Last night Lynn & I were celebrating the 5th birthday of the Armenian fellowship. We have been connected with the leaders for the whole 5 years now. It is wonderful to see how they are developing and growing.
We were able to participate in their meeting and share fellowship with the body there.
Great times in which we live.

Bulgaria joins the EU on January 1st...

There is something very special about people who are out there - doing Pioneer ministry... It's pretty exciting stuff.
Bulgaria joins the European Union on January 1st- so here is a small insight into the ministry of a couple of friends in Sofia & Plovdiv.. for those who are not so familiar with the place.
David Carter & I are just back from a rather chilly visit. Many of the roads are as bad as Albania! On crossing the border you immediately notice the grey/brown countenance of the country. The towns & cities are noticably poorer and it's not uncommmon to see a horse & cart or the latest huge 4x4 for transport. There is a massive gap between rich and poor.
In Sofia we spent some good time with a good friend who has pioneered a radical church network that goes back to the Communist era. He continues to press on desiring to change the nation through the Kingdom of God. Touching the heart of this man and enjoying fellowship in his home is a privilege. Some big challenges face him & his wife - but they are eager to walk the path of God.
From Sofia we headed South East to Plovdiv where Craig Sibthorpe is busy developing a work largely amongst gypsies but also Bulgarians. Craig took us to the downtown ghetto where 10,000 or more gypsies live and where he is developing a variety of works amongst the people there. Preaching the gospel is his passion but football, second hand clothes & furniture as well as church planting are all impacting the community. He and his Nigerian collegue make no secret of their Christian faith here.
We came home inspired, committed to encourage & support these guys - If you have a minute just pray for the Kingdom to come & his will to be done in this ministry.
We'll be off to Bulgaria again in the New Year - it will be interesting to watch and see if the EU or the KOG make the most impact there!

Birthday Girl

Lynn, Joanna & I are just back from the USA.
It was a great trip - We attended a Vision Conference at Washington Christian Life Centre and met some great characters in ministry from Nicaragua, Venezuela, Columbia & Peru. We were welcomed into the church family and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. A great connection has been established between us. Phil Driscoll was one of the highlights - the last meeting was a tremendous worship event - this guy is an anointed prophet.
Of course a highlight was celebrating Joanna's 18th birthday - a trip to the Mall, the cinema and the conference fashion Show was all great fun.
After Washington it was down to Florida, (Lynn want's to drive next time) where we visited friends Walter & Linda Coleman and Kevin & Julie Endres.. A fantastic reconnection of long term friendships with them & their families. We all celebrated Thanksgiving together and certainly had lots we could be thankful for. Sea World was tremendous
America is a fascinating place and we enjoyed the experience. Now we are back and ready to roll into the Christmas season and the challenges of 2007... in a few days i'll write about some exciting developments for 2007.

Here are 2 Questions from Rachel's Theory Driving school book that you might like to answer - or explain....

At a circular crossing

A. You converge to the centre if your exit from the junction is on the left of the extension of the axis of the road from which you entered the junction

B. Whichever might be the exit you will follow, you firstly go through the interior lane of the junction

Alcohol consummation

A. Leads you to overestimation of your actual abilities

B. Reduces your reaction time.

Discovery Club starts...

This weekend Jamie & Rachel started a Discovery club for youngsters up to 13… They have a team of Thodoris & Joanna and for starters 6 showed up! This was pretty good considering it has been FREEZING cold and extremely windy! Some of them came back to Dave & Lynn’s for food with their Mum.. they were complaining …”It’s only once a month” …. “It’s not fair”.

David & Carolyn are Engaged

It is a very great pleasure for Lynn & I to announce the engagement of our daughter Carolyn to David Carter. It isn’t the greatest surprise in the world but after a year of being together they have taken this wonderful step towards marriage. They will be married sometime in the Spring.

David has been a part of our life here in Greece for the past 4 years, finally moving here to join the team fully in February 2006. Carolyn returned to Greece after 2½ years studying photography in the UK.

We’ll announce a wedding date shortly…

Flex your Muscles

Hedge trimming is not something I do often but this has been a week of it; David Carter was employed to trim a hedge that was 4 metres high and more than 150 metres long! On the face of it just a few days work... but this became something of a Team exercise with Themis, Jamie & myself all getting involved. The thing about it is that you find muscles you didn't know you had and today, wow, do those muscles ache.... still it's good to know they exist and with a little effort they can be brought into shape.

