Yassas Greece!

Well the time has come to repack our bags and depart from another great country in search of more of God's kingdom! Athens has been amazing, we have worked with so many different ministries and I have really been able to see God provide over and over again. Working with refugee's has opened my eyes and seeing the love the volunteers have has blown my mind. I didn't know so much love was possible! And that is just a glimpse of the love Christ has for us.
The next country we are going to is T  U  R  K  E  Y and I am excited/nervous. It is still a muslim country, yet I know the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. We will be working with a prayer house and doing various ministries of which I do not exactly know. Our time there will conclude the outreach phase and I have mixed feelings about it! I won't go into details now but I do have a few prayer points:

• please pray for the safety of our team as we will spend time traveling in the van
• unity and a greater spiritual awareness in our team
• Christ's strength and renewal as we near the end of outreach
• God uses us as a light during this time
• God would continue to provide funding for our team

I will be locking up my computer while I am there so in Amsterdam I will give an update of what is happening! 

Nothing is impossible with God. Have a blessed two weeks!

Does your heart ache yet?

Imagine yourself walking through the city streets of Athens. To your right a man is covered in sores and he has a foul smell. You notice him doing something- he is shooting up in desperation, turning to drugs so he can run from his heartbreaking reality. On your left a refugee woman is openly feeding her baby on the side of the road, doing anything she can for money. Straight ahead a group of policemen are maliciously beating a man asking for papers and passports, but the man can’t show them what he doesn’t have. Across the street a young girl is crying out, pleading to not be taken into prostitution, but that is the only way she can make money. Refugee children are being carried from center to center with their parents, yet they seem so happy and sweet. You wonder why they are smiling, do they children know they will grow up as refugee’s? Do they know how narrow their future is?

Those surroundings have been my world only for the last two weeks, but my life has been impacted more here than any other place. This is Athens’s reality! It is a place full of darkness, desperation and despair. The only hope for this city and it’s people is God. Nothing else will give them the peace and the light that He offers. We need missionaries to rise up and help reach the city of Athens! There are already numerous organizations here following God’s heart for the people but with the population of refugees steadily increasing more missionaries are needed. 

We have had the wonderful opportunity to pair with three different organizations in the city center, working with refugee’s, drug addicts, the homeless and some of the youth. I have devoted myself to these ministries, doing up to three a day, and I have never been happier! I get to see how much God loves the farsi speaking people, how He has given most of them ear to ear smiles despite their situations. I get to see the kids express themselves through art in the upstairs room and how the little kids have imaginations with the legos in the basement. I get to see the shining love the staff members have for the people as they sing and prepare meals for them in the kitchen and hang up the clothes in the main room. Above all, I get to see how God is glorified in those places. A day doesn’t go by when His truth isn’t preached, at one point I was even able to give my testimony to a group of 100 muslims, Amen! Through these organizations God’s truth is slowly coming into Athens. Hope can once again be sought after! 

Please keep Athens in your prayers, we will be leaving here on Wednesday and traveling to  T  U  R  K  E  Y for two weeks. These last two weeks have really opened my eyes to different cultures and a different aspect of God’s love and power. I am very sad to leave, I have come to the love the people and the staff members but I hope and pray that one day God will allow me to return. Thank you so much!

Ciao Itay

My time in Italy is quickly coming to an end, my last day is tomorrow! Travel back six months ago and I had no comprehension of where the next few months would take me, and now I have been to seven different countries and have gone deeper in all levels of my faith; there is no doubt I am right where I am supposed to be. However, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE ITALY and will find it very hard to get on a ferry to go to Greece without thinking of how much I am going to miss it. The last two weeks have really opened my eyes to what being a missionary in Italy means. Strongholds such as religion, magic and witchcraft are extremely common and learning to work against those have been quite the adventure!

