Update from Greece

Hey everybody I barely ever use this blog anymore but for anybody who checks here is what is going on with me while I am in Greece for almost 3 months. God bless!

Hello everyone,

Things in Greece are going really well and God has really taught me a lot here. I left for here on May 3rd and will be here until July 20th. For those of you that don't know I am working with Hellenic Ministries here. They have a very large task as they are some of the only missionaries in Greece which has a popultation of around 11 million with only about 20,000 evangelical christians. That's just 0.17% of the population. So even though it was one of the first countries evanglized by Paul and other early christians it is now one of the most pagan countries on earth. In fact two of Paul's missionary journeys were pretty much all in Greece. Places like Corinth, Athens, Thessalonica, and Berea I believe were all here and probably a few others that I forgot. On a side note last week i got to go to Corinth. That was one of the highlights of my time here because I got to see things like the Bema seat that represents were we will all be judged. Also the best part was that when we did the books of 1st and 2nd Corinthians in bible quizzing the cover of our quiz books had some columns on it and I actually got to go to those exact columns and take a picture there. It was excellent.

So what have I been doing here? Well pretty much right after I got here I went to a shipyard at Ameliopoli. This is where the Morningstar(HM's boat they use for Island ministry and tour evangelism) was being painted and fixed up very well. They had pulled it out of the water and because of a lot of difficulties ended up keeping it there for almost a month. This was a really good experience for me because I grew up without too much experience with power tools and even a lot of manual labour so God got an oppurtunity to really humble me and put me somewhere that most of my gifts weren't there. But God also gave me contentment and patience there and it was really neat getting to meet the team there that was working on the boat. One guy named Andrew Fletcher actually grew up in Carlyle saskatchewan and is living in Three Hills Alberta now but it was really neat because we started talking and knew at least 20 of the same people. He had been to street invaders as well and also had the drums from the drummer of Calling Joshua of whom the guitarist was my guitar teacher. Haha anyways, that was really good to meet someone with whom we had more to talk about and in common.

Oh and before that one thing that really encouraged me was the focus on eternity and living for eternity that HM has. As I was picked up at the airport Jonathon Macris (the president of HM) said to me "I love picking people up at airports and watching as people see their loved ones because it reminds me of heaven when that will happen". Also it was kind of funny at the airport because he didn't even know what I looked like he had heard that maybe I was short and dark-skinned. Haha which I don't think I am. Also almost everyone in Greece is short so it's kind of neat to come from a place where I am medium height to be able to see over crowds and stuff.

After the shipyard I went to Porto Astro their property that they use for a summer sports camp and also to house the participants in Operation Gideon their summer evangelistic outreach. It gets very hot there because of a lot of rocks and not much vegetation. Also they don't have running water they need to bring it all in by boat. But it is very beautiful and a testament to hard work because it is not connected by road so every single building and everything there had to be brought in by boat.

I am amazed by the level of faith here. Right when I got here I found out that Jonathon the president had felt God telling him to make an order for 30,000 hardcover new testaments. Which would cost I believe about $100,000 canadian. and they had no money at all for this but he felt GOd's leading and so he did it. I was amazed and excited to be a part of this faith step and then just a week ago the first payment of 30,000 euros was due and honestly 10 minutes before he still needed 2,000 euros and then I think 4 minutes left he had all the money that he needed and he was at the bank and made the first payment. There is still two more of 20,000 euros but I know that as long as we rely on God he will provide.

Also my own faith has grown as I ask God my requests he has come through in really neat and crazy ways. I can't remember all the little things he has done but here are a couple. For some reason I brought a really small amount of shampoo and after praying God has made it last for a really long time. Probably the next two months as well. Also I prayed about mosquitoes and bugs and I have only gotten one bite this whole time which is rare for people. I am content either way though but it is neat when God sees to bless us in these little ways. I love him.

But yeah there a lot of amazing things going on here that I don't have time to tell all right now. I know that many of you have prayed for me and I appreciate that so much. I can definitely tell the difference. Here are a few prayer requests that I have if you want to pray more specifically.

Pray that I would develop faith
Pray that God would provide and guide Hellenic Ministries in Greece
Pray that our focus would be on God and his power and not rest on our own inadequacies
Pray that God would transform all of people at HM this summer and give us a greater vision and passion to serve him with our lives.

Thanks so much for all your prayers!! God bless you all, Kalispera!

-david hepting

Exodus 15:2
The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.