The Graf Gang is being relocated!
In the summer of 2005, we left the life and the people (many of you) we loved in Oxnard and moved to Amsterdam. We have seen God move in us and through us in very unexpected ways, as only God can do. We are incredibly grateful for how faithful He has been in some of the adventures here in this intense city AND for all of you who have faithfully stood alongside of us. Now in the summer of 2009, we will be leaving the amazing city of Amsterdam to move to the Lisboa (the Portuguese name for Lisbon) area of Portugal.
We have been assessing the well being of our family here in Amsterdam, the cost of living, the facilities (or lack thereof) available for training up leaders, and our ‘aloneness’ in ministry. While we have done really well, and are incredibly proud of all of our kids, we came believing we would stay 1-2 years…actually it will be four. We have been dialoguing with our leadership for many months now, and due the the intensive schedule of ministry and the love for the people around, have had a difficult time deciding when and where we should move. Through much prayer, and counsel, we have decided that we will join the Christian Associates church planting team in Lisbon. This has been a very difficult decision and we have very mixed feelings about this, as we are already grieving leaving the large community that has formed while we have been here. Yet, we feel the ministry opportunities awaiting us in Lisbon, as well as the ‘holistic’ health of our family, will be enhanced by making this transition (we will explain more of the vision in a future email).
CA has been bringing the good news of Jesus the Christ to the people of Lisboa for nearly 12 years. The ‘Lisboa Matrix’ is large in number, diverse in ministry, and healthy in relationships. We are honoured that the team there has invited us to join with them and we are thrilled to discover how God will push His Kingdom out through us!
This area of Portugal dates back more than 1200 years before Jesus walked around on this earth. Through the centuries many different peoples and religions have conquered, ruled, and reigned over this area. Today more than 2.8 million people live in and around this capital city. Lisbon and the surrounding areas have a rapidly growing international community, and the ‘Matrix’ has responded by having a ‘surfers church’ and a more family oriented church ‘Grace’ with many more expressions beginning to birth. We will continue on in our leadership roles in the greater CA European community, continue to create training apprenticeships for younger leaders, and plug into the local missional ministry in Lisbon.
We believe God wants us to raise up hundreds of Europeans to live Jesus-like lives of good news all across the nations of Europe and in each of their own native tongues, and that this will be enhanced even more by being in Lisbon. SPOUDAZO, the name of our one year leadership apprenticeship process, will launch officially shortly after our arrival in Portugal…we’ll write more on this very soon!
In fact, we’re going to stop here and let you digest this for just a bit.
We will write a few more short emails…
• more about our local community life
• and YES, stories from our HUGE Thanksgiving feast
• more about SPOUDAZO
• stories from our Taste & See weekend
Would you PLEASE PRAY with us…
• THANKING GOD FOR ALL OF YOU who have very busy lives, yet have chosen to be behind us in many beautiful ways.
• THANKING GOD for ALL that He has done here in Amsterdam
• ASKING GOD to help us leave well and transition into a new
culture with a sense of the presence and hope of God
in peace and with love and much gratitude
Laina & phil
Laina’s Purse
Laina just had her purse stolen.
She is with our friend Terri in Lisbon Portugal. They had been in a café. They came out, unlocked the doors. Terri’s door didn’t unlock right…it was stuck. They got in the car and drove off. Laina then looked for her purse…couldn’t find it…they then realized the car had been broken into.
Laina has been down in Portugal trying to listen to God’s whisper about where He might be relocating us. I feel so strongly about this time Laina is spending down there that I have been fasting since Tuesday, interceding on her behalf.
The day after Laina left, Martin & Angela, the couple that we’ve been investing in to take over some of what we’ve been doing here in Amsterdam, called me. She is pregnant. She’s been in the hospital twice because she can’t keep any food down… she’s lost 15 kg and she wasn’t heavy at all. Well they came over last month and we prayed for them. “All of the sudden” Angela was able to keep some food down and began gaining some weight.
Now she is in the hospital because of high blood pressure and abnormalities with her placenta.
WE NEED YOU TO PRAY…right now!
Laina is supposed to be headed to Madrid tomorrow to a Team Building workshop, but she has no passport. I just got word that they went back to the restaurant, looked everywhere including in the bushes…nothing! No Money, No Driver’s License…which she just got in July, No Resident card which she just got the morning she left, NO NOTHING! In fact, when she arrived they lost both her luggage bags…now she has her bags but no purse!
Laina and Angela really need some comfort and relief…PLEASE PRAY!!!!!
in peace and with love
