Greetings to all of you friends who have followed us through the years of deputation. We’re glad to report that we landed in Greece on June 16th and are already busy working and serving the Lord. We just finished two weeks of Youth Bible Camp on our new home island of Zakynthos. We were blessed to see the Spirit of God work in the hearts of the younger children we had during the first week. After a few days of sharing the gospel with them, every camper responded to an invitation to receive Christ as Savior. One is always careful when reporting numbers but all 18 kids prayed aloud and we believe at least half of the 18 children truly understood and were saved. Most of them continued the week focused on reading Scripture, asking questions, and singing hymns they had never heard before. What a great way to start our missionary lives here in Greece!

The second week was dedicated to teens, many of whom have been to camp with us before. We had 32 campers in all this week and though we did not see the response of the younger kids, we believe that new seeds were planted and many others watered for a future harvest. One young lady received Christ and a young man made sure of his salvation. The spirit among the kids was great and they enjoyed every aspect of the camp. Many of these kids rarely, if ever, have this type of opportunity to spend time with their friends in this type of setting. We praise God for His faithfulness in answering our prayers for salvation, safety, and for the continued impact He is having in the hearts and lives of these young Greeks!

I have added our latest prayer letter to our Prayer Letter page. In case you forgot, it is located under the “About Us” menu. Since we have so much to share about what is taking place in our lives, I will begin publishing our prayer letter every month beginning in August. I am also planning to begin a monthly 2-3 minute video update in the near future. I will be sure to all the information and links right here on Grecomissions.org. Thanks for your faithful prayers and support! God bless!

Sorry for the delay in getting our latest prayer letter posted under “Prayer Letters”. It has been a busy past few months and it is only getting busier! Please pray for us as we make trips to California, Arizona, and then to Greece to begin the moving process. We also ask that you might join with us in praying for MacKenzie Manaraze, a 21 year old Virginia Baptist College student who is fighting a major battle with Lymphoma. God is doing great things in and through this dear young lady and we know she and her family covet your prayers. Thank you for your faithful prayer support for our family. Please know we never take it for granted and that we pray for you folks as well! May God bless you in 2014!!!

It’s that time again! Our latest prayer letter is posted! You can find it here by going to ‘About Us’ and choosing ‘Prayer Letters’. Thank you for praying for us. We truly see your prayers being answered all around us as we can see the reality of getting to Greece approaching quickly.

Please read the following article and pray that these young people will find peace and stability in their lives that only comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/512866/20131010/greece-unemployment-jobs-european-union-elstat.htm

Our September / October 2013 is now available. Simply click on “About Us” and choose “Prayer Letters”. We’re currently in TN, just starting a conference at Central Baptist Church in Greeneville. On to Michigan next week. Thank you all for your prayers. Please keep praying for us, Greeks to be saved, and for more laborers to reach the world with the gospel!

Just a quick reminder to check out our latest prayer letter which can be found under the “About Us” menu. Please keep the people of Greece at the forefront of your prayers. Many families are facing harsh circumstances and are making very difficult choices in light of what has befallen their country. Our departure for Greece becomes that much more urgent when so many people are looking for hope that can only be found in Christ.

One of our supporting churches has “adopted” our family as their very own missionaries. The following is a Facebook post from the class leader, Ann Marie Rill, about these sweet kids. We pray God will continue to lay missions on the hearts of children the world over.

“I just wanted to share some sweet notes from our CZ children (1st-4th grade children’s church). Each year at the mission’s conference in January, we choose one missionary family to “adopt.” Throughout the rest of the year, we pray for them weekly, read their updates, and take up offerings for them. This year we decided to make our chosen missionary family our pen pals. When the children come in to CZ each Sunday, they have the opportunity to write a note to the missionaries, which we send to them via e-mail. As busy as they are, the DeLuca family responds faithfully – even if the same question is asked week after week by different children. What an excitement there is at the beginning of CZ when we put the DeLuca’s responses up on the projector screen for the children to see, and what a blessing it is to have parents tell us that it is their children that remind them to pray for the DeLuca’s each week. We didn’t realize at the time how effective this would be in helping our children remember to support the missionaries in prayer once the mission’s conference ended. I think it is so important that children see that they don’t have to wait until they are adults to think about ministry or to serve the Lord. He has something for them to do right now. To follow our children’s ongoing conversation with our missionaries as well as to keep up with what is happening in the CZ, be sure to like our FB page.”

Construction Zone Kids

We were truly blessed when we pulled up at Blessed Hope Baptist Church in Indiana and  saw this sign. I would never have thought that I would one day rate billing on a church’s sign!

Please check out the audio from Lighthouse Independent Baptist Church of Philadelphia’s Christmas Program. Joanna and her mom Linda did all the music and I was privileged to preach the Word of God. This was the second time in as many years that we have done this. We love this dear church, their pastor, and his wife. Follow the link to Archived Audio Files and then choose Eva Taylor Music Program.

Eva Taylor Music Program Link

It is so good to be home for an extended period of time. God has been beyond good to us this year as we had many meetings, established many support partners, and enjoyed great times of spiritual revival and fellowship. We are now looking forward to the same by being in our home church and spending time with family and friends. Deputation is certainly a unique time of ministry for all of us. We hear great messages, meet great new people, and see many great things for which we’re grateful but it is nice to sleep in your own bed, homeschool at a desk rather than the van, and not have to drag a suitcase out every where you go. Still, I find myself with itching feet that desire to be out there sharing our passion to reach Greeks with the Gospel while there is yet time. I keep reminding myself that January will be here soon enough.

We will busy this holiday season. Joanna and Claire will be taking part in Valley Forge Baptist’s Christmas presentation of “Messiah”. We will also be presenting special music and preaching at two churches and one state prison during December. Thank you in advance for praying for God to work in hearts during these special times of ministry. It was at a Christmas program that God called me to preach. Needless to say, I know the personal impact of the Christmas message. However, before we get too far along into the Christmas season I think it is important to stop and thank God for His great provision to each and everyone one of us. I cannot praise Him enough for all He has done for me and I thank Him from the bottom of heart for what He did for me at Calvary.

During these next weeks, I will also be working at least part time while trying to keep up with scheduling more meetings and conferences for 2013 and 2014. We are hoping to fill in the open dates of our calendar as soon as possible so that we can concentrate on preparing to move to Greece. There are many details to attend to such as citizenship, passage, belongings, and a host of others that require time and attention. We are trusting the Lord to provide the remainder of support quickly and for the wisdom and patience as we prepare to begin the work in Greece. It is with great thanksgiving that we offer our humble gratitude for your constant and faithful prayers and support.