Mission Possible Week 4 Pojan & Greece

Mission Possible Week 4


Gypsy Village of Ratha, Muslim Village of Pojan, & Thessalonica, Greece

This past week we helped with the VBS at the church in Pojan every morning.  We also had a festival, family outreach in the gypsy village of Ratha, and Kids club before moving on to adult ministry in Thessalonica, Greece.





As we entered into the village of Ratha carrying our speakers, it was an experience like none other.  Children came out from the woodwork, some familiar with us from the soccer and ESL classes, some just because they were intrigued and caught up in the mass exodus (or in this case arrivalus) .  It was rather humbling to be treated as such celebrities, but we knew that we had a message greater than that of any famous movie star, or pop singer. "To methough I am the very least of all the saintsthis grace was givento preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in Godwho created all things,....." Ephesians 3:8-9

It's not everyday you have a horse and cart roll through while you are setting up for ministry, or even a herd of sheep while you are giving the Gospel, but it was mind boggling to see how many people came out, including men pulling up along side in their work trucks to watch the presentations and how many of these were taking photos and videos - images that will be a reminder of the word that was proclaimed and videos that may be watched again, or showed to others. 

During our VBS in Pojan there were also children that made professions of faith.  The Lord knows which of these 12 children are genuinely His and the Pojan team will continue to work with them.  Please pray for all those that heard God's truth and that their lives will be transformed. - CA










Count Everything as Loss
Throughout this trip, we have thoroughly studied the book of Philippians. The amount of treasure we have found in the book is much greater than what I find at home, where I read the Bible and ten minutes later forgetting what I had just finished reading. One of the main focuses of our study in Philippians is whether or not we can count everything for Christ as loss because of how much we care about Him. This has really challenged the way I live. At home I would probably say that I would give everything up for Christ, but I don’t think my actions really reflected this. The real challenge is whether or not that will change when I get back home, because there will be plenty of things trying to break the bond I have with Christ, but Paul continuously tells the Philippians to stand firm and I need to do the same. The battle of living for Christ is constant and if I’m not spending every second working for Him, my life is a waste. I have things at home that are trying to distract me and they may not all be evil, but what do I gain from doing those things. When our plane lands and I’m back home the focus and mindset I have needs to be “what am I/can I be doing for Christ right now? - Max









Saying Goodbye

Last week was probably the best, but also the worst week we had this trip. What made it the best was our team helped out with a VBS program that the church was hosting. We did sketchboard messages, games, crafts, and had an amazing snack everyday. When we were helping out with the VBS we made so many great free-ands (the way the Albanians pronounce the English word "friends").  We made free-ands with all the kids and even better free-ands with the teenagers that live in Pojan that helped us with the VBS. The VBS went very well and over the week we became very close to the teenagers. That’s why it was probably the best week of the trip. Now the reason it was the worst week was because we had to say goodbye. Some of us became so close to the teens that a few of us even cried when it was time to say goodbye. - Cameron & Max











Thankful
This week we did a VBS with a church here in Pojan. They asked the teens to do the messages. So on day one, Max did the message, and it was about prophets. On day two, Garrett did the message, it was about faith and how Jesus fed the 5,000 and Peter walked on the water. They both did really well. Then on the third day, they asked me t do it. I was fine with it until I realized that I had to pretty much figure out they layout of the message. I had the passages, Max had to make up the layout of his message two days earlier, also I took Mrs. Abbott’s speech class, so how hard could it be? And so Mr. Paul and I started working on it and I had no clue what I was doing and I had a night to sketch up three messages and to figure out how to preach it. After about half an hour, Mr. Paul and I came up with the sketch board art. The next day, I looked more carefully at the passages for the message and it made no sense to me. Mr. Paul started to explain what the passage/message was about, but it still didn’t make sense. While I was trying to understand what Mr. Paul was saying, I felt panicky. I was thinking that if I went up there and started doing the message, I wasn’t going to remember it. When the VBS started with songs and verses, Katie pulled me aside and asked if she could pray for me. I said yes and she prayed. Then we both sat down and she let me do a practice run of the message for her. She gave me tips and it was very helpful and I actually understood the message. I’m so thankful that God brought Katie on this trip to help me and the rest of the team out. - Hope (Meredith)


Pastor Toni talking to the crowd after the presentation



The gospel in Thessaloniki 
These past few days in Greece have been great for adult centered ministry. We have preached in two different squares, once without a translator, and once with a translator. We were able to do some sketchboard along with handing out tracks which were written in Greek. We have gotten into many interesting conversations with Greek Orthodox, Catholics, Atheists, and Muslims. God has blessed us with many opportunities to share the good news of Jesus Christ, and we are looking forward to continuing ministry in Ocean City next week. Thank you for all your prayers! - Jonathan







Family Outreach to Gypsies









Adult Ministry in Thessalonica, Greece





Pojan VBS

Bible Stories

Crafts

Gospel Tricks
More Gospel Tricks
Games
Bible Story
Snack



Festival



Thessalonica, Greece







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