Rome and Greece with Mom and Dad

At the end of a crazy busy summer, we were so excited that Peggy's parents were able to come visit us in Greece. We met them first in Rome for 5 days and then they returned with us to Greece for 10 days. It was their first trip to both Rome and to Greece, and Dad says it their last, but we hope not!

We had a great time seeing all the sights in Rome in the 90+ heat and humidity. Mom and Dad ( at 78 and 81) were troopers as we toured the Vatican, the Colosseum, and many other attractions in Rome. The double decker bus was a fun way to see the whole city but didn't offer much in the way of shade or air conditioning! The only bummer to the trip was that Dad got his wallet stolen the one day that we rode the Metro :(

We all arrived back in Greece and spent a wonderful 10 days resting and showing Mom and Dad a little of our life here. Many of our ministries were closed for vacation but they were able to see the places where we work and meet a few of our co-workers. We played a lot of cards, saw the Acropolis and other tourist sights, and just really enjoyed each other's company!

I think after all they experienced abroad, they are pretty content with their life in America and were happy to return there!

Fires in Pikermi

Yesterday started with a rude awakening when our landlord called us at 5:45 am and told us to prepare to evacuate. We looked out our balcony and the sky was red around us with fires. I was struggling to figure out what to bring, what to leave, what would burn etc. A frantic call to Missy and Paul (whose house burned to the ground a few years ago) for any advice. Not sure it helped, Mis said bring everything and Mike was wanting me to just pack a few things and get out!

We finally got everything packed up and I had learned on facebook that some friends of ours had been evacuated down to the bible school so I drove over there to get more info. It is so hard to watch the news with your town listed on it and not know what they are saying about it. The people at the bible school were a big help and assured me that things would probably be ok here from what they heard on the news. One family had left their house on the mountain at 3 am and had just come back from observing it, and praise the Lord, they said it looked like the fire just jumped their house. All was black around them, but their house was in tack. The mop on the balcony was melted and there was a turtle burrowed into the ground but the house and the propane tank outside it were both fine.

Today, we thought the worst was past but when we got up this morning the skies were full of smoke again and the fires were closer than yesterday. We "evacuated" twice down to the bible school and were so grateful for friends there who could communicate to us in English what was happening. Today the winds have been very strong and shifting. The fires came very close to the bible school and our house, within 4 blocks we think.

Thank goodness, we think the worst is over. The planes seem to have put out the fires by us and we are taking a deep breath.

We will be in touch later. We thank God that we are safe and are concerned for so many others that are not.

Thanks so much for all your prayers. Please keep praying for this country.

Camps are over, back to civilization

All the camps at Porto Astro are done for the season and we can hardly believe it. How could summer have come and gone so quickly? Hope you enjoy these pictures, the young adult camp, clean up and saying good bye to friends. We are back home now and trying to recover from a non-stop summer. We have two weeks to tie up loose ends from the summer before we go to meet my parents in Rome for five days and then they will come and join us here in Greece for a week. We can't wait. Please pray for us as we try to process all that God has done this summer and all that He has in store for us in the future!

Teen Camp "Party in the House"

Not only have exciting things happened this month with the Operation Joshua outreach... but also young hearts have come to know the Lord out at HM's campsite property during the 10 day long TEEN sports camp.

Be encouraged by this powerful story...

During the worship time on the second to last night of camp, a dual "call" forward was given. The speaker asked for those who wanted to commit their lives to Christ for the first time to stand up and come forward and for those who already knew Christ as their Savior but wanted to take the step of completely surrendering and dedicating their whole lives to Christ to come forward also. The response was immediate and comprehensive as within seconds nearly the entire camp of 60+ young Greeks stood to walk to the front! Δόξα στο Θεό!!

Thank you for praying for the Greek young people! The Lord is definitely answering prayer. Please continue to pray for those starting a new relationship with the Lord and for the others who are seeking to grow closer to their Savior. Pray for them to have the eyes and ears to sense the Lord's call on their lives, and the strength and courage to obey Him. Finally, please don't forget to pray for the hearts of the three or more teens who didn't stand up and commit themselves to one side or the other that night. Pray that the Lord will continue to pursue them and draw them closer to Himself, using the experience they have had at camp as a memorable landmark on their journey to come to know their loving Savior.

1 Cor 3:16 Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

Operation Joshua 2 Completed!

This year we passed out almost 44,000 New Testaments in the Messinia area of the Peloponnese,Greece over a period of 6 days. We had about 120 volunteers from 11 countries represented. God's Word makes quite a stir as we made the front page of the local newspaper, "Proselytism in Plastic Bags." Not everyone was thrilled to receive the gift we gave out but we are encouraged as we know that God's Word does not return void. Is 55:11.

Family Refugee Camp

10 Afghan families comprised our family refugee camp this year. We all had an incredible time. These are the faces of the people who captured our hearts as we strove to share the love of Christ with them in very practical ways all week. They were overwhelmed and commented on the difference they noticed in us. Glory to God!

Mens Refugee Camp

We hosted a refugee camp for the men who have been coming to the love meals and to our discussion times on Thursdays. It was an awesome time to share some fun with the guys and to just love on them. We had many great conversations with them about Jesus.