General Ministries

General Ministries: Greece Update
May 10th, 2012 8:00 AM

Read the latest update from Fotis Romeos on AMG ministry in Greece during these tough times.  Please remember to pray for the country of Greece and specifically our brothers and sisters serving there. 

The weather is beautiful and the work of the Lord so fulfilling in spite of the dark clouds of Greek economy.  We just finished the hosting of our first full semester of an educational program at CVC, a long term vision which the Lord allowed us to experience by hosting a precious class of people along with their professors from Spring Arbor University in Michigan. What a wonderful three months have been.

We are living in some of the most critical times of our history as we will be having elections in Greece this coming weekend. There will also be elections in France, Italy (local ones) Serbia, Kosovo and Armenia, This is a crucial time of the economy in our entire region and all decisions made will affect the life of millions of people for the years to come. We feel that the Lord has placed us here for time such as this.

This Saturday we will be hosting, at the CVC, the Greek National Missions Conference.  We are anticipating hundreds of people to pray learn and finally participate in what the Lord is doing all over the world.  Pray for the National Missions Conference taking place at CVC on May 12 and at Thessaloniki Evangelical Church on May 19. We do not believe that our responsibility in the Great Commission should be diminished because of the Greek financial crisis... It is a matter of our heart and our love for what the Lord is doing around the world as this is fired by His spirit and not dictated by circumstances...

I am listening right now the Filipino youth group which  are having a weekend retreat next door singing at CVC cafeteria “How Great Thou Art” I cannot explain the feelings to “sit” on a miracle that the Lord has done for allowing us to see the development of Cosmovision Center in the recent years.  Another church planting program is going on in different part of the CVC tonight...We never get bored following what the Lord is doing in our midst....

Let me share about one of the highlights of this summer which will be a special camp for Polish children.  We will be hosting this camp on the second week of July at the CVC. This is a huge step of faith as there is a great need and we feel we should serve. These are precious children, about 40 to 50 of them, coming from immigrant families, several of whom have lost their jobs. We would like to provide a few days out of the streets of Athens embracing them with the love of the Gospel. Children’s program at CVC is always a special blessing for many young lives. 

We look forward to a very challenging summer as we will be having an overwhelming program of events, outreaches, educational trips, short term teams and summer camps.

Prayer and Praises

• Pray for the elections in Greece and the outcome.
• Praise the Lord for this blessed winter at CVC
• Pray for the Polish Children’s Camp at the CVC this summer.
• Pray for our many evangelistic programs this summer.
• Pray for the preaching and teaching ministry of Fotis.    
• Pray for physical strength for all the team members of our ministry

We are all grateful for your participation in our lives and ministry. Your love, prayers and support have been a constant reminder of His love.  We feel that we are not alone in this blessed spiritual race.  We are all having a vital part in advancing His kingdom looking forward to the glorious day of His coming!

-Fotis Romeos

Posted by Karen Farney in Greece   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Searching for Answers
May 4th, 2012 7:30 AM

An AMG missionary in Greece captures a firsthand look at the traumatic and unimaginable effects of the financial crisis.

“Many years ago in New York I saw a homeless person for the first time in my life. It was a shock for me, because in Greece I had never seen anyone sleep on the sidewalk! Since then, whenever I thought about the homeless, my mind would go to pictures of people who wore gloves with holes, people with dirty clothes, protecting themselves from the cold with cardboard boxes.

Because we had no homeless people, I never thought this scene would happen in my land. However, the severe financial crisis that has hit Greece has changed everything. A few weeks ago, I saw a couple of homeless persons in downtown Athens. They were different from the familiar picture that I had in my mind. These people were sleeping on park benches, wearing expensive suits and shoes. Homeless people with Armani clothes!! Who would have thought this could happen? 

Only a few short months ago, these people had more than enough. But now they have lost everything. They lost their well paying jobs in big corporations. They lost spacious homes, healthy bank accounts, and fancy cars. All they have are their fancy suits, now dirty and stained from sleeping on park benches.

Demonstrations and strikes take place almost on a daily basis. Some people are protesting the loss of their jobs, others protest because of salary reductions, the reduction of their pensions, and new taxes. Since the onset of the crisis, in order to collect money, the government will invent new taxes which are unbearable and unreasonable. There is a great deal of unrest and frustration in Greek society, which is sometimes expressed very dramatically.

In the midst of this miserable and tense environment, we continue our activities, such as our efforts in the church. We try to serve the people of God in every possible way, physically as well as spiritually. At the same time, we try to reach out to unbelievers with the gospel. 

