Monday, September 21, 2009
HM Summer Recap 2009
This is a slide show from Hellenic Ministries' summer activities. In this slide show you will see pictures from the various camps we hosted as well as Operation Joshua. Hope you enjoy!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Fall Kick-Off, 15 September 2009
The Hellenic Ministries team and several other friends of the ministry gathered over at Johnathan and Miriam Macris’ house on Tuesday night to inaugurate the Fall HM season. We were privileged to have our new US Director and his wife, Dan and Marilyn Bostrom, from Wheaton, visiting with us as well as Keith VanderWeide from Overlake Christian Church in Seattle.
The night was cool, the stars were out, and children and adults alike were excited to reunite after a busy summer of ministry, furloughs and vacations. We enjoyed a warm time of fellowship around a lovely dinner and then shared an extended time remembering God’s goodness and faithfulness to us throughout the summer.
We look forward with eager anticipation to all that God has prepared for us this Fall.
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the work of our hands.” Ps 90:17 For His glory alone.
The night was cool, the stars were out, and children and adults alike were excited to reunite after a busy summer of ministry, furloughs and vacations. We enjoyed a warm time of fellowship around a lovely dinner and then shared an extended time remembering God’s goodness and faithfulness to us throughout the summer.
We look forward with eager anticipation to all that God has prepared for us this Fall.
“May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us-yes, establish the work of our hands.” Ps 90:17 For His glory alone.
Mini Missions School, August 2009
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations…” Matthew 28:19
After years of dreaming, brain storming and planning, HM held its first ever Mini Missions School out at Porto Astro in early August. The main goal of the conference was to challenge young Greeks that evangelism and missions is a call that includes everyone. Beyond our wildest expectations, about 20 Greeks attended.
A broad range of topics concerning missions was covered such as cross-cultural communication, personal evangelism, outreach techniques, support raising, support raising, living by faith, bible studies, short term mission trips etc. Greek and non-Greek missionaries informed about the work of God currently in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We sampled food and customs from each of these different cultures.
After spending the long weekend at Porto Astro, several of the team continued with a trip to the islands of Ios and Paros. There they were able to meet with and encourage local believers as well as to use some of their newly acquired skills in outreach and prayer walks.
Participants came away with a more informed knowledge of world missions and how they could be a part of God’s great commission. Please pray that God will continue to work in the hearts of Greeks to reach others for Christ.
“This conference got me out of my ‘box’ – it helped me to extend my horizon for God’s world and His plans for my life,” Lambrini.
After years of dreaming, brain storming and planning, HM held its first ever Mini Missions School out at Porto Astro in early August. The main goal of the conference was to challenge young Greeks that evangelism and missions is a call that includes everyone. Beyond our wildest expectations, about 20 Greeks attended.
A broad range of topics concerning missions was covered such as cross-cultural communication, personal evangelism, outreach techniques, support raising, support raising, living by faith, bible studies, short term mission trips etc. Greek and non-Greek missionaries informed about the work of God currently in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. We sampled food and customs from each of these different cultures.
After spending the long weekend at Porto Astro, several of the team continued with a trip to the islands of Ios and Paros. There they were able to meet with and encourage local believers as well as to use some of their newly acquired skills in outreach and prayer walks.
Participants came away with a more informed knowledge of world missions and how they could be a part of God’s great commission. Please pray that God will continue to work in the hearts of Greeks to reach others for Christ.
“This conference got me out of my ‘box’ – it helped me to extend my horizon for God’s world and His plans for my life,” Lambrini.
Young Adult "Survivor" Camp
Romans 8:37 ...in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
Young adult camp was held over a long weekend in the beginning of August. The theme was “Survivor” and we were split into the tribes of Manasseh and Rueben. We were challenged to not only be survivors in our everyday lives, but to be winners as victorious Christians!
We had incredible times together each morning doing Bible study. We spent time searching the Scriptures, asking difficult questions, diving deeper into the Word and begging God to reveal His truths to us.
In the afternoons, we played competitive games in our teams that required unity, trust, communication and teamwork to reach the goal. Playing like this encouraged us to think about how we need to work together as Christians to make Christ known all over the world.
Evenings brought times of corporate worship and messages by pastors. Each night we were exhorted to look at our relationship with the Lord and the spiritual battles we face each day and to ask ourselves if we were merely surviving or living victorious Christian lives. We were reminded of the self-sacrifice and wholehearted surrender required to be winners. We were challenged to remember that the choice is ours; we can chose to believe the lies of the enemy or chose to trust God and the truths of His Word.
May we all continue to live as more than conquerors for Jesus! Δόζα στο Θεό!
Young adult camp was held over a long weekend in the beginning of August. The theme was “Survivor” and we were split into the tribes of Manasseh and Rueben. We were challenged to not only be survivors in our everyday lives, but to be winners as victorious Christians!
