Spreading God's Word

"So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it."  Isaiah 55:11

The Bible distribution launched two days ago with an outreach to Turkish villages. We loaded up our arms and made our way from home to home handing bags with the Turkish language New Testament to some but otherwise hanging the bags on door nobs or placing them on a fence post or step.



Four young men at a taverna took the bags eagerly and thanked me while some declined with an emphatic shake of the head. Our team distributed in the small farming villages of Passos, Archondica, Vakos and Vragia. About a third of the 300 volunteers are Greeks and all the vehicles have a least one to help with translation and cultural sensitivity. I began the distribution in the first village with our Greek companion, Katerina.

Despite many difficulties, 162 villages in all were reached the first day. The volunteers were delayed in getting started until mid-afternoon and some cars had 2-3 hour drives to get to their first villages. Some got lost; there were breakdowns; some teams distributed in the dark and did not return until 2:00 AM. Even so, 11,600 Scriptures were distributed.

On the second day we distributed to the Greek villages of Ricia and Asperoneron near the borders with Bulgaria and Turkey. One villager, a man named Costas, accepted our gift and in return insisted on giving us all bottles of water and Turkish Delight, a soft powdered candy, and invited us to return to his village to visit him again. In the bag is a phone number to the camp where we are staying, as well as the main office of Hellenic Ministries, and calls with spiritual questions and requests for follow up begin almost immediately, we are told.

It is hard to blog with our days being so long and the internet connection is not good where we are staying. Also, my family is dealing with a personal matter back home. Deb's mom was hospitalized with pneumonia just before I left and has since gone into cardiac arrest and is on a ventilator. Deb was to have joined me mid-way into Operation Joshua but now she has cancelled her flight and it does not seem likely that she will come. We are praying for God's lovingkindness and mercy on Deb's mom, MaryAnn, and for the comfort and strength of the Lord for Deb and her sisters as they support their mother and one another in this difficult time.