Last week my team was in Cosenza hosting a youth camp at a local church, and I must say it was nothing like I expected. In the mornings we had the strategic part of the camp, with two sermons, worship, intercessory prayer, and a drama/dance. In the afternoons we spent some time getting to know the local youth, one thing they could not hide was the light of Christ shining through them, these were not your average youth! In the evenings we found ourself doing some street ministry and helping out in the church services. During one of the street times we met a group of students who ended up inviting us to the Jazz Cafe, a local cafe where youth could intermix. But little did we know that the church has been praying for that cafe for years! It used to be a place where christian youth could hang out but has been turned into a place where satan worshipers and witch-crafters reside. Many people say it is the center of the cities evil strongholds, the fact that we got invited in was a miracle in itself!

A few things I learned because of the camp:

• Being in charge of the daily program, I learned the importance of being flexible (it was changed more than eight times in four days). My mother helped prepare me for this one :)
• Living with an Italian family that spoke hardly any english, I learned the importance of talking slow (critical for me) and using massive hand motions
• Working with youth who have not had the opportunity to evangelize, I got firsthand experience in encouraging my brothers and sisters in Christ
• I learned to live off no sleep and lots of espresso
• I learned that God has to be my strength, especially when I have to give a sermon and I can’t talk due to an illness (that’s a miraculous story!)
• As a team with little true “team” experience before, we had to pull together and actually function as one. Our role as the body of Christ came into play!

All in all, my time in Cosenza was a very successful week that will remain always on my heart. The people became so dear to me and the fun I had will forever be engraved in my mind. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience Cosenza!

We are currently living in Lamezia, Italy working in the Lamezia House of Prayer and doing street ministry. If you ever have a chance, please pray for the House of Prayer here. Walter is a wonderful man of God with an astounding vision and passion for prayer and his wife Eva, owns a christian beauty spa. Together they have a unique, but powerful approach to God’s kingdom. A few cool things we have done since being here, Cassie, Michi and Riccardo were baptized in a volcano hot spring, we worshipped on the top of a mountain with flags and shofars (something totally new to me) and have taken part in intercessory prayer in the prayer house where the IHOP prayer room is streamed 24/7. So while I am in Italy working with a prayer house, I am also worshipping with a prayer house in America! It’s an amazing way to end my time in Italy, the next time I write on here I will mostly likely be in Greece. Please be in prayer as we travel monday and tuesday to Athens, we will be on a ferry for 16 hours. God bless!

2012!

Streamed across the back wall at my 5th grade graduation were the numbers 2011. I remember looking at those numbers and saying to my friend, what is that? Little did I know it was the year I would:

 -graduate alongside my brothers

-find my true identity in Christ

-have the best summer of my life serving God in Ocean City

-meet some of the most amazing people I know

-discover a deeper love for my family

-learn to leave my fears behind and trust God with all I have (leave home for 6 months in Europe)

-move Garrett into his first apartment

-watch my sister shine in her art

-get my first “official” job

-go skiing with my second family the holzmans!

-learn the importance of relationships, whether leaving some behind or pursuing others

-discover the importance of Skype haha

-fall more in love with my Heavenly Father

It blows my mind how much I have learned this year, it is almost too much to process. 2011 was jam packed and sometimes overwhelming but I wouldn’t want it any other way, every detail counts! Before the earth was created God knew what I would do this year, He knew the impact it would have on me, and everything thus far has worked out in His timing. Amen! 

Yet, 2011 may not have been your favorite year. Maybe it was full of heartache and pain. Maybe you lost someone dear, or perhaps it simply wasn’t what you had planned for your life. And I really feel God wants me to share this: The future is now and it is an opportunity to start over! It is the chance to fall back on God’s love daily and leave behind the sorrow and pain He bore on the cross and has already taken away from you. He has dreams and treasures beyond your wildest dreams stored up and wants to share them with you, let Him! Allow Him to take control and be the pilot. 

I hope this has been encouraging, I am really excited to see what 2012 brings each and every one of you!