Thassos i sikte

Thursday, February 25, 2010

21 more nights

I, Lena, am now at work. I'm working at a shelter for homeless addicts as you might know. I like it here, most of the guests are here regulary so we are getting to know them and we are having a nice homy feeling.

Tonight however we have had a busy night and I'm sitting down to catch my breth and to have a few minutes brake. Still a lot of the regular cleaning and stuff to do.
There was a couple that didn't quite get along and another couple that we tryed to make stay, but they are free to go so what can we do. It's no prison you know. Sometimes it's hard when you see the needs of our guests and they just don't want to see it themself. But I guess I'm not always making the best choices myself at all times...

Wow, imagine it's only 21 more nights at my work! Time will fly. It is a bit sad to think of it. As I said, I like my job and I will miss my crazy workmates :-) but... Only 21 more nights and we are off on our big adventure.

Today it feels like forever, but I know that in just a few weeks I wish I had more time for packing, sorting and organizeing. Do we have incurens? What car will we take? Will it all fit in the car? Do we need to bring the caravan? Is it fit for the long trip? we have to sell everything we're not bringing, where? How? When and will anyone buy it!? Where is the passport?... I guess I need the two month we still have left :-)

Monday, February 22, 2010

The countdown has begun!

We are packing and making ourselfs ready!
In the beginning of May we are empting our appartement to go south!

I must say it's a pity to leave Sweden in May, it's the most beautiful time of the year in Sweden then... But we are really longing for Greece so it will be wounderful to get down there!

Up til now we have been waiting for the right time, for everything to be ready.
Now, though we can't see that everything is ready, we feel that the time is right!

In a way it feels like parachuting on a cloudy day, you can't see wether there is land or sea underneath, you just have to trust and jump (not that I ever have been parachuting and don't have a clue if anyone would do it on a cloudy day... But still that is what we will do...).

We belive God is the one who has send us and then we know that he will provide for us!
Alot of the provition is coming through friends which makes us so greatful!

And we are so thankfull for our friends at Thassos that is making us feel so welcome aswell.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Thassos in January

A year ago we made our first trip together to Thassos, Greece.
It was the first visit Lena made to the region (she needed to see the country she might move to when getting married to Kenneth).
Here are some pictures from our trip. As you can see it was a very cloudy, foggy and grey week. Sometimes you couldn't see more then few meters ahead but still we enjoyed ourself alot. It is a beautiful island in any wether. And wounderful people!

The main city on the island, Limenas. In the summer a home for many turists, this time of the year a more slow and quit city. Every here and there you find memorys from long gone history. A history that the Greek people have all right to be proud of.

One day we took a car and took a trip around the island.
There is bearly any wildlife left on the island but lots of goats!

God was using a lot of marble when creating Thassos.
Part from the turism the marble and olives are important sorces of income for the island.

Thassos christian fellowship

The assembly, our Thassos family.
Are'nt they sweet?!

Lovely swedish winter

our livingroom/bedroom with our beautiful Christmastree

had some fun with photoshop

oh how I love the snow! everything gets beautyful and light

our backyard

Thursday, December 3, 2009

What's up?

Hello out there
Hope you are doing good
and enjoying life.

We don't have any new cool pictures
and not a lot of new stuff to write,
but yes we are doing good.
Enjoying life- sure, but there is also a... what to call it?
a..longing. A longing to see things come trough.

What are we waiting for?
Is it time to move south?
Or is it smart to hold our horses for a bit longer.
Time will tell...
And in the meantime
we are enjoying the good we have today.

And always and through it all:
God is good and forever faithfull.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Saffron Buns

Christmas is here!! Well I know it's almost three weeks even until advent but
Kenneth did some Saffron Buns earlier this week so we got a nice cosy Christmas feeling

Playing Christmas music, lighting candals, thinking of other Christmas goodies...

This is the very first Saffron Buns Kenneth ever made! (he do has eaten them before, in countless amounts...) And he did a great job! though he got tired of making the cats after half the dough... (the buns are in swedish called Lucia cats)

And Lena was laying in the sofa feeling sorry for herself, having a cold.
Feeling much better after having some "lussekatter" though! and now even better after a couple of days of rest.