One thing that I am learning is that God is continuing to work in the hearts of people, even in the worst conditions. I have noticed that people I have never met or witnessed to before have started attending church. Have their hardships made them turn to God? One thing is for certain, the Lord is working to melt their hearts and people are responding.”  

Please continue to pray for those who have been harmed by the financial crisis. Pray that AMG co-workers would know how to help them.   

Posted by Stephanie Pickard in Greece   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: LifeStraw®
April 24th, 2012 8:40 AM

6000 children die every day from illnesses that are contracted by drinking unclean water. 884 Million people do not have access to clean water.  Every 20 seconds a child dies from a sickness caused by drinking unclean water.  Water related illnesses include cholera, dysentery, typhoid, hepatitis, and parasites such as guinea worm and giardia.  Clean water is a basic life necessity that every human being deserves. 

LifeStraw® is a simple yet powerful tool that gives anyone access to clean water.  LifeStraw® is a portable water filter weighing approximately 5 ounces.  It comes with a lanyard for wearing around the neck and provides easy access to clean and safe drinking water away from home.  It will filter at least 1000 liters (24 US gallons) of contaminated water, contains no chemicals, requires no electricity, batteries or replacement parts and is easily cleaned by blowing air through the straw.  LifeStraw® has also developed a family filter which is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and all raw materials are US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) compliant or equivalent.  The LifeStraw® Family filters up to 18,000 liters (4755 US gallons) of water, enough to supply a family of five with clean water for 3 years. 

AMG is now a distributor for this product.  For $20 you can provide a LifeStraw® for a needy child or National Worker overseas.  Or for $60 you can provide a LifeStraw® Family unit giving that family access to clean water for up to 3 years.  Visit the website www.amgcleanwater.com for more information and to join us in providing clean water to the world.  

Posted by Karen Farney in LifeStraw®   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Pastor Training in Uganda
April 18th, 2012 8:43 AM

For many years Jim & Drew Everett have been traveling to Uganda for a few months and use their talents and God given abilities to serve Him.  Jim builds school desks and tables for Upendo Christian Academy and Drew teaches God’s Word to the children living at the orphanage.  During their time in Uganda Jim & Drew are able to build relationships with the people living nearby and share Christ’s message of hope. 

A few years ago Ruben, AMG Uganda director, asked if Jim & Drew would do pastor training.  There are many rural pastors all over Uganda who are in desperate need of sound Biblical training.  Read Drew’s account of this year’s training:

Our weekend teaching pastors was marvelous beyond words and hopefully a great beginning to a beautiful relationship with these men.  Jimmy and I drove several hours and spent a couple of nights in Kinoni town with Reuben, our National Director joining us for the first two hours to introduce his new concept of grassroots pastor training.  In a nutshell: Americans often come to Uganda for big conferences with many pastors and yet Reuben knows that this method has not achieved much because it does not get close enough to  helping the rural /village pastors and their accompanying needs.  Some of those attending such conferences come to these only for the food and friendship.  Others want to learn, but this type of conference is too high level for rural pastors and much is not understood even with translators.  Only the most educated pastors benefit which are quite few.   Reuben recently proposed a reverse method as a way of reaching those 85% of pastors in the rural areas.  Reuben’s method involves intensively working with only a few at a time over a several year period, and also training them to participate teaching in their own zonal conferences, compared to the national conferences which are for the “expert builders" in the ministry.  

Please pray for the Everetts and their ministry in Uganda.  Also, keep these pastors in your thoughts and prayers.  Pray that more would be willing to travel overseas and train these pastors. 

Posted by Karen Farney in Uganda, Pastor Training   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Greece Update
April 10th, 2012 7:54 AM

Read the most recent update from Fotis Romeos. Please join us in praying for Greece and our co-workers serving during this tragic and difficult time. 

I spent the entire day walking in downtown Athens... I wanted to share the feelings of people as they were riding on the metro, walking in the streets, working in the main market, gathering outside of Parliament in Syntagma square.  The people of Greece have been shocked by the public suicide of a 77 year old retired pharmacist yesterday morning, in the most central place of Athens, in front of Parliament. He did not make any previous announcement.  He paid all his bills, wrote a little note, took his gun and placed a bullet in his head.

Ι cannot forget the misery I could clearly see on the faces of common people, going to the doctor with great apprehension since the pharmacists are on strike, visiting their grandchildren with empty hands, going to work knowing that this may be their last day, going shopping and finding many stores closed, in sync with their empty pockets.

