We returned a few weeks ago from a worship mission trip to Greece--a team of eight of us (Stephen Rush, John Mays, Rob Howard, Colton Hammond, Mark Hammond, Chad Cates, Carl Cartee and Dan Vorm). We spent nine days with Hellenic Ministries in Athens leading worship and a worship retreat with thirty young adults, teaching and equipping. [check out some of our pictures in the W&A Greece Trip 2009 gallery]
I was knocked out to learn that Greece is such rocky soil. These missionaries we met have been digging in the trenches for God for years--faithfully giving their lives away--yet there are only an estimated 20,000 believers among the population of 11 million in Greece. We started our week by playing a concert for 200 Muslim refugees. The ministry feeds a love meal and offers showers every Monday night. They invite the refugees back for a Bible study on Wednesday. They average about 20. One of the missionaries, Heath, from Canada, said he's been teaching the intensive Bible study for two years. When we asked him what kind of fruit he's seen he said no one has come to faith. Then he said, "We're just sowing seeds, the fruit takes a long time to produce."
The faith and trust of the missionaries was contagious. They told story after story about God's faithful provision. They have a 70-foot sailboat and when we asked how they got it, they couldn't tell the story fast enough. The leader of the ministry, Jonathan, told about his father who received a call from a couple that wanted to join the ministry. They said they felt God was leading them to carry Bibles to the Greek islands--they only had one problem, they didn't have a boat. Jonathan's dad said to join the ministry and God would provide the boat--that simple. They did, and not too long after they got a call from Santa Cruz, CA offering them the 70-foot sailboat.
I wrote down so many stories they told, and they left me wanting more--to live a bigger story, to tell the stories God is doing, to live in a way that those stories are seen--that God is seen clearly, live to risk it all, live that my kids would see us living a bigger story and desire that in their lives too, that they would live to tell their own.
I'm still asking the question--like the boat and so many other stories from our friends in Greece--what will I trust God for this year? What will you trust God for this year? He is faithful. We saw that firsthand in Greece.
- Rob