This made me think about treasure stored in secret places. The word of God says there is treasure stored in secret places and if we begin to dig a little, we will find that when we encountered the Lord he invested amazing treasure in our lives through the work of the Holy Spirit.

At such a time as this when the world feels more unstable than ever, its not natural ability that will change the world - but by drawing from that invested treasure, the Lord will take ordinary folk and cause you to flex you Spiritual Muscles - draw from that Treasure and change your world.... and Yes, those ragged hedges look sharp & transformed!

Great meeting in the city last night - not too many folk there but a great opportunity to share vision..

Pro 29:18 Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.

I really like this translation as it is prophetic revelation that people need. Vision or Mission statements have become the norm, but we the people of God need a Prophetic Vision so that we are restrained into the Kingdom of God...

1 Peter 2:4&5 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

So we advance and seek to be Living Stones; a Spiritual house; a holy Priesthood offering Spirtual sacrifices.

Lord send YOUR Fire!

Latest news – September 2006

Fires caused havoc in Greece towards the end of the summer. We were on holiday in Halkidiki at the time and stood in horror as we watched a blaze start and then spread to cover 4000 hectares of land across the bay on the first finger... Tragically, 2 lives were lost. At the same time a huge fire engulfed the Peloponese region in the south of Greece destroying 5000 hectares.

A week later back home a family apartment went up in flames – just 50 metres from our home. 2 days later all 3 legs of Halkidiki were again ablaze – much smaller fires this time.

The sad thing about the Halkidiki fire was that it was an act of arson and we saw it start – the authorities were told but the newspapers reported that because it was raining in Thessaloniki, they thought the rain would move down there – so no fire appliances went for about 6 hours!

For us this is a prophetic picture!

Fires are starting in Greece – small at first but they will spread – these fires are in the hearts of a few. Some think that they will just go out, but when it’s too late, the blaze will have taken hold. God is on the move here.

Lord give us this nation – cause the heart of this land to change.

Personally

We had a great week away seeking the Lord – Doors continue to open, hearts are changing…

This week a group of German guys join us for some Men of God days…

Lynn & Carolyn are off to Australia next week….

John 15:2 Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

So often we hear the word that he cuts of every branch that does not bear fruit – and actually live with an expectation that those fruitless things will be pruned off, - but actually this scripture says that he prunes all the fruitful stuff that goes on in our lives too – to make it more fruitful..

This is a great way to see where your anointing/ gifts really lie – take a few minutes too reflect – what has been pruned lately, what is it that I give myself for that is being trimmed by the father? If we don’t prune the fruitful area’s they will eventually produce sour grapes!

Just back from Germany

Just back from a busy weekend in Duisburg, Germany. I saw a little of the World cup. On Saturday I met with a group of folk who support our ministry and Sunday preached at their 3 services. It was a very encouraging time, the Lord is at work and lives are being changed. 3 Services is interesting as it stops the meetings from becoming too impersonal and you can touch the hearts of the people.

This week our Ladies are away seeking the Lord and then we are off to a Big Fat Greek Wedding on Sunday.

Monday Derek Brown & Ryan Wyatt join us for a couple of days so we will seek to gather some folk together in the City.

This beats four Weddings and a funeral....

Interesting weekend – 2 Birthdays, a wedding, a Greek Orthodox Baptism and a Sunday evening celebration! – Beat’s four weddings and a funeral any day!

Friday was Rachel’s birthday – the ladies got together with neighbours in the morning and in the evening family and a few friends went to the city to Celebrate - then Saturday was Themis turn! We gathered with more neighbours of Themis & Kali for a BBQ and great conversation.

Saturday night – 8.00p.m. David married an English couple in a local hotel, accompanied by David C, Rachel, Carolyn & Jamie who sang so well they were asked to do a live gig in a local bar!
However, Sunday must take this week’s award for the extraordinary! 4 of us went to an Orthodox church for the baptism of twins Konstantinos & Maria Sophie. We were invited by their parents to attend the ceremony. The children were presented, stripped, anointed with oil, dipped three times, the priest then cuts their hair.. then there is a free for all as the Grannies,
Aunts & other ladies fight to see who will dress the children again. They are then dedicated and after an hour, we all filed out, kissing every member of the family! Oh, then we receive a gift and CAKE! Following this we were invited to a wonderful Villa for a sit down meal for 60 people!
These are the people we are here for – how they need to hear the good news – when in the church the people are so detached from the activity of the priest, they become bored and uninterested … It is to these people 98% of the population we are called – of the Evangelical/ Pentecostal church, Jesus would say “Physician heal yourself” but his heart is moved with compassion for those who are ignorant of the truth…

Well, here we are back in circulation after what seems to have been a lot of travelling & talking!

