Don’t become weary in doing good (Galatians 6:9). Many times it is easy to get tired, to want to give up or to even feel resentful of some of the activities that we must do. That's why it is so important to take care of ourselves. Life in God is not a sprint, it is a marathon. We don’t just run as fast as we can until we burn out and then give up. We are serving God in every season of our lives with our whole heart and with what we can. The little boy gave what he had. He gave his fish and loaves and Jesus multiplied it. He didn’t have to go and beg for enough food or work to make enough money to feed the crowd. We will never be enough to meet all of the needs of the people around us. We aren’t called to that. We can only do what God asks us to do as we are able. Jesus is the one who multiplies, He is the one who provides for the people.
So we need to take time to rest, to study God’s word, to pray and to worship Him. If we are empty we have nothing to give others. Let Jesus fill you up today and then be available to pour into others. Remember when you get empty: keep spending time with Jesus. Keep getting filled back up again. That is more important- the most important. When I am dry and empty I get angry easily. When I have spent time with Jesus, then I can have patience and love my wife, my children and those around me. When I am empty I have nothing to bless others with. Receive God’s love for you and you will be able to love others.
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You have been praying. We have been praying. You have been giving and praying some more and giving some more. And of coarse just like us waiting, expectantly for our departure date. Always waiting for God’s perfect timing. This morning I (Evangelia) was listening to a message by Larry Titus and he shared about God’s perfect timing. He shared the illustration of a well trained dog that has a doggie biscuit set on his nose and then he is told to wait and wait and wait and then his master says ‘get it’ and immediately the dog gets it. This waiting does feel unnatural and sometimes frustrating but it’s all good in God’s perfect timing. We have felt like the dog in the illustration, that had to wait and wait and wait some more. But this morning the Master has said “Get it” and so we have purchased our tickets and are packing our bags! Our departure date is March 30th with an arrival date to Athens March 31st.
As we mentioned in our last letter we were prayed and sent out from The Church on the Way. It was a powerful time of prayer where God spoke very specific things to us, that were not only encouraging for this time but also words that will give us hope and faith as we continue to walk into this great assignment. After that we were able to share God’s word and ministry of music with the congregation in Hacienda Heights, Aletheia Church. For our last four Sundays we have been/will be serving at the Foursquare Church in North Hills, El Mission del Rey with their children’s Palm Sunday/Easter programs. We are grateful we get to continue to use our gifts here on the home front until the day we get to leave. Please continue to pray for us as fervently as ever as we step into this adventure He has set before us. Pray for the country of Greece as so many things feel uncertain, that God will become the ‘certain’ and hope for every person. Thank you for giving and giving so generously, your gifts are an instrument in God’s hand for our departure and ultimately for reaching the Greeks with His love. Thank you for your partnership and love! In His love and grace, Stephen & Evangelia Additional prayer points: Safe flight and for all our luggage to arrive in Athens To find an apartment to stay once we get there Smooth transition for our girls Those who are going to be our neighbors Hearts to continue to soften to hear the Good news and accept it Sometimes you don’t realize what you are praying for and how God will answer it. My wife Evangelia had prayed and longed to come to America. She wanted to live there and go to college there. Her dreams were there. God had answered her prayers and brought her to Southern California to go to school at Azusa Pacific University. While there she had prayed for a husband that didn’t just think Greece was cool, but actually loved Greece and the people there. She had no idea that God would use that prayer and send us there.
In college I was adventurous and went to Yosemite for a semester of school on 2 different occasions. When I heard that I could attend school overseas I was fascinated. I wished I could go. God started putting things in my path about Jerusalem University College right outside the old city of Jerusalem. The school didn’t want me to go (they didn’t want me off campus on my senior year), family and friends didn’t want me to go, but this passion in my heart kept growing. After much prayer I decided to go. It was an amazing journey and life changing for me. Afterward I took a Bible lands tour through Turkey and Greece. Ever since that trip I have longed to go back. I did not really know if it would be possible or even if there was anything there that I could do. Evangelia and I got married and we would vacation in Greece. When we were there I never wanted it to end. I desired to live there and do ministry, but I had lost hope that it could happen. I went through a season of feeling really lost. I met with mentors and a life coach and wanted to find where God was calling me. One of my mentors, who had been to Greece and knows Evangelia’s dad, suggested that I could go as a missionary to Greece. He said that God could use me to touch a nation. He sparked that passion in me to rise again. Evangelia was shocked that someone would just spout off ideas like that that would affect our family so drastically. She wanted to talk with him too. So we all met and she saw this wasn’t just an idle thought, but something grounded in the love for the Greek people and communicating the heart of God. It has been years since then and the desire has only grown and God is now opening the doors for us to go. It is time for us to take that step of faith and reach out to the youth in Athens. |
AuthorBoth Evangelia and I (Stephen) graduated from Azusa Pacific University. We were trained in ministry at The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California. Archives
October 2016
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Larkins In Greece