us, plus accompanying us on campus to speak to the Greeks about this ministry. 
•  Marina Karava, who partners with us and who runs Hope for Life, a pregnancy care center, was invited to speak to the youth and parents in Thessaloniki about sanctity of human life issues. 
• We've made contact with two local gynecologists and hope to meet with them in person soon to speak to them about what we hope to do. 
•  We are beginning a post abortion recovery education class next week to help women deal with abortion losses. 

Please pray with us:

-For perseverance and diligence with the manuals.

-For us to find just the right translators for all our materials and that the translation can be done quickly. We can't present our ministry until this is done.

-For finances to complete the building, translation etc. 

HELLENIC MINISTRIES IS ALSO PREPARING FOR OPERATION JOSHUA 6. 

Check out this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoFsnfjFvsM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

COME SEE US IN GREECE THIS SUMMER!

January GWOM: Βίζα - Visa

If you have followed us for long, you can tell that this month's word is not an original Greek word, especially since it is so easy to pronounce and it is so short! Nonetheless it was super important to us this month.

A week ago, we had an appointment with our local municipality regarding our visa. We are here with an annual residence permit and we need to submit a lot of translated paperwork every January to reapply for the next years' visa.

It is with much prayer, fear and trepidation that we approach these meetings, as we are never really sure what the outcome will be.

This year particularly, we were a little more guarded as we know many missionaries, including three co-workers, who have been denied visas, even with all the proper paperwork and qualifications.

We were ecstatic and so thankful to walk out of the office, with visa stickers in our passports! A minor detail is that the stickers were only good for two days, but we were able to file our papers for 2013 and received a certificate that allows us to live here legally while they process our papers again. Thank you Lord!

Please pray for this visa situation between the US and Greece. We know more full supported missionaries ready to come serve who are being denied visas. Please ask God to change this so we can grow our team and live legally here.

Please pray with us:
-Αs we continue to work on promotional materials and policy manuals for The Hope Center.
-For patience for us as we wait on the Lord for the funding necessary to get heat in the building so we can move in.
-For wisdom for our team in making decisions regarding the girls who will live there.

Dec GWOM: Γιορτές - Celebrations

December was a month of celebrations, the most important one being: Rejoicing in the remembrance of the birth of Christ our Savior! Unto us a child is born… Immanuel-God with us!

Other noteworthy celebrations for us in December:

The Greens. We said goodbye to Josiah and Jamie-Lee who served as THC interns from July-December. They are an amazing couple that impacted so many in their short time here.  They showed Christ’s love in amazingly practical ways all over Greece but most especially throughout the gypsy neighborhood of THC. We wish them well as they begin seminary in St. Louis.

Christmas Love Meals.  Three different opportunities to serve refugees and the homeless of Athens. The following is a link to a short video of the festivities. http://youtu.be/seL0Z7LKgdU

Christmas and New Years. The quiet of the season away from home and family allowed us more time to marvel anew at God's amazing gift to us in Jesus.  And also to remind us what a special privilege it is to be here serving in His name. Thank you so much each and every one of you who equip and enable us to be here. Looking forward to the journey ahead in 2013!

Please pray with us:

-For wisdom as we prepare policy and procedure manuals for THC.

-For Mike and I as we contemplate moving to THC as the first houseparents.

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

-For sensitive promotion of this maternity home and for God to bring us just the pregnant girls who need help.

-Praise for our connection with a Greek midwife who is spreading the word for us.