Our travels were mostly uneventful, with only an odd delay here and there. It was an interesting experience being checked out by the Italian customs police and having the van checked over by sniffer dogs, however in one way the experience is rather reassuring!

We spent 2 nights with Simon Pfau in the Black Forest as we travelled to & from the UK, Dave had the privilege of speaking in their congregation.

KC21, Aldershot, UK
Our time at the King’s Centre was wonderful. A full church, anointed worship and a real awareness of God’s presence. David Carter was prayed for by the leaders of the church and received encouraging words. Scott Abke (pictured) was the guest speaker and he prophesied over Jamie, Myself and Rachel.

You cannot imagine how good it is to hear from the Father’s heart and this inspired and encouraged our faith.

Hothorpe Hall
Hothorpe Hall (UK) is the Venue for Derek Brown’s annual men’s gathering. If Sunday had been wonderful then Hothorpe was brilliant. The presence of God was remarkable. The worship was unusual, not so much instrument led and the anointing of the Spirit fell upon us. The various speakers: Jarrod Cooper, Gbile Akani, Scot Abke and Derek all brought powerful ministry to us and agin we were challenged, provoked, equipped and anointed to press on and se the Kingdom of God advance with GREAT GLORY.

So our journey home gave us great food for discussion and thought but perhaps more than that has become an impetus for change.

If you want to know more then write and we can tell all!

So today - we face the ongoing challenge to press on with the Lord and seek first his Kingdom – this we are seeking to do – we believe he will add to us all we need to do the work.

If you feel you can support our ministry financially – this is good soil for your seed – so please consider getting in there with us..

Much love
Dave Webb and the New life team in Thessaloniki.

For Sale – due to Insurance hassles and running on UK plates our VW Multivan will soon be for sale – interested parties should contact us

Give yourself... be transformed!

We are off to the UK for our annual Leaders event – Lynn, Joanna & Carolyn will be in Greece whilst the David’s, Jamie & Rachel head to the UK.

So here are 2 important commercials for you to read!

If they don’t apply to you directly please see if you can help us by passing on the information to others.

PRAXIS - ΠΡΑΞΙΣ

Praxis is the Greek name of the Acts of the Apostles.

In September 2006 we plan to start PRAXIS - Christian training programme. It will be a mixture of life learning, Outreach, Discipleship training and Bible school. We are expecting a group of 6-8 people to join us for a season of Action / Praxis. We are looking for people from the nations to come and be a part of reaching this nation with the Good News of Christ.

So we invite applicants to come to Greece for 3-12 months and be a part of our team.. We will have a weekly programme of learning that will involve learning through involvement. Each person will be taught, study and discuss themes relevant to the developing church today. There will be times for prayer, worship and outreach.

Each applicant will be required to pay some living costs and assist in practical work. This requires a willingness to give your self fully. You will also need to have-a-go at picking up some basic Greek.

This is a great opportunity – please pray & consider this, pass the information on to whoever you feel it may be good for…

For more information please contact mailto:davewebb@otenet.gr


This is Jamie & Rachel -

They will lead our young people’s summer camp in Halkidiki. The camp will take place in the last two weeks of July and will be a mixture of spiritual and physical challenge! We are looking for people’s lives to be changed and for us all to move on in God.

We want to see His Kingdom come! This year we believe for the lives of people around us to be touched and changed as well.

It is our desire to have a core group of 15-20 young people for this event, people who are open to change, want to play an active part in our team and who are willing to be used by God.

The camp will take place from 17th – 30th July and will cost approximately 300 euros.

For more details contact Jamie and Rachel on jbarnes@otenet.gr

Look forward to hearing from you.

Top Gear!

An elderly friend recently bought a new car and took it on a 200km trip which included some motorway driving. She later confessed to me that she still hadn’t got the car into 5th Gear!

Sunday at the Park Hotel, Thessaloniki, I, DW, spoke about shifting up a gear and how I believe there are 3 key elements to allowing the Lord to release our stress levels and yet increase our spiritual effectiveness.

