mission:thessaloniki

There was snow on the roof tops and on the cars this morning. It’s the first time I see this in the center of the city during my six years here. Passing the local store, Giorgos, the owner called out to me: “Swedish weather!”. Even my neighbor sent me a thought as he took his dog for a walk. But he also realized that the cold Greek winter is like spring or fall in Scandinavia with snow and rain taking turns and the temperature staying just a few degrees above zero.

Hi everyone,

Annika here. On a five week vacation/job trip to Sweden, where the summer heat is as far away as an ice berg in Greece. But it’s still good to be with old friends, even if I miss everyone in Greece. Together with Amy I’ll try to keep you all posted about about what happens in Thessaloniki.

We had quite an exciting spring with a number of new believers and are now facing the challenge of discipling them. I’m looking forward to the fall when we’re expecting lots of good stuff from the Lord.

See you then!

Annika

Well, this is Amy French signing in, an American from Blacksburg, Virginia here to serve in the church in Thessaloniki. And while I’m not taking Hanna’s place, I am here to take over the blog. I’ve already been here for a little over 5 months, and it’s been a blessing to believe, hope for, stand with, and work alongside this crew. More and more I find myself loving this family, and being loved, both by them and my Father. So much has taken place since the last update.

Hanna has made it safely to Australia and I’m sure is taking it by storm. She is greatly missed. I stepped in as co-leader of worship, alongside Annika. And while I’m learning to sing in Greek, they smile at me because I still sing like a folky southerner, and not at all like a Greek. Our team is growing, both in skill and in relationship, which I think preceeds ministry any day. I’ve seen many obstacles overcome…and slowly, slowly I feel we’re really being knit together in depth of love.

Recently, we had a group from America, a very prophetic team who ministered to the body here and in Skopje. It was a powerful time, and the little building in Thessaloniki was packed out. I would say many people experienced the Lord in a personal way, whether through words given, or prayers prayed, or just by His presence in the room. Then, the team did some equipping in Skopje with the guys from Glasnost, and on to Lebanon they went.

There are several new people in the church, and it’s cool to watch (as the entire body works together) the church taking form, growing, and infiltrating a society. This upcoming Saturday we will join a group of Armenians to do some evangelism out in the city. Then, the following week we will show “the Passion” on a movie night as Easter approaches. This is an event to invite your friends to…so hop a plane and join us at 7pm.

We will have a team here from my stomping ground in about a month. I’m especially excited to see them. They will do a lot of street evangelism through worship, dance, and drama.

I am living with Jana, a woman from Latvia who briefly lived with Hanna. God provided an apartment and furniture for us in a relatively short period. She is a real blessing as a roommate. She is also a dancer with an awesome heart for people. Anyhoo…sorry for not writing more but got to run.