I feel that we share some of the responsibility of pulling the “trigger”, for all those 2,000 people who have committed suicide since 2008, by not having cried louder to the Lord, by not having been more vocal in sharing the hope of the Gospel, and by not having being more mobilized in acts of encouragement and support for thousands of fellow citizens who suffer in our country.

This year we celebrate the 70th anniversary of AMG’s presence in Greece and we feel that the needs are the same as in the beginning of this ministry in 1942.  As I was praying in the streets of Athens, the Lord laid upon my heart the burden of starting an urgent campaign of hope for the country of Greece.   I do not know the details of this action at the moment, but in time we will be able to share with you all the details, with the strong appeal to stand with us in this great spiritual battle.  We are thinking of creating a network of hope among people who like to work together, focused on the crisis in Greece.  We would like to organize a distribution of weekly "Bundles of Hope" to families and individuals in need, in cooperation with local churches, as well as operating advice and encouragement lines of hope for common business people who suffer severely.  We cannot cover all the needs of people but we could contribute food for their “daily bread”, along with the message of hope we all find in the Word of God.

Please pray for us, as the miserable situation around us is becoming tragic, dramatic, and desperate.

• Pray for our coworkers as they all feel the tremendous pressure of our economy.
• Pray for wisdom as we have to restructure the overall schedule in order to respond more fruitful to the current need.
• Pray for St. Luke’s hospital as the challenges are becoming greater since the Greek government is not able to respond in its financial obligations.
• Pray for the coming up elections which will be taking place probably in May the 6th.
• Pray for our publications and especial of the Greek edition of Upper Room devotional guide which goes in many homes all over Greece bringing the message of hope.

Posted by Karen Farney in Greece   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Easter and the Justice of God
April 5th, 2012 8:00 AM

Easter and the Justice of God

Author: Justin Loans

At Easter, it is only proper that we as Christians focus our attention on the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the joy of salvation that His sacrifice brings. Close in the background to that rejoicing, however, is the specter of sin—the reason that God had to send His Son to die in the first place.

More often than not, we think of sin as the things that we do that go against God’s will (sins) or more generally as our unregenerate state before salvation. Even when we think about sin at a theological level, it is difficult for us to see it fully because everything in this life is so colored by it. We don’t like to dwell on sin, but without fully grasping its magnitude, we cannot fully appreciate the wonder that Easter represents.

Easter, for all its joy, makes three definitive statements about sin that serve not to cloud that joy but to magnify it.

I. Sin Demands Judgment
God doesn’t simply dislike sin or set arbitrary rules that we can’t help but break. God’s holiness demands justice for mankind’s choice to disobey Him and disregard His authority. We all deserve punishment for our sinful condition and sinful choices, and we see throughout Scripture that the punishment is death (Deut. 28, Rom. 6:23, Heb. 9:22, etc.).

The incarnation of Christ—the eternally begotten second person of the Trinity—in historical space and time serves to remind us that the price for sin must be paid. Christ’s coming in human flesh served to make Him capable of experiencing death. He was born in order to die—to take the judgment for sin. As the writer of Hebrews puts it, “But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death…” (Heb. 2:9).

II. The Judgment Was Paid by Christ
The beauty of Christ’s death is not merely that He offered Himself as a sacrifice for the penalty of sin but that He was able to do so. No created being could ever serve to pay the price for all men; only Christ, as “God from God, light from light, begotten, not made, of one being with the Father” (in the words of the Nicene Creed) was an acceptable sacrifice. Infinite sin (the rebellion against God of every human, past, present, and future) required an infinite payment.

The conclusion of that verse in Hebrews explains: “so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.” Isaiah writes, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed…. But the Lord was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; if He would render Himself as a guilt offering…” (Isa. 53:5, 10).

Christ has offered Himself as the guilt offering, and given us the opportunity to exchange our guilt for His—that is, we can accept God’s justice through our own death (by refusing Christ) or by participating in His death. We can die by His hand or die into Him accepting His life in return. Because He has paid the price for us, our debt has been cancelled—the penalty cannot be assessed twice.

III. The Resurrection Enables Life after Sin
Easter is the celebration of the fact that Christ’s death opens the door to life itself. Because our justly deserved death was taken by the eternal, holy, almighty Son of God, our life of obedience is made possible by His resurrection. We are never completely free of sin’s power and consequences in this life, but because of Christ in us, we are enabled to begin to reflect the holiness of God through our thoughts and actions.

Again, the author of Hebrews helps us see clearly how Christ’s work upends the stronghold of sin: “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Heb. 2:10-11). Through suffering, God made Christ able to bring us into glory as sons of God.

