Greece 2012: Summary

[Romanian Class Group Shot]

Thank you once again for your prayers and financial support. I wanted to encourage your faithfulness to God’s mission by sharing with you what God did in Athens this January.

Unfortunately, many mission trips are short-sighted. My two years in Moldova taught me that missions is hard, slow work. I was excited to work with Training Leaders International (TLI) in Athens because they have a long term vision.

TLI has designed a multi-year curriculum that will train church leaders to faithfully preach God’s word. Ryan, a faithful IMB missionary, coordinates the program in Athens in partnership with TLI. Our team began this work among six language groups—Romanian (which I taught), Albanian, Farsi, Arabic, and English (for Africans). For the next several years, the men we taught will continue their training as other TLI teams go to Athens.

God blessed my time with the Romanian-speaking group. Every night we covered two of God’s attributes. The Romanians and Moldovans were eager to study and asked challenging questions. However, their interest was not merely intellectual. We concluded each night with earnest times of prayer and song as we praised God for who he is. 

The Romanian-speaking churches are possibly the strongest evangelical churches in Athens and are actively involved in evangelism and church planting throughout Greece. It is my conviction that these classes will make their work more effective and more God-honoring.

God used my knowledge of the Romanian language and culture to solidify the confidence and trust of the Romanian believers in TLI’s program. My time along with your prayers and money were an investment in these men and in the ministries of TLI and IMB missionary Ryan. I am confident that we will receive a good return on our investment by God’s grace. Again, thank you.