Hello Pastor Chang,

Greetings to you from Thessaloniki, Greece. Here is our news through the last months. Spring is a beautiful season here and it makes our work easier. We don’t need heating, we go out with children, do outside activities and enjoying the nature around us.

We had a great Eastern celebration this year in Katerini camp. It was unusual for gypsies. Not much drinking, no fights. After service we went to visit families. Gypsy people are excepting us with joy and open hearts. We pray for them and encourage them in their everyday life and battles they are facing continually.  It was quite peaceful. Thanks for all who are praying for us and these people. The atmosphere there is changing.  

There are a lot of lies has been planted in the life of gypsies for so many years and it takes time and prayer for them to be set free from it. Working with children I can see how they are changing when lies are replaced with God’s true. Every week we meet with older girls ages 10-14. There are about 10-15 girls. We discuss and learn different topics. They became more open to God and it is a great joy to see changes in their lives. Growing in such a culture, it is not easy to be a girl. Usually the women are not treated with respect and abused by man.  So, one of the things we learn is to see ourselves the way God sees us, not to criticize ourselves and others.

At the same time it is very important to teach young boys to treat girls with respect. Last week there was a mother’s day. We talked about mothers, how important they are in our life, then children made some crafts for them and dedicated them poetry. To honor parents and mothers even when they are making mistakes is a good lesson and it brings repentance to the parents as well. Please pray for healing and forgiveness in relationships between children and parents, wives and husbands, unity among them. There is much pain, abuse, fear, manipulation in relationships. God’s love, forgiveness and healing power is needed so much.       

The basic truth we are trying to teach children:

1. Be thankful for everything.

2.  Love and respect God, yourself, others.

3.  You are not a beggar, work, give what you have: time, efforts and God will give to you. 

4. Life and death is in the power of your mouth. Watch what you are saying. Be polite, speak blessings and not curses.   

5. Importance and power of prayer, pray not to fall into temptation.

6. God is my source, whatever happens I go first to Him. I lift up my eyes to the Lord where my help comes from.

    

   Please, pray for all those truths become real in children’s life and God empower them to live it and give us wisdom to teach them in the way they can understand it better.

    

   The adults from the church are growing in the Lord as well, have more understanding about God, salvation. Pastors Sookil Kim and Sook Hee Jho are doing a great work with them, teaching them Bible class and leading worship. There is a gypsy worship team who are doing worship.  They enjoy doing it very much. They learned to play musical instruments and worship is getting better and better every time. 

    

   We plan to do children’s camp in June. Please pray to God to send workers and give us strength and wisdom to do it right way.

    

   We also keep going to Agia Sofia camp. The situation there is still quite wild, takes time and prayers for God’s breakthrough in life of these people. We do what we can, meeting with children, adults, sharing good news, loving them, planting the seeds and trust God the results.

    

   Thank you very much for your support in prayers and finances in this work. We really need it, may be even more then you can imagine.

   God bless you abundantly and may you and your church be His dwelling place, full of His love and presence, where people would come and meet with Him and their lives be restored and healed for His glory. 

    

   With love Yana Sotiriou.