Through His coming also, however, Christ learned the pain of temptation, and it is by this intimate knowledge of our own condition that He strengthens us to resist sin’s power: “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:17-18).

Christ is both the sacrifice for our sins and the priest who pleads our case. Only through this astonishing transaction can God be both “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:26). More than that, Christ is our encourager—as “one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb. 4:15) He enables us by His Spirit to endure temptation and shine forth His righteousness in our resistance. It is in this that we see most clearly the whole glory of Christ’s work. The eternal life of Christ is the capstone of our redemption and shows God’s overwhelming love.

Application
How do we live out Easter? How do we put the payment for sin and the life of Christ in practice? I’d like to offer three suggestions.

1) Easter applied should make us more grateful for our salvation. Seeing the depth of our sin that necessitated such a sacrifice as Christ’s has to give us pause. There can be no going back to a life unaware of the price paid for us after we have encountered Christ. As Paul puts it, “How shall we who died to sin live in it?” (Rom. 6:2). That joy and gratitude is a far greater motivator for obedience to God’s will than any amount of guilt we can heap on ourselves.

2) Easter applied should make us more concerned for the lost. Once we recognize who we are in Christ (and our plight without Him), we should grow in our prayer for and outreach to those who do not yet know Him. If we don’t love the lost as He does, we should examine our hearts to discover why we are content to let them miss His atonement.

3) Easter applied should make us more forgiving toward fellow believers. Recognizing the depth of our sin and the price of our redemption puts forgiveness in perspective. If the sacrifice of Christ satisfies the wrath of Almighty God toward any sin a believer might commit, what right do we as fellow sinners have to demand anything else in exchange for our forgiveness? Too many divisions within our churches and families come from our efforts to deal with the sins of others on terms more stringent than God applies to us.

First published on Disciple Magazine.  

Posted by Karen Farney in Disciple Magazine   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Christmas Joy at Valley of Love
April 3rd, 2012 8:00 AM

Did you know the Bundles of Love program also provides a Christmas Gift to the lepers at the AMG Valley of Love colony in India?  Each Christmas, through generous donations from our donors, lepers and their families are able to celebrate Christ’s birth through the Bundle of Love program.  Through AMG India and the Valley of Love colony many lepers find hope in Christ for a better life for themselves and their families.  Chella Sreenu says,

“Dear Supporters,

Once again I am happy to convey my Christmas and New Year 2012 wishes to you all.  With your kind support, I am leading a happy and pleasant life with my family in our colony.  Thank you very much for your kind of support.  Our colony filled with Christmas joy.  Our Sunday school children decorated our church with color papers and a big star.  We are given nice clothes.  We enjoy the special love feast on that day.  We share our Christmas joy with other inmates and their families at our colony.  I attend the church regularly with my family.  My children are studying well.  My wife and children are conveying their wishes to you all.  We are all praying for you.  Please pray for us.”

We rejoice that many lepers and their families have a home at Valley of Love.  Please join us in praying for the families being served at Valley of Love in India.  

Posted by Karen Farney in India, Lepers   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: New Partnership
March 29th, 2012 8:18 AM

We just received word from AMG Guatemala Director, Brian Dennett with some exciting news:

Greetings from Guatemala! 

I am very pleased to announce the formal signing this afternoon of a partnership agreement between AMG International Guatemala and International Justice Mission of Washington, D.C.  The signing included dedications by Tom Rawlings, National Director of IJM and myself and was followed by a small celebration of representatives of both organizations. 

IJM's significant relationships with the public justice system and government of Guatemala coupled with AMG's infrastructure and programs in 30 communities and connection with churches across Guatemala make for the perfect alliance in working with the poor and seeking social justice.

AMG and IJM will be working together on the following initiatives: 

- Prosecuting abusers of children participating in AMG's system of schools, hospital, clinics and other social programs.

- Providing educational, health and other social services for victims of abuse throughout Guatemala.

- Providing restorative services for victims of abuse.

- Working together to mobilize the church in responding to the needs of their communities, social justice and a response to child abuse and abandonment.

- Working with Guatemalan government and churches to develop a widespread foster program.  Encourage Christian families throughout Guatemala to take in children at risk and abandoned children.

AMG and IJM share a like-minded vision of transformation through responsible social action and the sharing of the gospel of Jesus Christ and will be working closely in the development of each initiative to fulfill both.  This partnership is the result of efforts by both organizations to seek relevant actors to complement our work and to facilitate more powerful interventions. 

We are very excited by the possibilities of our work together and both organizations are ready to combine efforts! 