We had incredible times together each morning doing Bible study. We spent time searching the Scriptures, asking difficult questions, diving deeper into the Word and begging God to reveal His truths to us.
In the afternoons, we played competitive games in our teams that required unity, trust, communication and teamwork to reach the goal. Playing like this encouraged us to think about how we need to work together as Christians to make Christ known all over the world.
Evenings brought times of corporate worship and messages by pastors. Each night we were exhorted to look at our relationship with the Lord and the spiritual battles we face each day and to ask ourselves if we were merely surviving or living victorious Christian lives. We were reminded of the self-sacrifice and wholehearted surrender required to be winners. We were challenged to remember that the choice is ours; we can chose to believe the lies of the enemy or chose to trust God and the truths of His Word.
May we all continue to live as more than conquerors for Jesus! Δόζα στο Θεό!
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Leadership Camp
I’ve just come back from Leadership Camp where I spent 4 amazing days on the Morning Star with a great team. It was a wonderful experience of parea (fellowship), laughter and adventure – in my opinion the best combination :o) There were 16 people onboard including Alex our skipper, so it should have been quite close quarters but it didn’t feel like it. During our traveling to two islands, we had sessions where we discussed leadership and what it means. The main thing that I learned during this camp is that anybody who influences somebody else is a leader. I have never viewed influence as leadership before and that was an interesting revelation. Once we start influencing somebody we are leading them down a specific path, which is our path and hence we become leaders as the path is familiar to us. So potentially we are all leaders as we all influence others at some level. We can influence people by words or by actions. One of my favorite quotes is by St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the gospel, if necessary use words.” Here he is talking about leading by actions. I believe that as Christians we need to be extra careful because people are watching us all the time. Our every word and action is being analyzed by people around us because they hold us to a higher standard. All this to say that just by being who you are, living and breathing, can influence somebody. So my challenge to you, dear reader, is to be careful because in your day-to-day lives you are influencing people around you, knowingly or unknowingly, and hence you are being a leader whether you want to or not. It’s an interesting way to look at it and a different perspective on leadership but that was the thing that stood out the most to me. By being who I am, I’m leading people which is cool and scary all at the same time.
Submitted by Janet Sewell
Submitted by Janet Sewell
Sunday, July 26, 2009
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. This week, the 10-day long TEEN sports camp came to an end.
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?
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 summer's OJ2 outreach is over. We passed out 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 reported on 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 since we know that God's Word does not return void. Is 55:11.
To read more click www.operationjoshua.net
Here's some more stats:
1 front page newspaper story attack
1 arrest for interrogation purposes
2 TV reports against us
3 priests in an Orthodox church in Kalamata blessed us for the great work we were doing
4-5 condemning radio announcements related to our OJ2 efforts by the Orthodox State Church
6 day outreach campaign
7-10 hours/day on road delivering Bibles
14 teams
17 countries represented on OJ team
19.5 tons of Bibles
36 vehicles
45 priests contacted by mail and sent leather bound Bibles
58 tents at camp
108 villages visited in one day (record)
153 total participants
375 villages covered (door-to-door)
1,650 eggs served to team
6-7,000 villages yet to be reached with Bibles in mainland Greece (Islands completed)
15,081 New Testaments delivered door-to-door in one day in the city of Kalamata
19,000 kms traveled
40,000 Euros paid (1st installment) on 114,147 Euro bill for Bibles
44,091 Greek hardbound New Testaments distributed in 5 1/2 days!
74,147 Euros still to pay for Bibles in 2 installments - end of Oct & end of Nov
(Please don't forget us!).
Thank you for being a part of this incredible outreach - through association, prayer, Adopting-a-Greek Village, volunteering or supporting us either in spirit and/or financially!
To read more click www.operationjoshua.net
Here's some more stats:
1 front page newspaper story attack
1 arrest for interrogation purposes
2 TV reports against us
3 priests in an Orthodox church in Kalamata blessed us for the great work we were doing
4-5 condemning radio announcements related to our OJ2 efforts by the Orthodox State Church
6 day outreach campaign
7-10 hours/day on road delivering Bibles
14 teams
17 countries represented on OJ team
19.5 tons of Bibles
36 vehicles
45 priests contacted by mail and sent leather bound Bibles
58 tents at camp
108 villages visited in one day (record)
153 total participants
375 villages covered (door-to-door)
1,650 eggs served to team
6-7,000 villages yet to be reached with Bibles in mainland Greece (Islands completed)
15,081 New Testaments delivered door-to-door in one day in the city of Kalamata
19,000 kms traveled
40,000 Euros paid (1st installment) on 114,147 Euro bill for Bibles
44,091 Greek hardbound New Testaments distributed in 5 1/2 days!
74,147 Euros still to pay for Bibles in 2 installments - end of Oct & end of Nov
(Please don't forget us!).
Thank you for being a part of this incredible outreach - through association, prayer, Adopting-a-Greek Village, volunteering or supporting us either in spirit and/or financially!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)