Hello family and friends:
On Friday June 23, Pantelis, Jim, Elaina and I left Litochoro, Greece for what turned out to be an amazing 10day journey of two weekends and a five day conferences with our Bulgarian, Turkish and Roma pastors and other people whom we have come to love and call family over the years. In Pazardjik, Ilene and Mike from Alamo Travel were waiting for us along with pastor Sasho, his wife, Christina and others.
The first weekend we spent in Pazardjik at the Turkish church where Sasho is the pastor. Pantelis and Jim did a mini-conference and Saturday evening we went to a village church where Jim gave the message.
I was at this village over ten years ago with a Greek pastor Kostas and his wife Nina. A parishioner of that village church, which met outside in the summer and different homes in the winter, told us at that time that he would legally give part of his property and trust that the Lord would build a church for them. At that moment, the Greek pastor said, “if you do that then I will give you the money for the foundation”, which he did. You can see from the picture the foundation was built with the possibility of holding over 100 people.
To be honest with you as the years went by, I totally forgot about this. They didn’t ask for money then and they didn’t ask for any now. However, the fact that they brought us to this village was an indication to me to remind me of that day many years ago. I didn’t promise anything but since they do the building themselves, I did ask how much was needed for the architect (new EU rules) and for the materials. Pray with me asking the Lord, if it is His will, to help us build this village church.
We then finished Sunday worship at the Turkish church and on Sunday afternoon we went to Yundola for the Pastors’ conference.
Jim and our wonderful translator Teo
The village congregation with all of us
Turkish congregation
We continued with Annie and Robert Ching by doing VBS in FYROM (Former Yugoslavian Republic of Yugoslavia). We stayed overnight and spent hours with our kids there playing, eating and teaching. Annie is a wonderful Bible teacher and the kids enjoyed the lessons and coloring pictures of the stories. We had lunch for them both days and enjoyed watching them enjoy every minute.
The Ministry sponsors all the kids of this small ghetto outside the capital of Skopje. All the school age children are in school and two of our older girls are starting beauty school in September.
We thank God for pastor Sokrat and his wife Elena and their daughter Christina who are doing a great job taking care of the kids and pastoring this group and another nearby.
In the midst of poverty and extreme need, the Lord is touching hearts of young and old. We are grateful to the Lord for the privilege of serving Him in this forgotten area by many. He certainly has not forgotten them. Praise Him that He loves us all the same!
Hello, everyone:
Our dear friends Robert and Annie Ching from Gilead Chinese church in San Ramon, joined me once again for the seventh year and we did VBS in three different places and all with Roma children.
The first group were the children of our Roma church in Thessaloniki. Dr. John and his wife Katerina, from the Greek Evangelical Church in Thessaloniki, have been serving at this church for years. The needs are great but the people and especially the children are very happy!
This group of Roma is by far the poorest and they live next to the city dumps. Among them there are some very strong believers and especially men which is unusual. It’s usually the women who are more faithful among them.
Robert and Annie Ching
The Christian Roma Church of Thessaloniki
Some of our little girls listening intently.
Their homes which look good until it rains!
Annie teaching on Noah’s Ark
Snack time! Banana is a great treat for these kids! Then chocolate filled croissants. Yum!!!
On May 5th, Jim and Tory Rath and I, made a very quick trip to see our kids in Skopje (FYROM). Some got off from school at noon and saw hem. Others were in school in the afternoon and missed them. The ones we saw were very happy to see us and were all smiles and hugs. They were all clean and happy and fed and I couldn’t help but thank God for their sponsors back home who make it possible for these kids not only to have a better life but also a better life in Jesus! God bless you sponsors!