Blessings from Guatemala, 

Brian

Posted by Karen Farney in Guatemala   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Greek Friday
March 23rd, 2012 8:05 AM

The economic situation has not improved in Greece leaving many people still without jobs and without hope.  Read the latest update from Fotis Romeos and please continue to pray! 

Greece finally received a huge bailout of more than 130 billion Euros from European Union involving a “haircut” of our national debt!  Unfortunately, that does not bring any good news to the common people as part of the agreement is a huge cut off of salaries, firing of thousands of people working for the Greek government, reduce of the retirement plans of elderly people, reduce of salaries in the private sector, and drastic increase of all kinds of direct or indirect taxation.

We see unusual strikes on the hospitals as many doctors have not been paid for months so common people cannot receive proper medical services due to lack of basic medical supplies!  The psychology of people is in the lowest possible point as the economy forecast is rather dark for the following months and years.  In this environment we will be having elections within the next 40 to 50 days...

Due to the overall situation in Greece we had to postpone the gathering of our annual missions conference which has been taking place for the last 30 years in the Bible camp of Leptokaria every June, which brings together people from all over Greece. The reason is that traveling expenses is something that common people cannot afford any more. The price of gasoline is close to $12 USD per gallon!  Instead we will be having two daily missionary events one in Athens area May 12 and one in Thessalonica May 19 with the same program. We aim to mobilize more young people in cooperation of local churches.
In other words we do need prayer for our country and ministry in Greece!

• Pray as God’s people keep sharing their faith with their friends and relatives.
• We do need to rent a huge tent to accommodate about 500 people for our mission conference. We are missing about $1.500 USD and we would appreciate your prayers so God may provide for this urgent need.
• We just published a book in title “Experiencing the Crisis... Is there a Hope” This is a cooperative effort of 15 evangelical leaders speaking about the crisis in Greece and giving the biblical prospective. It is a great apologetic and evangelistic book which demonstrates the unity of God’s people from various denominations, please pray that the Lord may use it.
• We praise the Lord for the full semester we are having at CVC in the Center of New Testament Studies program. The Lord is working in the lives of our students and we rejoice for this huge encouragement during these difficult days.
• Pray for a special group made up primarily of former Muslims. There will be about 10 to 12 precious brothers we will be hosting at CVC this weekend for a discipleship program.
• Praise the Lord for several baptismal services we had at CVC the previous days for people who came to know the Lord at our local unique Indian -Pakistani church  

Posted by Karen Farney in Greece   |  0 Comment(s)

General Ministries: Greek Friday
March 9th, 2012 9:34 AM

Read this week’s Greece update from our own Fotis Romeos.  Thank you for continuing to pray and support our dear brothers and sisters in Greece.

I have been back to Greece after a short but a blessed trip to the US landing on the challenging problems of our country. I would like to share with you a part of a report written by one of the US students we host at CVC this semester:

Greece is more than an economic crisis. These people each have a face, a story, a family. Now,before you write me off for sounding too cheesy, hear me out.

Being in Greece at this vital time has allowed me to see past my narrow perspective of what this country was going through. No longer am I skewed by the media’s interpretation of what was going on. I have spoken with a husband who lost his family’s business that they had owned for six generations.

I have talked to a wife and mother whose pay had been cut in half and who was working forty plus hours a week simply trying to help keep a roof over her kids’ heads.

It didn’t take long for me to discover this was no longer “Greece’s” problem, but was becoming personal. It was no longer a nation in crisis, but a majority of people who had been slighted by a few.

In indeed this is a problem of real people we live with and we are called to minister to. Having 1.5 million unemployed people in a small country of 11 million is too much...At the same time we are so glad to see the change of attitude among the people regarding the reception of the Gospel. We heard the news that a public hospital ordered 6,000 New Testament from Gideon's ministry in order to share with their staff and patients. For the last 10 years they could not convince this same hospital to accept the NTs...

• Keep praying for the people on Greece.
• Today is the very crucial decision making about the official “haircut” of Greek dept. Pray that this Eurogroup may have the right decision.
• Pray for many people who seek immigration out of Greece that they may be led to the right country.
• Pray for our ministries as we have to face severe taxation challenges of our ministry properties.
• Praise the Lord for the 8 former Muslim people who were baptized at CVC few days ago!

Thank you so much for your love which was expressed so vividly during my recent visit in the US. I would appreciate your prayers as I have been fighting with a flu and have to be on bed for several days. We do know that we are in the midst of a spiritual battle but we keep pressing on knowing that we have His victory!

Posted by Karen Farney in Greece   |  0 Comment(s)