1. Crucify the flesh – Jesus crucified his – we crucify ours – daily
2. Embrace the cross – Jesus Did – likewise we are to be crucified with him so that Christ lives in us…Gal 2:20
3. Allow the power that raised Christ from the dead to be at work in our mortal bodies. Romans 8:11

As chosen people we live in a different way – we are to live as Jesus lived….as a spiritual man, and then just like Jesus, we can ask the Father for anything. We be must like Jesus.

A Greek friend joined us last night to lead the worship with Rachel & David. The presence of the Lord was rich and I saw a river flowing from the Lord. This river would flow in the region and we could join the flow by embracing the points above - interestingly, this morning there is torrential rain in Thessaloniki and a river is flowing down our street!

This week...

• Tuesday is a day of prayer & fasting
• Dave & Lynn will travel to Bulgaria to join the church in Sofia for a leaders forum.

An EXPLOSION of Words!

We are in our 7th year and the walls have come down. We are now in a place where we are looking for people to not just stand on the sidelines but really come in and be a part of us.

There are some really faithful people in our church that have been with us for about 5 years and we are realising that this commitment means more than mere words, ministry and gifting.

We continue to pray fervently and press on in faith to see the people of this land join themselves to us and receive the promise that this nation will come to know Jesus Christ.

It’s easy to get frustrated and fed-up with the Greek people & culture but we are seeing that our words have power and know that as we speak out positively this will release people and open new doors.

Colossians 4: 1-6 speaks this very clearly.
‘Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer each one.’

It always amazes me the way God speaks to us. We are living in a land where people like to confront and shout, we are starting to realise that if we are to get through to these people maybe we need to shake off some of our English politeness & reserve and take the more ‘in your face’ Greek approach.

Sunday night proved an interesting experience for us and confirms that this may be a word from the Lord. We had been invited to meet Jamie & Rachel’s new neighbour and the evening ended being a big ‘political’ debate!
Lynn in particular rose to the challenge and neither party seemed to be backing down for a good couple of hours.
But already we have seen fruit from this little event and have been invited over again no doubt for another big discussion of some kind… we’re looking forward to it! (Remember: No one in Greece takes offence or anything to heart so everyone left feeling fantastic!)

Wet Picnic ...Dry Humour

This weekend was another National Greek holiday, ‘Καθερα Δευτερα’ / ‘Clean Monday’.
It represents the start of the 40 day fast leading up to Easter, the Greeks celebrate this day by going on picnics and flying (or in our case, trying to fly…) kites. This has always been a day to look forward to for us. For me it marks the end of winter and the beginning of sunny days in Greece!

Sometimes however, the sun doesn’t always live up to my expectation and so this year we picnicked in the rain. But anyhow, it was a blast as always.


It being a holiday weekend, we were not surprised to find a slightly smaller turn out for the Sunday night ‘Park Hotel’ meeting: ‘Moving on with Jesus’
But even so, those of us that were there had a great evening of worship and Dad shared some really good stuff on John 15: 1-17,
‘…If you abide in Me and My Words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you…’
For me it’s a really exciting promise as I seek to abide more intimately and make His word alive in my spirit.
Imagine the things we could receive if we put this into practice!
Carolyn xx

Bulgaria Trip - It's about friendship

Dave Webb and David Carter where in Bulgaria from 20th to 22nd February.

DW & DC shared the 6 hour drive from Thessaloniki to Sofia, overtaking a few Donkey Karts in their rented Fiat Panda! The roads had suffered from a severe winter and there were potholes a plenty. They were stopped by the Police once, DC was driving!!!

In Sofia they had a great time talking with Plamen Tzolov, leader of the NGM Church in Sofia and DW spoke in the evening at their Leaders Training School (right photo) on "The Philosophy of Ministry". The leaders are extremely busy filming a weekly 30 minute programme for mainstream Bulgarian TV, a great opportunity!

DW & DC left Sofia Tuesday morning for Plovdiv to see Craig & Milena Sibthorpe (left photo). Craig works in the Bulgarian Gypsy communities and goes back a long way with DW. It was a good time of friendship and catching up with one another.

DW & DC arrived back in Greece late Wednesday evening, tired from the driving but encouraged by seeing their friends.

Hi, this is our first attempt at a blog so let's see how it goes...

Since the start of the new year lots of good things have been happening - new folk on the scene; real developments amongst us; David Carter arrived from the UK; and we have done much travelling - within Greece, Australia and Bulgaria.

More news in the next few days...