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...