What your prayers did in Europe!
Dearest Friends and Family,
I wanted to thank you for how you have stood behind us these years, especially during this unsettled time we all find ourselves in. I want, also, to report to you on our ‘Taste and See’ weekend and ‘Thanksgiving’ at the end of November.
Taste and See, is a 4-day weekend where we introduce our one year training program (called SPOUDAZO) to younger European leaders. They receive some hands on training and experience in living out the presence of God in the environments in which they live. I can tell that many of you prayed for us…as the weekend was more profound than we had even hoped. We had 10 leaders for 4 different countries…Portugal, Spain, German, and The Netherlands and here are some of their responses.
How are you my brothers and sisters in Christ doing… I miss our conversations, the music and community. I miss Lain’s and Mickey’s food…I thank Jesus for the great time we spend there and how much we learned…
God bless, Nuno (from Portugal sent this on 3 December)
The course was deep and the community among participants strong…For me being in a small group sharing faith was new and it was like taking a warm bath (Dutch expression, sorry if you don’t get it). Phil, Laina and Deb provided the subjects, shared…
Phil modeled a new kind of leadership that empowered us all…
Deb shared from her mission experience and how to love on those far from the church…
Laina touched our harts by sharing her life story and talking about the strength of being vulnerable and humble before God. That His guiding and shaping us is an ongoing proces in our lives. Also her talk about hospitality was really helpful. …This was really an eye opener for me, since I always feel very restless when I invite people over. I tend to see people as interruptions.
We also had some practice on the streets…it awakened a missionary mind in me. The whole course it felt like God was present Thank you… Blessings, Fieneke Peters (from Amsterdam sent this on 6 December)
Well, I see Munich a little different now. Thank you for everything you did for me and for believing in me. You modeled something I have never understood before. I´d really like to join the Spoudazo training…
Christoph (from Germany sent sent this on 9 December)
Dear Phil and Laina,
My best love from the holy land. Peace is far away from this town and country. For sure it is a scary atmosphere in this country. I am here for 2 weeks….
I still think back often to our weekend in Amsterdam, and I still live from the input I got there. And I want to say THANK YOU VERY MUCH, once again. I got so much spiritual food at yours, what I cannot get in Muenster at the moment. It was a bit hard for me to realize that I cannot get inspirations like that here in Muenster, but I am just the more thankful for you, your initiative, and the way I may take part in it. So I would love to take part in Spoudazo.
Thanks for your deep love to Christ, and to the people around you…
Deeply Connected, Jule (from Germany sent this on 2 January, ‘09)
During the weekend, we had all the participants help us get ready for our annual THANKSGIVING FEAST. Once again, we had 68 people from more than 20 countries, all ages and stages of life. Some wealthy, some poor, married, single. And, we had Muslims, Jews, Hindus, nothings,…and yes, those of us who love Jesus. The night started with giving thanks to God by having some people speak out their own thankfulness in their native tongue.
Besides feasting on the beautiful provision of food, people began to feast on grace and generosity. The conversations deepened, and eventually people picked up musical instruments and spontaneous worship began to invade the living room. Many of our friends, who have been fearful of this kind of display of the love of God, scooted their chairs closer, tuned in their ears, and we began to see smiles spread across faces that had shied away from this before.
Your prayers have made such an impact on the lives of our leaders in training, and also on each of those in the community that surrounds us. We pray that the hope of God would pour out of us and those that we are developing, into this disheartened world. In this global mess, we preach Christ, and it is only in Him that we trust.
We are reminded of the courage building words of the prophet Isaiah,
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,
to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.
Thank YOU for trusting God with your prayers and your finances and for generously standing with us while we’re here in Europe. And thank you for what you are allowing God to do through you right where you are!!!!!
in peace and with love,
phil & Laina & the rest of the Graf gang
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