Facts on Thassos

Thassos is the most northen island in Greece, in the province of Macedonia. It is a very green island with high hills that makes a beautiful scenery, and there is also some really nice beaches.
There is 16000 inhabitants on the island that count a circumference of 91km. Thassos town is Limenas but there is also several vilages on the island.
To get to the island you need to take the boat from Kavala or Keramoti to either Limenas or Skala Prinou. The seagull will make you company all the way hoping to get something :-)

The vision (english)

1996 Kenneth got the calling through a dream to go to Macedonia. At that time he didn't know that such country existed , more than mentioned in the Bible. But the same morning a Christian magazine, “Light for the peoples”, came with the mail and landed on the floor with an article about a missionary family in Macedonia facing up. The first that caught Kenneth's attention was a quote of Paule “Come and help us” Acts 16:9. Kenneth then felt he would have to wait for at least 10 years before fully stepping into the vision.

During the years he has prepared himself with bible school and work in different congregations to get experience. There has also been lots of trips to the area, among other in 2001 when he was working as a guide on Thassos. Until then he had thought that Macedonia only is the small country in former Yugoslavia. Now he found out that the area in northern Greece also is Macedonia.

During the time in Thassos Kenneth got to know some Christians, Dimitri and Gordon. Together they started to have services for tourists in a pavilion by the sea. These became popular and now they have a small congregation on the island where Dimitri is the pastor. This fellowship is the base for our mission in Macedonia.

On February 7, 2009 Lena became part of the vision as we got married. Lena has been in mission for some years with YWAM, youth with a mission, and love to do more missionary work. After a few visits to Thassos she got a feel for the people in the area. Kenneth think she's an important part of the puzzle and to see the vision come true.

Kenneth is a pioneer with many visions while Lena is of more calm and stable character. We complete each other well.

After one year of marriage we decided to make our way south. For two years we were having the privilige of staying on an island with a small english/greek speeking fellowship as a base for our mission. Our mission was simply to preach the gospel in the area. Our main focus has been on the youth. Now we are back in Sweden but the church on Thassos is still serving the Lord on Thassos. And we hope that we continuously will be able to bring in teams and do other outreaches in the area. And maybe in the future come back on a more long term base.

Visionen (svenska)

1996 fick Kenneth i en dröm Makedonien som en missionskallelse. Han visste då inte att landet existerade, mer än som omtalad i Bibeln. Men den morgonen trillade ett Ljus i Öster-tidning in genom brevinkastet och landade med baksidan upp, där var en artikel om en missionärsfamilj i Makedonien. Det första Kenneths ögon fastnade på var ett citat från Paulus ”Kom över och hjälp oss” apg 16:9. Kenneth upplevde då att han skulle få vänta över 10 år innan han skulle få kliva in i kallelsen på allvar.

Under tiden har han förberett sig med bibelskola och arbete i lite olika församlingar för att få erfarenhet. Det har också blivit många resor dit, bla 2001 då han fick arbete som reseledare på ön Thassos i norra Grekland. Det var tydligt hur Gud hade sin hand med i det. Kenneth trodde innan dess att Makedonien endast var det lilla land som tidigare ingått i fd Jugoslavien. Han upptäckte nu att området i norra Grekland också heter Makedonien. Under tiden i Thassos lärde Kenneth känna några kristna på ön, Dimitri och Gordon. Tillsammans började de anordna gudstjänster för turister i en paviljong vid havet. Dessa blev populära och nu är där en liten församling där Dimitri är pastor. Den församlingen är vår bas i vår Makedoniska mission.

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Den 7 feb 2009 blev Lena del i kallelsen då vi gifte oss. Lena har flera års erfarenhet från mission genom UMU, ungdom med uppgift, och vill gärna fortsätta med mission. Efter att ha vart med på ett par resor ner till Makedonien var det lätt att känna för människorna i området. För Kenneths del är hon givetvis en oerhört viktig pusselbit som fallit på plats för att klara uppdraget. Kenneth är visionären och pionjären medan Lena är den trygga, stabila typen. Vi kompletterar varandra bra.

Efter ett års äktenskap besämde vi oss för att flytta söderut. Under två år har vi haft förmånen att få bo på en ö med en liten engelsk/grekisk gemenskap som bas för arbetet. Vår mission har helt enkelt vart att predika evangelium i området. I huvudsak har vi arbetat med ungdomsarbete. Nu är vi tillbaka i Sverige men församlingen tjänar fortfarande Herren på Thassos. Och vi hoppas att vi även fortsättningsvis ska kunna ta med team ner och ha andra missionssatsningar i området. Och kanske en dag att vi åker tillbaka mer långsiktigt.